Content marketing – with or without a rocket scientist

These days everybody is talking about content marketing. According to Google Trends, web searches based on the term “Content Marketing” are up 400% since January 2011. While trends may come and go, there are some very real and some very good reasons why every sales-oriented person should be looking into content marketing right now, and not postpone until tomorrow.

2 reasons that make content marketing awesome for brands

Your customer becomes your salesperson

From the consumer’s point of view, content marketing is a transparent “no bullshit” form of communication, at least if it really is based on customer stories and experiences around your product. On the other hand, trying to fool people will not take you far. They would soon realize it and walk away. The very best scenario is the one where your customer becomes your advocate. This is where successful H2H (Human to Human) marketing really begins.

Be your own voice

Everyone knows that good leads do not just appear, but one needs to “create” them. Any company can publish content nowadays. Setting up a web-based Content Management System does not require a rocket scientist, although a rocket scientist might certainly make the process more interesting. You can be your own voice, and you will not need to rely on someone to write about you or your product or service. Elevating customer stories makes messaging more emotional, and emotional marketing messages are twice as effective as promotional ones.

4 reasons why 78% of brand CMOs regard content as the future of marketing

Shorten the sales cycle

Interesting content is one of the top reasons for people to spend time with your brand. And while they do, they will be subjected to your messaging and the whole idea of why your company exists. Content is a powerful tool for educating consumers about your product or service. And if it is done right, it will significantly make your sales easier, as 57% of the buyer journey is already completed before the prospects reach out to a vendor.

Quality leads

While all the basics are easy to achieve, creating quality content is not. Being systematic and choosing a few strong themes helps a lot. With a successful content strategy and focused messaging, your can build up momentum and truly make a difference on the marketplace. Brands that put enough time and effort into content marketing witness 6 to 7 times higher conversion rates.

Cost of acquisition

For every dollar you spend on content marketing, you receive 3 times as many leads than you would get through traditional marketing. Interestingly enough, this means that spending less on marketing actually produces better results. Spend less money on traditional marketing, and more on content.

The icing on the cake

To really kick some a**, think about the fact that articles with images drive 94% more views than those without. The human brain is a visual machine – 90% of all information consumed by the brain is visual. Adding visual content to your blog post might easily make the difference that ultimately leads to a home run. Great consumer driven visual content can make your brand blog 100% more awesome.

By Petri Rahja