Amanda Clark — March 21, 2019 — March 21, 2019
A question we get asked all the time by small business owners: Is content marketing really worth the cost? Does the payoff ultimately redeem the time and effort put into writing, publishing, and monitoring blog and social media content—or the money spent outsourcing it to a content marketing company?
We obviously think that it does, and we encourage our clients to think not in terms of cost but investment. Yes, content marketing has a threshold for entry, and trying to cut corners ultimately just means you end up with bad content and wasted resources. But when you actually invest in doing content marketing well, the dividends can be manifold.
Here are just a few examples.
Why Invest in Content Marketing?
- It proves your thought leadership.
Say you’re a financial planner. Why should a potential client choose you over any of the other financial planners in your area? Why should they assume that you know what you’re talking about and have the expertise to provide wise investment advice? One answer is that you show them you know what you’re talking about by producing content—content that shows a real fluency with your chosen niche or subject matter. The result? Prestige for your brand; trust from your potential customers and clients.
- It feeds the content monster.
The content monster is our little nickname for Google’s search algorithms, which always want more, more, more fresh content to gobble up. All else being equal, the site that has new blog updates twice monthly is going to have better search engine visibility than the site that lays dormant for years at a time. In other words, an investment in content marketing is an investment in SEO.
- It allows you to connect with customers and clients.
Content marketing isn’t just about blog posts. It’s also about social media, and a well-maintained social media presence can bring lots of little interactions and touch points with your clients. Google refers to these as “micro moments,” and they’re important for building brand loyalty and boosting your transactions/conversions.
- It educates your customers.
These days, the consumer experience never actually starts in a physical retail location. It starts online with the customer doing ample research to ensure a wise purchasing decision. You need to guide that research toward you and your brand, and content marketing is how you accomplish that. Content marketing provides the means for elucidating all the reasons why a customer might pick you over the competition.
- It can be a form of customer service.
One way to use content marketing is to provide product tutorials, troubleshooting guides, and FAQs—showing potential customers that, if they ever have questions about how to use your product, all they have to do is head to Facebook or YouTube and they can have their questions answered.
- It proves that you’re listening.
Good content is always tailored to address the specific needs, interests, and pain points of the end user—which in turn shows that end user that you’ve taken the time to get to know and understand them, and that you listen to what they say. Again, the upshot here is trust and rapport-building.
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