Think of content marketing as a long-term strategy
For many business owners and marketing teams, marketing strategy implies a direct relationship with sales. When sales are down, business people want a hard-hitting marketing campaign that brings more paying customers through the door. That’s fine, and there are multiple ways to produce a short-term campaign for short-term goal. Content marketing can be part of that strategy, but the real value of content marketing comes as part of a longer-term strategy. Here’s why:
It supports your overall marketing strategy
Content marketing is not designed to yield great results in a one-off campaign that only runs for a brief period of time. It is a longer play, helpful for businesses with a long sales cycle or where buyers spend more time in the “consideration stage” of the sales funnel. Content marketing also builds your brand and promotes your message over the long haul. It has a commutative effect, with consistent content production efforts yielding increasing benefits as they continue over time.
While your advertising, direct mail and other tools are hitting customers with specific offers, content marketing continues on a steady simmer in the background. Short-term marketing campaigns might drive customers to your site or social media channels. Once there, your long-term content marketing provides them with even deeper and more meaningful information.
It supports SEO
While search engine algorithms change frequently to meet the needs of users, the presence of updated, quality content on your site remains one SEO best practice. For Google and other search engines to index your site and rank it well, it needs to have content and depth. Fresh, useful information makes your site a much more relevant search result for users than a site with infrequent updates or thin content.
It solidifies your reputation
You simply can’t build your reputation overnight. It takes months and years of providing quality products and services to do that. However, your content marketing efforts can help. They may even accelerate the process. If you can establish yourself as a prospect’s go-to for reliable information, that’s the first step toward creating a customer and fan. Producing quality, in-depth content on a regular basis will keep readers interested and engaged with your site and your brand.
In a piece for Forbes, John Hall summed it up this way:
“…content marketing is not designed to convert leads immediately. The goal is long-term, continuous engagement. In fact, many of our leads have been in our pipeline for quite a while. And that’s fine by us — we’re in no hurry. The more time our leads spend interacting with our content, the more educated they become. In the meantime, they begin to see us as a credible resource. That keeps us top of mind.”
In short, content marketing should be an extension of your customer service culture. Yes, you want it to lead to more sales, but the people making those purchases are more likely to stick around and become brand champions if you give them quality information. Think of content marketing as an extension of the product or service you sell that contributes to your customer’s overall brand experience.
To learn more about how we can support your marketing team with content marketing and integrated digital marketing, contact us today for a free digital marketing assessment.
