4 Reasons You Need Content Marketing in Your Strategy

Remember Sisyphus, the guy cursed to push the same boulder up the mountain for all eternity? Marketing is a lot like that. It’s not a one-and-done effort and will require constant attention and different strategies. Over time, some strategies may weaken in their efficacy (anyone remember MySpace or Google +?), while other new technologies will spring up, providing new opportunities to reach your audience.

Speaking of strategies, if you aren’t using content marketing in your mix, you could be missing out on serious potential to connect with customers. Here’s why.

1. People Want to Be Informed

Unlike advertising, which is a direct appeal to convince people to buy a product or service, content marketing focuses on delivering information and value. People are asking questions online, and it’s content, found on blogs and social media, that can deliver those answers.

What does this look like? Here’s an example. Let’s say you sell art supplies. Rather than advertise (or in addition to advertising), you launch a blog. But you don’t talk about how amazing your paints and canvases are. You provide tutorials on how to use the supplies in innovative ways. You show well-known artists using your products in their work. You dive into technique. People searching for these topics find your blog and, therefore, your brand. If they like what they read, they might subscribe to your blog and hop into your email marketing funnel. Then they’ll get your emails, and down the road, they may buy from you.

2. You Need to Build Trust

With the cacophony we’re currently experiencing in the world, the average person sees between 4,000 and 10,000 ads per day — and remembers fewer than 100. How are you supposed to compete?

Trust.

When the first impression you make with a potential customer isn’t one of “buy my product,” but rather you act to provide value (see #1), you build trust with that customer. From there, you can connect through additional touchpoints to further that relationship, such as email, social media, et cetera.

And remember: trust is key over time for building long-lasting relationships with your customers.

3. People Need Different Methods to Connect

Some people live on Instagram, and that’s the best way to reach them. Others love consuming videos on YouTube. And some love reading blogs.

A multifaceted approach to your marketing ensures you have the widest reach and can meet people where they are. For those who like blogs, you can capture their attention with great content. You can mix it up and include video posts on your blog to maximize your appeal to different types of followers. And you can provide snippets of your published posts on your social media, linking back to your blog to drive traffic there.

4. Search Engines Will Love You

Maybe you’ve heard of search engine optimization (SEO) but didn’t have a clue what it was. It’s how search engines like Google rank websites based on the keywords and content they contain.

A blog provides fresh content (if you’re updating it regularly), and if you use keywords to indicate what the content is about, search engines will push you toward the top, which means more people will find your blog and your site.

Tips for Building Your Content Marketing Strategy

Now that you’re convinced content marketing is a worthy addition to your marketing strategy, let’s look at how you can get the most out of your efforts.

Set a Steady Schedule

The first tip is consistency. Whether you’re trying to build loyalty with an e-commerce company or send traffic to a physical store, the more steady you are in publishing your content, the more you’ll appeal to both your audience and search engines. 

At a minimum, plan to publish one article per week. Set your publication schedule to be the same day and time every week. Whatever cadence you choose, make sure you can keep up with it.

Schedule Content in Advance

This is a trick I love because it maximizes my writing time. I will often sit down and write several posts at once when inspiration strikes. Then, I schedule them to go live on my chosen day and time.

Make it Easy for People to Get Your Content

Whether you use WordPress, Wix, or another tool for your website and blog, there should be a feature you can set up to let people give their emails so that they’re notified when you publish a new post. This will drive traffic to your blog. 

Also, share each post on the social media channels where your brand is active. Because my audience is on Instagram, I create a “New Post” graphic with a teaser about the post, which followers can access through the link in my bio.

Pay Attention to Your Analytics

Over time, your analytics will tell you the blog topics that people are most interested in. These are topics you can expand upon, whether it’s to write additional content on the same topic, interview an expert on the subject, or create a how-to that relates to the topic. At the same time, you can see which topics aren’t resonating with your audience and avoid writing more in the same vein.

Use Keyword Tools

The content management system you use likely has a keyword tool. In WordPress, you can add Yoast or another SEO plugin. In Wix, there’s a nifty SEO Assistant that will walk you through using your keyword throughout the article to maximize its placement in search results. 

Remember: use only one keyword per article. Boil it down to what the article is about, as well as what people are likely to be searching for to find it. In the art supply example from above, you might have a tutorial on using high-flow acrylic paint. That would make a great keyword, or even “how to use high-flow paint.”

Don’t Make It Promotional…But…

While you don’t want your blog to be a walking advertisement for your products, you do want to make it easy for people to buy from you. The purpose of a blog is to inform, educate, or entertain. Not sell. And yet, it is a powerful selling tool if used correctly. 

At the end of a post, you could include a link to a promotion you have on a product mentioned in the post or give people the opportunity to download a free guide with more tips on the tutorial you’ve covered in the blog post. This gets them into your email marketing funnel, where you can then provide special offers and discounts to them.

Consider Using AI

For me, as a writer, the verdict is still out as to whether artificial intelligence and chatbots can do the job of a human, but many rave about it as an aid to researching topics and creating content. Just be aware that these tools need to learn your preferences, so it may take time to train them to give you results that are useful.

And remember: machines are fallible, so always review and fact-check anything that is generated by technology.

Give It Time

People won’t flock overnight to your blog, but if you consistently promote it and deliver useful content, you will see an increase in traffic.

In a world where we’re all weary of being shouted at through digital and physical ads, content marketing has the potential to help brands really connect with potential customers in a meaningful way.