Content is everything around you. It all tells a story. If you don’t have a plan for how that story is being told, then you might not like how it turns out.
Content marketing expert and blogger Heidi Cohen, however, provides a more detailed explanation, stating: “Content marketing provides prospects, customers and the public with useful information, while shopping or after purchase, without shouting its promotional messages.” Creating meaningful content that answers your user’s questions is a must.
Content marketing’s major attributes are:
1. Embodies an organization’s core brand elements
2. Uses a variety of media formats such as text, video, photographs, audio, presentations, ebooks, and infographics to tell your brand or company’s story
3. Can be read on a variety of devices including computers, tablets, smartphones, and others
4. Is distributed via owned, third-party, and social media platforms
5. Provides measurable results through the use of appropriate calls-to-action and promotional codes
Why are marketers continuing to grow their content marketing strategies?
Here are ten facts to illustrate just how important content marketing can be when used effectively.
1. Content marketing has been able to convert 30% more organic traic into high-quality sales leads.
2. Website conversion rates can double from 6% to 12% when an inbound strategy is put into place.
3. Inbound tactics can save a business an average of 13% in overall cost per lead.
4. 60% of decision-makers reported that content marketing helped them make better purchasing decisions.
5. Approximately 60% of marketers believe their “ROI from content marketing is increasing” or remaining the same.
6. 73% of surveyed marketers stated that “content marketing creates improved brand awareness”.
7. B2B companies that maintain a blog generated 67% more leads than companies who don’t blog.
8. 78% of CMOs believe custom content will be the future of marketing.
9. 80% of people appreciate learning about brand via custom content.
10. Around 40% of the world population is connected to the internet.
Content marketing is effective and it’s only continuing to grow. If you want to reach customers and stay competitive, you need to implement a content marketing plan for your business.