You run a business. You are struggling to get more sales. How do you get them? Till a few years ago, television and magazine advertisements, online PPC or display ads, pop-ups, etc. constituted the main channels used for generating more sales and improve marketing. However, all these tactics work only if you have tons of money to burn on audiences which will probably skip the channels which show your television ads. It is safe to assume that traditional marketing strategies are no longer as effective as they were before the internet happened. If you’re savvy about your marketing, content marketing might be a term you would have heard about a lot. What does it mean? Is content marketing actually important?

Content marketing is a strategic way to create and distribute content to your target audiences in the hope of selling your products to them in the future. With print, content marketing was restricted to print media and magazine ads. With television and radio, more avenues opened up. However, with the internet, content marketing has truly exploded and becoming a vital element in any marketing strategy; so much so that it is no longer just another means for selling a product, it has become the product. Here are 2 recent examples which show how:

The Purple Cow

In his book “The Purple Cow”, Seth Godin tells us how we can stand out from the crowd by offering something remarkable. Something unique. Something which people have never seen before. To sell the actual “product” (which was the book), Seth created a diverse content marketing plan. He posted an excerpt on a popular blog which drove visitors to buy his book. He did workshops, lectures and talks.

He even gave out the first few chapters of the book for free. Yes, he gave out some samples of the actual product for free so that consumers could taste a trailer before buying the whole experience.

All this “content marketing” became part of the product, extending it beyond the physical or digital form of the book itself.

Weinerschnitzel

Another good example which many companies have started using as a marketing tactic is to give out a freebie and get consumers to signup for an extended conversation. Online, this is much more easily achieved through an email list. You might have noticed several websites which offers you a free download, a free chapter, or a free trial in exchange for your contact details. This is just so that they can send you offers and promotions right to your inbox. If you didn’t buy from them today, there’s a likelihood of your buying something in the future. This is what is also known as lead nurturing.

This is just so that they can send you offers and promotions right to your inbox. If you didn’t buy from them today, there’s a likelihood of your buying something in the future. This is what is also known as lead nurturing. Again a great example of how content becomes part of the product experience. Content is used to nurture potential customers, educate them, soft-sell them on the benefits before they are ready to open up their wallets.

A few statistics on content marketing

While many businesses today have realized that content marketing is extremely important to their enterprise, most are yet to have a proper content strategy in place. In fact, statistics by the SEKARI Research and Social Optimization Agency corroborate this thesis: 90% of marketers believe that content marketing has a bright future ahead, though not even 40% have made any efforts to partake in this oncoming brightness.

It is now time to act upon the knowledge that one has – that content marketing is exceptionally crucial in the contemporary market scenario. To further demonstrate the importance of the same, here are some interesting statistics garnered from various researches conducted on this subject:

• 60% of consumers are inclined to feel more positive about a company after reading custom content on its website.
• More than 50% of buyers confirm that reading blog posts affected their purchase decisions.
• Nearly 80% of top business decision-makers prefer articles to advertisements when desiring information about a company.
• A whopping 20% of internet users’ time is consumed in browsing through content-led websites.

These statistics are certainly an eye-opener for the ignorant. However, if there is still any doubt about how and why content marketing is virtually an imperative now, here is a set of reasoned arguments that reflect the same.

Content marketing is not new

Creating original content to educate and inform one’s target audiences, is surprisingly, an age-old technique that has the power to evoke more interest amongst internet users; it brings them closer to products than the other way round.

See this video from the Content marketing institute:

Content Marketing does not focus on the promotion and saleability of a product in an overt manner. Instead, it provides users with information that makes them stop, think, question and then perhaps buy. It goes without saying, however, that is achieved only if content shows concern for a user, is relevant to them and given only when asked. If consumers are exposed to information that they are looking for in a suitably impressive and enticing manner, the chance of enhancing sales rises phenomenally.

One of the best and most popular ways of doing this for your business is to start a blog and publishing useful content in the form of blog posts.

Good content can differentiate you

Consumers are generally attracted to something different from what they usually see or expect. In a world choking on advertising, good content can make you stand apart – you will not be bombarding your audiences with ads. You will be telling a remarkable story by doing cool stuff with and for your customers!

One can, therefore, conclude that all those businesses that have so far ignored the prospect of content marketing are certainly losing out in many ways; it is time to wake up and adopt successful strategies such as content marketing to maximize gains.

We offer a variety content marketing services in India from writing articles, blog posts, online research, crafting content strategies to developing creative advertising campaigns.

Get in touch if you are looking for some to craft the right content marketing strategies for your business.