Content marketing is a key element of any inbound marketing strategy. It is something you have to do well if you're going to organically attract visitors to your company website and avoid falling into the chasm of the second page of Google's search results and beyond. But there is now so much content out there, how do you compete? The answer is this: you stand out because of the quality of your content marketing.
We know that content creation is worth doing because inbound marketing works in generating leads and sales. It also builds brands, relationships with customers, and trust.
Know the art of blogging
Research shows companies who blog regularly, for example, generate 126% more leads than those who don't. 57% of marketers who are committed to blogging can trace customers directly back to those blogs. Business-to-business companies who blog generate, on average, 67% more leads than those who don't.
The frequency of blogging is also important. Research has shown a direct correlation between the number of blogs and increases in the number of leads. Businesses who increase their blogging from between three and five posts a month to between six and eight almost double their leads.
It could be tempting to let the quality of your content slip a little to feed that extra need. It's a slippery slope.
Think about how you cut through the rest of the content and reach your potential customers, and that's all about quality content.
That doesn't mean it needs to cost the equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster. What we mean by quality is content which is well-written, well-researched, engaging, and above all else, helpful to your target audience.
You need to know your ideal customers well, and you need to apply a tough test to the pieces of content you deliver, including blogs, instructional videos, podcasts, animations, slideshows, and your social media posts.
Ask a series of questions:
• Are they helpful to our target customers?
• Do they answer their problems?
• Do they relieve a pain?
• How deep is that pain?
In conclusion, be ruthless, if the answers show a piece of content isn't helping enough, isn't easing a deep enough pain, you have to revamp it completely or scrap it, no matter how clever or well-written you think it is.
Writers call this 'killing your darlings'. To reach the people you want, your content needs to be killer, not filler. Our team of talented inbound marketing specialists are here to help.
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