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“If you do it right, content marketing will help your brand succeed in building strong engagement with your target customer.”
Keimmy Xu, Content Collision
In our last post, we mentioned creating content as a way to educate customers about your business. This technique is also called content marketing and has become a very popular and effective method for business promotion. "When content marketing works, it’s an incredible way to build relationships and share knowledge without pitching your services or products." Brian Hughes, The Huffington Post
Customer education is one advantage of creating quality content but there are many more ways your business can benefit from consistent content marketing. Content includes blog posts as well as other ways of sharing information such as infographics, whitepapers, slideshare presentations, videos, podcasts, case studies, ebooks, and more.
1. Improve Search Engine Rankings
Routinely creating useful content improves your business’s visibility and reputation, allowing your website to appear more frequently and prominently in search engine results. "Every time you write a blog post, it's one more indexed page on your website, which means it's one more opportunity for you to show up in search engines and drive traffic to your website in organic search." Brian Hughes, The Huffington Post
2. Showcase Expertise
Content that is useful and resonates with your audience helps to establish you as an authority in your field. “When clients, partners and potential clients can see that you know your stuff, they will more likely have more confidence and trust in you and your service.” Peach Robb, Digital Doughnut, This trust translates into more traffic and opportunities to convert visitors into clients.
3. Demonstrate Communication Skills
Sometimes creating content allows you to demonstrate your skills using the very tools you sell to clients. For instance, if you are a graphic designer, creating infographics allows you to showcase your skills in a unique and tangible way. Even if your field does not fall within the realm of content creation, the ability to communicate clearly adds value to your online presence and conveys professionalism to potential clients. “In order to innovate, it’s not enough to just come up with big ideas, you also need to work hard to communicate them clearly.” Greg Satell, Forbes
4. Build a Library of Valuable Content
When you have produced enough content, your business will have an impressive library of content. This not only underscores your expertise but also supports the perception that your business is an authority within your industry. Hubspot calls this compounding. When done well, “[the] effort you put in yesterday can turn into hundreds of thousands of views and leads in the future.” Corey Wainwright, Hubspot
5. Gain Influence
If your content creation gains a wide enough audience, you can become the go-to source for advice and knowledge in your field. This can lead to additional opportunities for brand exposure and business such as guest blogging, conference talks, and consulting gigs. "Content is naturally a long-term investment, but if you manage it patiently, and in the right way, it will not only give you a great return-on-investment, but also endow your brand with priceless authority at the end of the day." Keimmy Xu, Content Collision
6. Remain Abreast of Industry Trends
Regular content creation requires research to support your reputation. One advantage of this research is that you will remain abreast of industry trends. This is useful not only for providing advice to your clients, but also in navigating the current landscape for your own business. "[It's] important to stay on top of industry news and trends – you'll build your expertise, you'll command the respect of your team, and you'll be better placed to identify and exploit opportunities." Mind Tools
7. Network
One often overlooked benefit of content creation is its role in networking. When you produce content that others find valuable, you open a potential line of dialogue through commenting, social media, and requests for advice. “[Thoughtful] content marketing, combined with generosity and outreach, can help expand your professional network while simultaneously enhancing your online reputation.” Brian Honigman, Honigman Media
Need Outside Help?
If you don’t have the time or resources necessary for creating quality content on a consistent basis, hiring outside help may be the best option. Outside help can not only assist you with creating expert content, but can also help you convert traffic into clients. We have ready-made solutions for pharmaceutical industry content marketing or we can create a customized plan to improve your business’s growth.
Contact Brian Bamberger today to learn how we can help you develop a winning content marketing plan.