Content marketing = An inexpensive investment for long term customer relations

According to CMI,

While content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing, it generates more than three times as many leads;

Content marketing leaders experience 7.8 times more site traffic than non-leaders;

The majority (88%) of B2B marketers use content marketing in their marketing strategies.

The above statistics clearly show that content marketing is a ‘must’ to stay in the public eye. It is the oxygen of today’s business world. Yet, content marketing is a technique of winning customers & their long lived trust. It is a long term yet inexpensive investment to retain your audience.

Today’s blog covers:

How is content marketing different from sheer marketing?

How does it impact your business?

How was content effective for recruiting 30 employees in a year?

How is content marketing different from sheer marketing?

Just as Content, your Customer too is a King. But, the key to customer growth & retention is content – which doesn’t merely promote but builds a rapport with them. Let us see how it works so.

Ms. Julia Mccoy, CEO, Express Writers has written that, ‘Content marketing generates 3x as many leads as its more traditional counterpart, outbound marketing, but costs more than 50% less…But you cannot force your services and products on your tribe once you’ve found them. You’ve got to work at building relationships, one solid piece of content at a time.’

While, Elaine Ip, Content Marketing Specialist at Marketo expressed that ‘Blogs are a great way for individuals to establish themselves as thought leaders, build their portfolio, grow their network, and gain visibility as they help accomplish your company’s goals… publish content on topics that your readers are interested in reading and also support your business goals.’

So, Content Marketing is all about educating & communicating with your customers instead of forcing them to buy something. As marketers and entrepreneurs you need to invest your time, skills & efforts for building long term, robust relations with your audience. The end result would be an interested rather than a frustrated customer.

How does it impact your business?

According to CMI, ‘200 million people now use ad blockers…luckily, there’s a way to continue marketing efforts without being blocked by the people you’re trying to reach. The secret is content.’  Further, it states that, ‘Content marketing drives higher conversion rates…email is personalized, targeted, and delivered directly to a customer’s inbox, it’s a wonderful (and inexpensive) way for marketers to gain an in to their customers.’

Also, CMI highlights that, ‘73% of major organizations hire someone to manage their content marketing strategy…Adding this role helps the company ensure that it is allocating resources correctly and communicating with its customers in the most targeted and effective way possible.’

Such an informative approach would go a long way towards influencing your business. Though it 

wouldn’t pay you initially in currency, content will pay off in terms of the most priceless audience. Now, let us move on to find how an effective content paid off a company with 30 employees.

How was content effective for recruiting 30 employees in a year?

Kelsey Meyer, President, Influence & Co., a content marketing firm has written an article called, ‘How We Used Content to Hire 30 People in One Year.’ Influence & Co. helps companies showcase their expertise through thought leadership. Ms. Meyer says in the article that, ‘Our content marketing agency has hired 30 people in the last 12 months. Our secret weapon? You guessed it: content.’ Further, she specifies that, ‘…future employees want to know that the team they’re about to sign on with is credible, innovative, and ultimately worth committing their talents to — and when it’s done right, your content can show them that.’

The role of content becomes more instrumental as it showcases the domain expertise of the company in the above case. Also, the blog which was powered by insights of the company’s director helped educate its prospective employees. Ms. Meyer has also mentioned that, ‘If you want the highest number of content marketers to hear about your company, publishing to online publications is a great way to broaden your network of targeted candidates… traditional career sites and job boards are great for casting a wide net, they may not yield as highly targeted results as an article in a publication read religiously by your ideal hire.’

Thus, content marketing is the ultimate & inexpensive tool which can help you win long term business relations. But, the only trick is to inform, educate and communicate your purpose to the audience. Such an approach will earn thousands of qualitative people who will convert into customers.

Remember – A piece of content without marketing intent!