I’m sure you’ve heard sales is king but how is the crown earned?
A winning sales process is facilitated by an effective marketing strategy.
Sure, you can do cold selling but those conversion numbers are relatively low since the nurturing process isn’t being administered.
The keyword to recognize is nurture.
The definition of nurture is to care for and encourage the growth or development of someone or something.
Marketing is the process of nurturing your business’s relationship with your target audience so they can be converted into customers.
So many businesses forget this is why marketing is so important, which is why they have a hard time attracting customers to pay for their products or services.
But even those businesses that are investing in marketing seem to be having a hard time attracting customers.
What’s the issue?
I would make a bet that they’re investing primarily in traditional marketing, not even considering the ROI produced from content marketing.
Whether you call it digital marketing or inbound marketing, content marketing is producing relevant content created for your target audience to bring awareness to your business.
In the age of social media and online businesses, I find it quite baffling that a lot of businesses aren’t investing in content marketing.
It’s like being an older person who refuses to follow the new trends used by a younger generation.
Well guess what?
Content marketing isn’t a trend and you need to implement it within your marketing strategy if you want to have a pipeline full of qualified leads who can be converted into customers.
But if you aren’t convinced yet, let me show you exactly why your business needs to invest in content marketing.
Your Customers are Online Researching
What’s the first thing you do when looking for an answer to something you’re not quite sure about? You go on Google to find your answer.
When your customers are looking for a provider to handle their needs, they go online to research which provider available is the best option for them to invest into.
Let’s attach some percentages to this statement. 81% of shoppers conduct online research before making a purchase. 94% of B2B buyers do online research before making a final purchase decision.
So regardless of whether your business serves consumers or businesses, it needs to be able to be found online if you want it to be considered as a potential provider by your target customer.
Online research is the vetting process. The buyer wants to see why your business is worth their money, instead of choosing one of your competitors.
This information is gathered in two ways: customer reviews and the content on your website (I hope to God you have a website in 2018).
97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses and 85% trust these reviews as much as personal recommendations. 47% of global consumers check a company’s website to learn about the value provided by their products or services.
You see the percentages and they clearly show why your business needs to be represented online to actually have a shot at competing for your customer’s dollars.
Your customers want to educate themselves as much as possible about the business they’re considering purchasing from so their money isn’t wasted on an inferior product or horrible service.
You Need Online Positioning
Positioning is another word for branding.
Taking content marketing out of the equation, most businesses don’t make an effort to brand themselves.
This mistakes leads to lost sales when a customer makes their final purchasing decision based on the brand recognition of your competitor.
And how is brand recognition created? Through consistent marketing.
The online marketplace exponentially increases the competitive landscape because you’re now competing with other businesses on a global scale, rather than locally.
I can be a marketing agency located in Atlanta, Ga but have a client in Singapore due to the ease of communication and sharing created by the internet.
But the only way I can secure that oversees client is by creating content that can be found by that individual or business from their computer or phone. And I must make my content standout from my competitors.
To establish my positioning, I’m going to create a blog, write articles for other websites, engage on social media, invest in Facebook and Google ads.
I’ll use all this content to drive the customer to my business’s website.
With each content marketing approach, I’m being consistent about my message (the value of content marketing) and solidifying that point on my website to close the deal.
With consistency, even those who aren’t my client know what Content Engagement Conversions represents — a content marketing company.
Knowledge + Consistency +Value = Authority Status
If you’re investing in content marketing, you want to make sure that your investment is producing a significant ROI.
This means you can’t create crappy content and call it valuable.
Nope, your customers aren’t going for that.
Great content marketing focuses on educating the customer by identifying the problem and providing a solution.
This can only occur when you actually have knowledge and experience within the industry your business operates within.
If you’re calling yourself an expert but only put out the most basic content that’s not informative, your content won’t help your business generate new customers.
Content marketing is the best opportunity to put your knowledge and expertise on display.
Your blog should be updated weekly, if not bi-weekly.
Create an e-book, guide, or whitepaper that extensively covers a particular problem experienced by your target customer.
Frequently guest post on authority websites and blogs to capture an audience that wasn’t previously aware of your business’s existence.
Providing valuable knowledge on a consistent basis will position you as an authority.
If you don’t have authority status, the customer will feel like they’re taking a gamble by spending their money with your business.
They’re not sure if you can really produce the results they expect because you don’t have a significant amount of content available to validate your expertise.
Individuals with authority status experience a business that has high demand because their customers know that business owner can properly satisfy their needs.
Focus your content marketing efforts on your knowledge and the value your business provides and you’ll soon position yourself as an authority who has to turn down customers due to your business experiencing too much demand.
The Money is in Online Sales
You’re in business to make money and large amounts of money is being spent online.
51% of Americans prefer to shop online. 53% of global internet users made an online purchase in 2016. These percentages will only continue to increase in the future.
Operating your business online means that it’s participating in the global marketplace.
This opportunity could potentially increase your business’s $100,000 in revenue to over $1,000,000. But this exponential increase in revenue won’t occur if you’re not investing in content marketing.
Content marketing is advertisement for your business that can be seen anywhere at any time.
Money never sleeps and the online marketplace always has money revolving within it.
Just because your business closes its doors at 6 p.m. doesn’t mean money can’t be earned at 1 a.m.
If an individual on the other side of the country sees your Facebook ad and is convinced to make a purchase, they can do so if your website is set up to process online purchases.
Content marketing is the driver for purchases made online.
If you want those online dollars then you need to invest in producing great content marketing.
Conclusion
Is your business currently investing in content marketing?
If not, then you need to start doing so immediately.
If yes, then you need to make sure that your content is effective at being engaging and can convert your audience into customers.
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Also, download our free e-book that teaches you how to write authoritative content: Creating Content that Sells. You don’t want to pass up on the valuable information provided in this e-book.
Lastly, if you need help with your content marketing be sure to reach out to us. We love creating content that helps our client’s businesses grow.