As a small business owner, it can be challenging to know what to include in your digital marketing efforts. Content marketing should always be one of your priorities because it serves several functions at once and offers numerous benefits. Explore some reasons you should take advantage of content marketing.
1. Part of a Well-rounded SEO Strategy
To start, including content marketing on your small business’ website is an excellent way to ensure your SEO strategy is well-rounded. That is because content marketing allows you to incorporate keywords in your website in a way that is natural and search engines reward. Simply put, having a good content marketing strategy will boost your SEO.
2. Great ROI
When it comes to the different types of advertising, content marketing and SEO can lead to a high ROI due to the lower initial costs. You can pay nothing for the initial efforts if you do them yourself. Even if you outsource it, some estimates indicate that content marketing will cost around 62% less compared to outbound or traditional marketing.
3. Build Trust in Your Brand
No matter the industry you are in, creating a content marketing strategy via a blog or other content will help build trust and confidence in your brand. By sharing relevant content and information in a way that website visitors can understand, you show potential customers that your company is knowledgeable and experienced. They will be more likely to hire you if you highlight your expertise.
4. Can Showcase Your Brand Story
Small businesses are less likely to have an established brand identity or story. Still, many shoppers want to know more about the company they are buying from. Content marketing is a great way to overcome this by sharing your story and brand identity. For example, you could post content that gives a behind-the-scenes look at your operations or explains how the idea for your company came to be.
5. Bring People to Your Website
The most basic benefit of content marketing is that it will bring more people to your website. When you create helpful and engaging content, people are more likely to read, watch, or listen to you. Doing so will bring them to your page. This takes care of the initial step to turning them into leads.
6. Encourage Shares to Expand Your Audience
When you create interesting content, this encourages people to share it, adding to the number of visitors to your website. Even better, sharing on social media or via email can help you reach a wider or different audience than you would have reached with your other marketing efforts.
7. Increased Potential Leads
The natural benefit of bringing more people to your website is the ability to convert them into leads. Some people will naturally explore your website after reading a blog post or watching a video. Others will need a little push, such as a pop-up to sign up for your newsletter or a webchat pop-up. The bottom line is that even if your visitor-to-lead ratio stays the same, bringing more visitors to your website increases the number of leads you have.
8. Gives You More to Share on Social Media
Not only does content marketing encourage others to share your new content, but it gives you something else to feature on your social media websites that is not pure promotion. This is important because having an active and engaged social media presence is crucial for any business. While you don’t want to solely share links to your content, throwing it into the mix occasionally gives you one more thing to post about.
9. Encourage Repeat Website Visitors
Depending on the type of content you create, you may be able to encourage website visitors to return to see your latest content. This is great as you get another chance to convert them into a lead. At the very least, encouraging them to revisit your website puts them one step closer to converting and creates another opportunity for social sharing as well.
In the best-case scenario, the ability of content marketing to encourage repeat visitors will combine with you being seen as a trusted industry authority, and you will become someone’s go-to source for information. This puts them closer to becoming paying customers.
