Starting a business is a time-consuming and can be expensive. A few entrepreneurs that actually launch their business have any real idea what to expect when they begin. Learning what you need to know as fast as possible, plus a little luck, is what makes one business successful while another folds. But of all the expenses of starting a business, startups should prioritize content marketing.
Here’s why content marketing is such a solid investment.
#1. It Creates Awareness for Your Brand
If you are a startup, no one knows about you yet, and when no one knows about you, you have very little chance of actually being successful in whatever industry you are in. When you use content marketing, people find you through internet searches, links and directories and become aware of you.
#2. Content Marketing Establishes Your Expertise
If you want people to trust in your company enough to actually buy something, you’re going to need to convince them that you’re an expert in that field. There is a reason that big retail chains like Wal-Mart have dedicated electronics staff – people want to buy from someone that they trust that knows about the product they are buying.
#3. It Allows you to Engage with Your Customers
Blog comment threads can be a terrific catalyst for communication between you and your customers, but even when you simply publish a blog post, and people read it, you are still engaging with them in a big way.
#4. It Prevents Customers from Forgetting You
When you are sporadic in posting content, or when you fail to do it much or at all, customers will invariably forget you exist and move on. You have to keep yourself on their horizon because there is only room for so much. When a customer feels you have given them value, they will return.
#5. It Makes Your Company Unique
Even if your most closely related competitor is also generating content for marketing purposes, your content will be unique and it will give your business a personalization that will distinguish you from even your most similar competitors.
#6. Content Marketing is a High-Value Way to Advertise
When you spend money on advertising, it is usually a one-shot deal. Once your campaign of radio commercials, television commercials or even banner ads on the web are through, you stop receiving the benefit of them. But when you invest in content, it will always be there unless you remove it, and you will continue to get search traffic from that content, with no end date in sight.
#7. Content Marketing Boosts Your SEO
When you publish content on a regular basis, you will rank higher in the search engines results for the keywords that you target, and the more content you publish, the higher your rank will be. Also, when others link to that content, your SEO increases as well.
#8. Content & Social Media Go Hand-in-Hand
Another benefit of content is that you have something to share on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. This is great for businesses because they might not always have enough time to update their social media platforms regularly enough to keep followers interested and using tools like HootSuite or other social media management apps can make sure that your content is shared with your fan base.
#9. You’ll Stay Updated on Your Industry
Even if you aren’t writing your own content, you’re likely going to read it. That means that you will stay abreast of all of the latest trends in your industry and gain more information that will make you even more of an expert in your field. Of course, you need to make sure that whoever is writing your content is able to provide that expertise in the first place.
#10. You’ll Make More Sales
Content marketing can boost sales because someone who checks out your company will see that you are established, that you know what you are talking about and that you care about your customers, all from seeing regular content on your blog or website. That can shorten the sales cycle considerably.