If content marketing were human, it would be almost 289 years old by now.
Even though the term has gained popularity in the last few decades, content marketing was in use before advertisement took over — in the 1940s.
Benjamin Franklin and Johnson & Johnson were found to be the first companies that leveraged content marketing.
Even after so many years, the approach hasn’t lost its charm. It still works today, of course, if implemented right.
And if you aren’t using content marketing even now, you are probably even older than the concept itself. And before we take you to why you should use content marketing for your brand in 2021, let’s see what content marketing is and what it is not.
What Content Marketing is Not?
Content Marketing is an approach that uses content to attract customers for a business, ultimately to generate sales. That sounds easy, but most people are confused with content and content marketing.
Content marketing is not a blog post or a case study, or an infographic.
Instead, content marketing is a strategy where the different content formats (such as blog posts, case studies, or infographics) and platforms get used to achieve a specific goal.
Let’s understand more what else content marketing is not.
Content Marketing is not Easy
Even though there’s a plethora of online information available regarding content marketing and its implementation, it’s not as easy as it seems.
Only 9% of B2B marketers believe their organization to be ‘very effective’ in content marketing. The statistics say it all. If it was easy, the numbers should have been higher.
Content Marketing is not Instant Noodles
You can boil water faster by increasing the flame and can prepare your noodles in 5 minutes. Unfortunately, content marketing isn’t instant noodles.
It is hard to believe that more effort is not going to race your content marketing efforts.
In fact, the brand marketers increased their publishing frequency by 800% in five years only to see an 89% decline in engagement per post, says the study by American Marketing Association.
Content Marketing isn’t a Straight Route
Content marketing may appear like a one size fits all strategy, but it isn’t. It isn’t a straight route. A brand must customize its route, depending upon several other factors, such as its mission and values, to achieve its goal.
The reason is clear, every business is different, and so their target audience, their goals, and their offerings. Even Forbes says the same.
Content marketing is all about experimentation. The team has to plan, experiment, observe, improve, and retry in order to see results.
Content Marketing isn’t a Sales Pitch
Many businesses could think that content marketing is about telling people ‘buy from me.’
However, this isn’t true.
It is about value addition in the lives of your target audience. Nowadays, people research before spending a dime, and if you talk more about ‘you’ and less about ‘them,’ you will face hardships in seeing results from content marketing.
How Content Marketing Works
Content Marketing is as simple to understand as it is easy to spell.
Understand this with an example;
Summer is coming, and you need new apparel for your wardrobe, but the problem is you don’t know where to start.
Meanwhile, there’s a clothing brand that just created a blog post featuring ten summer styles you must have in your wardrobe.
Do you think there’s any chance that you’ll read that blog post?
If you find it online, then definitely.
Moreover, if you liked that blog post, you might even buy some clothes from that brand.
Brands that attract users, ultimately to generate sales, by offering solutions to their users’ problems through content is an authentic example that describes how content marketing works.
Why is Content Marketing Important in 2021
42.7% of worldwide users (age range of 16 to 64 year old) use ad blockers, states Hootsuite.
It simply means almost 50% of worldwide users cannot be targeted using ads. However, they can be targeted via content marketing. Content marketing gives brands the privilege to attract the attention of their targeted users — without relying on ads.
And that’s why content marketing is booming, and it will stay in demand until the next few decades.
Knowing the pros of content marketing, we have compiled some of the best reasons for your brand to adopt content marketing in 2021.
1. It Builds Trust
Gone are the days when you could improve sales by hard-selling the products to the consumers. Buyers have become smart nowadays.
According to Edelman 2019 Trust report, 81 percent of consumers said that they buy from a brand when they can trust it.
Fortunately, content marketing helps build trust between the consumer and the brand, says 96% of content marketers in a CMI’s report.
2. Lead Generation
One of the reasons that make content marketing a game-changer is that it generates quality leads if done right.
Let’s try simplify it in a few words;
When a brand solves the pain points of its targeted users via informative content, the users tend to become interested in the brand’s solution.
Moreover, the Curata CM statistics ebook says that 74% of companies found improvement in their lead generation(quality and quantity) because of content marketing.
3. Improve Conversions
Can you guess what makes content marketing even better?
That’s right; it’s conversions!
CMI says that content marketing gathers six times higher conversion rates than other methods.
4. More Visibility on Search Engines
Search Engines, especially Google, are the first go-to option for anyone who needs to find an answer to their question/problem.
And you must be thinking about what a brand can get from it.
- It makes your brand discoverable.
- It provides traffic to your blog or website; the first position in Google’s search results receives 33% of traffic on average.
- It provides 28.5% CTR to the first position of the search results.
5. Builds Authority
Authority has a huge role in our buying decisions. Choosing Nike over an anonymous sports shoe company dictates how we’re wired to buy from brands we know.
And when it comes to content marketing, authority formation is directly linked to providing valuable content — content that answers your audience’s pain points.
It has been noticed that original research can create authority for any brand. 94% of marketers say that original research elevates a brand’s authority.
6. Builds Brand Awareness
As per a recent CMI survey, 86% of marketers said they successfully achieved their brand awareness-related goals because of content marketing.
Moreover, Blog Posts/Short articles were 31% helpful, social media content was 25%, and in-person events had an 8% contribution to the success.
7. Build Brand Advocacy
Content marketing revolves around creating content that adds value to your targeted users’ lives. The continuous value addition in the lives of your audience strengthens trust and your audience’s loyalty towards the brand.
Eventually, the brand gathers a loyal fan base, no less than brand advocates.
Moreover, brand advocates are 50% more likely to influence a purchase — as per Marketing Charts.
8. Higher ROI
The return on investment via content marketing is usually measured in sales, and blogging is found to be one of the best sources for a positive ROI.
According to HubSpot, Marketers who prioritize blogging (in content marketing) are 13 times more likely to see positive returns on investment.
9. Nurtures Your Leads
Lead nurturing comes after acquiring leads. Therefore, you must have a lead magnet in place to acquire leads.
According to Marketo, companies that nurture their leads generate 50% more sales. And before you wonder about the role of content marketing in it, lead nurturing emails are found to have a 4-10x higher response rate and an average CTR of 8% — says HubSpot.
10. Improves Customer Retention
Data suggest that acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer. But why is this so?
This happens because the success rate of selling to a new customer ranges from 5-20% as compared to an existing customer, i.e., 60-70% — says Marketing Metrics.
And that’s why brands, especially SaaS businesses, need to focus on retaining users actively.
Emarsys found that 80% of organizations believe that email marketing is effective in increasing customer retention.
Conclusion
Content marketing is in the game for quite a long time, and it is here to stay for even longer. We agree that we have said this multiple times, but it’s true.
Many brands have skyrocketed their businesses already, reached hundreds of thousands of customers from zero user base, and generated ten times more sales than before — all through content marketing.
It’s time that you also pick up the trend and reap the benefits for your brand this year.