Why A Compelling Content Marketing Campaign Could Be Just What You Need

Words can be powerful things. They can educate, inform and influence. They can also persuade; and if you’re selling a product or service, that’s the end result you’re looking for. Persuading people to buy can be complex. Are you sure you're achieving that? Are your sales figures good enough?

Cash brings customers, right?

Throwing cash at the problem is not necessarily feasible or the answer, especially if you've already invested a lot in your website and digital advertising such as pay-per-click. You want a substantial rate of return for your existing marketing and sales spend before you start adding more money to the pot!

However, you could be missing a crucial, and low cost, element: structured and sustained content management.

What is content marketing?

Don’t be fooled into thinking it's picking keywords and finding as many places to use them as possible. This may help you to boost website traffic, but that’s not the same as creating a successful sales strategy. No matter how many people click on your ad or website, that’s not the same as having healthy sales. Website traffic is not much use if your lead conversion rate is low.

The difference between having a strong internet presence and having one that actually brings completed sales can come down to content marketing.

Creating a content marketing strategy

Who are you talking to? Whatever your target audience, the chances are they are reasonably tech savvy, even if they are an older demographic. They could also be resistant to a lot of the empty and flowery marketing language that worked in the past. Bombarded on all sides by advertising, modern consumers need something compelling to get their attention.

This often comes down to something referred to as “added value” or unique selling propositions (USPs). Don’t just sell them a tin of beans, tell them what’s special about it and how it will benefit them.

You will also probably know about brand identity. This is not simply your logo. It’s your USPs, where you want your product or service to fit and how you want your customers to perceive it.

With a clear idea who you're talking to, and an established brand identity, you have some meaty content inspiration (your marketing messages).

Delivering content marketing

The most important place to project your brand identity and sales messages is your website. Does it grab and hold your customers' attention? Does it give them enough compelling reasons to contact you, buy from you or visit you? Is the content adding to a positive user experience?

Next, you will need to audit your social media. Posting in a robotic or unstructured way is a waste of time and energy. Does your social media content reflect your brand identity? For example, does it directly address the benefits of your product and service, answering possible customer questions and tackling misconceptions head on?

One of the best ways to make sure that your social media is successful is to weave in lots of added value material. This could include posts designed to improve product or service use, or your customers' understanding, such as “how to” and “top tips”.

Use imagery and live stream opportunities to show your product or service to best advantage too. Throw in some relevant fun stuff, and make your content easy to share and comment on. Similarly, put regular and insightful blogs and news items on your website to make it more dynamic and compelling.

Always link the content on your social media to your website, but keep everything fresh and unique.

Content marketing and SEO

The latter point is important for your search engine optimisation (SEO). Google’s algorithms are no longer impressed by keyword stuffing or dubious links between your website and external ones. These sophisticated spider bots now crawl about measuring authentic content. If material is duplicated, it doesn’t count.

A good flow of fresh content on your website, social media and external sites can seriously help your SEO, earning you a higher ranking in searches.