Why Content Marketing Works to Grow Your Business
Welcome to the fast moving world of content marketing that maybe seems a bit out of your grasp sometimes. You might be wondering what this term is and why it matters to you? You’re in the right place with this article as I’ll break down why content marketing is one key tool that should be implemented in your client acquisition and retention process pretty much immediately.
Let’s go over why content is essential nowadays for business owners. First of all, the landscape of marketing and advertising has changed drastically over the last decade where more eyes are on cell phones vs TV’s and where social media apps sway our buying decisions. So it’s essential that businesses have a strong social media presence in order to connect to their potential and existing customers.
Technology is moving so fast and making it so easy to create right at your fingertips! But, which apps are the best? Which ones are easy to use if you’re not techy and which really do what you need at that moment? Especially if you’re creating content you’ll want apps and software that either save you time, money or a headache!
What is Content Marketing?
For many business owners, the best way to connect to their audience is through teaching, giving value and creating a trust bridge towards a purchase. This can be done through valuable content, whether it’s a longer video or a shorter reel, it helps create an affinity with your audience so when you release a product or a new service, they know you are a trusted source of information and problem solution.
By the Oxford dictionary the definition of content marketing is “a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.”
Why Is Content Marketing So Important?
If you want your company to thrive in today’s landscape and have a leading edge, you want to start some sort of content marketing strategies right away.
You can:
- Increase your sales
- Loyal customer base
- Cost savings
- Increased lifetime customer value
Content marketing helps your customer not feel like they’re being sold to, but instead be supported through their buying decision. No one wants to feel like they’re getting bombarded with “buy buy buy” as it pushes them away. It’s actually a brain function that moves people into safety and retreat mode and can kill a sale right away!
So what providing useful, valuable, interesting and compelling content does is helps to create a bond between your customer and your brand that helps disarm the run away mode and establish trust.
There’s a fine line between content and advertising that can confuse people. Content delivers value! Plain and simple. It could be informational value or even entertainment value. This is why Instagram reels and TikTok are the hits right now. Many companies combine the information and entertainment to teach while building that trust factor!
Basically one rule of thumb you can count on is to give away content that people would pay for, and the more you give, the more perceived value you get and the more like and trust factors you build.
Types of Content
Website: Your website can be a hub for where you can write blogs that are chock full of value. Your website should connect with the reader and provide opportunities to learn, understand and also connect. Remember, marketing is your chance to solve a problem that addresses a pain point to which you are the solution. Making your website be a content hub where your audience is heard and seen vs a ton of facts can be a perfect way to establish a better relationship. Also, when you’re focused on content you improve your SEO ratings!
YouTube: The world’s #2 search engine is a perfect place to show off what you know! Creating valuable content on YouTube consistently is a strategy as people go there to look for things they need to learn. It is also time consuming so make sure it’s something you want to start and continue doing. I teach people about content repurposing all the time, and usually I have them start with long form content (a longer video) which can be reused, chopped up and shared.
Social Media: Having a solid social media strategy can help a brand stand out in today’s landscape. The top social media platforms right now are Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Pinterest. Having a solid plan to share your content on all of these platforms to reach a wider audience can help your visibility grow. Remember most people consume hours of social media daily!
Infographics: These are long form graphics that have valuable information. These can be carousels on an Instagram feed, a blog post on your website, or even a graphic on a YouTube video. These can include statistics, step by step, guides and a combination of all.
Podcasts: Did you know that According to The Infinite Dial 2021, US weekly podcast listeners averaged eight podcasts in the last week. Only 11% of US podcast listeners older than 12 listened to only one podcast in the last week. Most (21%) listened to about five, while 19% listened to anything from six to 10 podcasts per week. This is a great platform to get right into the ears of a receptive audience.
How to Start Content Marketing
Gary Vaynerchuk said something so valuable once that shifted how I create content “Don’t Create Content, Document Your Process!”
Creating new content all the time is exhausting and not really most time effective, so what you want to do is document your process as you work through projects, or do behind the scenes or even just explain the why behind what you do. Most importantly, content marketing helps you be seen and understood.
People want to connect with a person vs a brand and thus why brands such as Nike use spokespeople to showcase their products.
It might not feel natural to start making videos or showing up consistently on social media, but trust me once you create a strategy, get some coaching and start implementing, it will feel easier.
It’s also priming your potential customers to an easier purchase and almost crushing their objections before they get to the buy. It makes the runway shorter and why companies see a huge return on their marketing.
Essential Tools
In today’s landscape there are so many softwares and tools to help you stand out as a brand. These are my daily suggested essential tools that you need in order to create great content that can show you off as the expert, so you can help your potential clients get the results they’re in need of.
In this blog, you’re going to learn exactly what these tools are, how to use them, and why they help maximize your time so you don’t get sucked into tech land.
Tool #1: The Voice Memo App
You don’t have to be sitting in front of your computer if you have a great idea – you can whip out your phone! It’s free, it’s easy to use and it helps you capture moments when you’re not at the computer.
Any time you have thoughts that you haven’t had the chance to write down, grab the voice memo app and record exactly what it is.
If you received a download during meditation, or if you had a meaningful conversation that sparked an idea – don’t forget the value of this resource in your pocket.
The second way you can use your voice memo app is to get professional audio while you’re recording a video.
This is a little-known hack that can improve the audio quality of your videos and even help you to repurpose your content into a podcast! You can even record your next book as a dictation and then transcribe it.
The voice memo is a resource most people underestimate!
Tool #2: The InShot App
Use this app to edit your videos in a super easy way and on the go.
InShot has made editing videos for different platforms extremely easy. From cutting clips, trimming, editing sound, adding music, text and stickers and even making your own videos, this app is very handy and user friendly.
There’s many video editing apps out there, and I’ve tried several and InShot is still my favorite. It’s $14.99 per year, making it a low priced app that’s easy to use immediately.
It doesn’t do advanced editing techniques like splitting the screen or adding custom graphics, but you’ll edit a video in minutes.
Tool #3: Later
This is the app I use for scheduling on social media that saves me hours.
This helps you to not feel like you’re constantly in the hustle and bustle of social media, and you can feel at ease about your content for the week so you can focus on engaging with people on social media more.
Later is a leader in the industry for scheduling as they have been one of the initial softwares to do this type of work. It saves you a ton of time by pre scheduling your feed posts and stories. It also has an information full blog to help you navigate the ever changing landscape of social media.
Tool #4: Canva
This is hands-down the best tool for creating the graphics you need for your social media, branding materials, client materials, freebies, video editing, and so much more. Canva has the ability to make anyone a graphic designer.
With pre-made templates for just about anything, Canva helps you stand out as a brand in minutes. It has grown extensively as a graphic editing platform where you can even edit videos, create presentations, websites and printed materials. One of my favorite tools is the background remover which with one click allows you to position a photo anywhere on a canvas and create really dynamic graphics!
As a business owner, Canva can be one of the most useful tools in your deck and at a low price that ranges from $10-$14 a month, it really can’t be beat.
Tool #5: A CRM that brings it all together and helps you focus on sales!
Now that you know how to use tools to generate content, you can’t forget that you also need to find a provider for your landing page creation, email sending, and customer relationship management.
My tool of choice is HighLevel. With this system, I can build my landing pages, send emails, SMS messages, and even create pipelines for my potential leads all in one place from email marketing to building funnels and having a snapshot of client acquisition and your potential monthly revenue.
It’s one of the most robust tools out there that helps you organize your business, have stunning landing pages to help you sell your programs and services.
Click here to start your free trial to the best software out there!
All in all, the tools you are using for your business mean nothing if you don’t have a strategy in place for executing on them in a thoughtful way. Make sure you have daily accountability towards your execution of your strategy so you can achieve meaningful goals for yourself and your business.
I’ve been marketing for years and once I began applying a strategic content marketing bringing clients in has never been more fun and makes me feel like I give in order to receive! Get started with your authentic marketing systems today!
xox,
Arianne