Advertisements are everywhere.

From display ads to non-skippable ads on YouTube and influencers with #spon on Instagram, ads are becoming harder and harder to avoid.

With new research showing that Millennials don’t respond to ads, what’s a business in 2020 to do?

The answer is simple — content marketing.

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If you roll your eyes every time you hear the phrase, “Content is king”, or you’re still on the fence about the actual benefits of content creation, you’re in the right place.

In today’s post, you’re going to learn how the benefits of content marketing can help you cut through all that advertising noise, and speak directly to your ideal client — who is primed to buy (no Facebook advertising budget required).

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#1: Content Marketing and Google Are a Match Made in Heaven

Quality content = snagging that lucrative #1 spot on Google.

The top search result gets 33% of traffic, which drops to 18% for the second search result and 12% for the third.

How do you rank higher?

According to Matt Cutts, former head of webspam at Google, it all comes down to writing great content.

What are the benefits of Google liking your content?

A study, from Growth Badger, found that Google sends 8x more traffic to websites than all other social media platforms combined, and it’s the #1 source of traffic for every single niche in the study.

Investing in content marketing will dramatically boost your website traffic from the number one traffic channel: organic search.

#2: Solving Their Problem With Your Solution

It is much easier to sell ANYTHING when your ideal customer is already looking for what you sell. Want to catch your customer in that research phase? Then you need to empower them with information and position your product or service as the best solution.

Content marketing is the best way to achieve this. It stops you from forcing your product or service on people with traditional advertising and positions you as a valuable resource.

Are you not convinced?

Let’s say you sell designer handbags. If someone walks into your store and only wants to spend $100 on a bag, the sale isn’t going to be easy, if it happens at all.

If you can talk to that person during the research stage and explain why designer bags are worth the investment and the importance of paying a premium price for a quality bag, you can change their minds about how much to spend on a bag.

The same goes if someone is searching for a solution to oily hair.

You can educate them on the common causes of an oily scalp, what ingredients to avoid in shampoo, and give a soft pitch to your clarifying shampoo.

Even if that person has never heard of your brand before, by educating the consumer, you position yourself as an expert, by providing direct solutions to the customer’s problems.

#3 Traditional Advertising is Annoying, and Content Marketing Has Higher ROI

When was the last time you willingly sat through a TV or YouTube ad? With more and more people switching channels, turning the sound off, or using ad blockers, there are better and more effective ways to spend your money.

Would you rather continuously interrupt people with TV commercials and banner ads, OR would you rather attract primed-to-buy customers to your website?

Unlike some other forms of marketing, content marketing helps you avoid that “annoying” label and be seen by your customers as a brand who helps them.

Content marketing costs way less than a 30-second TV commercial and can help you generate 88% and 67% more leads, and the good news doesn’t stop at leads.

Content drives conversions like crazy. On average, conversion rates are 6x higher for brands using content marketing than those who aren’t. Then there’s the fact that content has compounding ROI, meaning that site traffic steadily increases to your website over time, without you having to lift a finger.

#4 It Attracts Backlinks and Boosts Your SEO and Site Traffic

According to Derek Halpern of Social Triggers:

“Content promotion should take 80% of your time while content creation should take up only 20% of your time”.

Why is that?

Backlinks.

[Tweet “Backlinks will change your entire SEO game.”]

Backlinks are an SEO game-changer, and will help you:

• Gain exposure from a new audience.
• Boost your position in the search results, and get you to that #1 spot on Google.
• Increase your monthly views with referral traffic.

The more people are clicking through from your guest posts and linking back to your site, the more you’ll see an increase in brand exposure and sales.

#5 A Solid Content Marketing Strategy Helps Your Audience and Earns Their Trust

The #1 question you need to ask yourself is:

“How beneficial is the content I’m creating for my audience?”

If it’s not helping your reader take ACTION, you’re not going to see results from your content marketing efforts.

When your content (i.e. blog posts, e-books, etc.) is informative, relevant, and actionable, it creates trust. If you combine this with a solid content marketing plan and approach your campaigns like strategic projects, your content game will shoot up.

Your reader will see you as a valuable resource — the go-to brand for the problem you’re solving. Plus, an overwhelming 95% of buyers consider content as trustworthy when evaluating a company.

More importantly, your actionable content is going to make them curious about the results they can get from your paid content.

If someone can achieve something from following your advice, that’s going to make them think: “Wow! If their free stuff did this, imagine what their paid stuff can do!”

#6 It Makes Life Easier for Your Customer Support Team

Do you know what’s annoying?

Replying to the same message. Every. Single. Day.

Don’t torture your customer support team like that. Not only is it a massive time-waster, but you’re missing out on empowering your customers to solve their own problems.

By creating a content marketing strategy that addresses your frequently asked questions, you can build a knowledge base, and reduce your support tickets by as much as 80%.

#7 Content is Your Sales Team’s Secret Weapon

Reach out to your sales team and create a list of the common questions and concerns potential customers ask. Getting a hold of this data can help improve your content game drastically.

Once you’ve got your list, start building out these resources. It will help you address objections and overcome them, making your sales team’s job easier and improving your team’s productivity.

Plus, your content doesn’t need lunch breaks and can work for you 24/7.

#8 Content Drives Long-Term, Top-of-Funnel Traffic

What the heck is top-funnel content?

It’s the awareness stage. People have entered the market and are looking for answers, but aren’t necessarily looking for YOUR product yet.

Top-funnel content (aka ToFu at CoSchedule HQ) helps to quench that thirst for knowledge.

As Emma Tupa, Marketing Strategist, describes it:

“It’s kind of like when you meet someone for the first time; you want to be interesting enough but not tell your entire life story.”

With over 80% of shoppers doing online research before making a purchase, you want to make sure you’re that information source.

What are the benefits of ToFu?

• It drives traffic to your website.
• Establishes your brand as an expert.
• Generates leads.
• Drives engagements.

What types of content work best for ToFu?

• Blog posts — you’re reading a sweet piece of ToFu content right now.
• E-books
• Infographics
• Webinars
• Email sequences

#9 It Nurtures Prospects Down the Middle of Your Sales Funnel

Now that you’ve made your lead aware of the problem and gained their trust by flexing your expertise, it’s time to nurture them to the next stage of the funnel.

Middle funnel (MoFu) content helps your leads hunt down the best possible solution to their problem. Instead of letting them figure everything out on their own, you can swoop in and save the day (again) with a highly valuable piece of content.

[Tweet “Middle funnel content helps your leads hunt down the possible solution to their problem.”]

What content works best for MoFu?

• Reviews, comparisons, and roundups
• Educational resources
• Case studies and white papers

#10 It Converts Leads Into Customers at the Bottom of Your Funnel

Once your leads get to the bottom of your funnel (BoFu), it’s time to convert!

You’re no longer trying to create trust and educate your audience; your game plan is to turn all that attention you’ve built around your brand into sales.

If someone has stayed to the bottom, you know they are SERIOUS about purchasing your product. You need to create content that talks about the product, compares it to your competitors, and gives your audience all the information they need to make an informed decision.

What content should you create for your BoFu?

• Product Comparisons and Alternatives
• Product Tutorials and Updates
• Customer-influenced Content
• Industry trends and analysis

Which content formats work best for BoFu?

• PDFs and Downloadable Content
• Webinars and Video Training Courses
• Success Stories
• Free courses and education

Now that you know about the benefits of top-, middle-, and bottom-funnel content, it’s a good idea to map out your existing content to each one. Here’s an easy-to-use content mapping template that will help you identify gaps, map out new content ideas, and stop any leaks.

#11 Content Marketing Helps Attract Your 1000 True Fans

Kevin Kelly wrote a fantastic article, called 1000 True Fans.

In his article, he explains that you don’t need millions of followers, millions of dollars, or millions of customers to have a successful, thriving business.

You only need 1,000 true fans.

What is a true fan? It’s someone that has Justin-Bieber-fever for your brand — a person who will buy anything you produce and sing your praises to the world.

Where do you find these “true fans,” or a better question might be, how do these “true fans” find you?

Through your content marketing.

[Tweet “Your true fans will only be able to find you through your content marketing.”]

If you’re wowing your customers from the awareness stage all the way through to that first sale and beyond, you’re laying down the foundations to build a true fan.

Once a true fan is invested in your brand, that person will:

• Follow you on all your social media channels.
• Share your blog posts.
• Tell their friends and family about you.
• Keep buying from you (hello, recurring revenue!).

#12 Amplifies Your Brand Awareness

Imagine writing a blog post that ranks on the first page of Google for a keyword that 20,000 people search for each month. Your brand is now in front of 20,000 people looking for a solution to the exact problem you solve. That’s 240,000 people a year who have potentially never heard of your brand. That’s incredible and powerful brand awareness.

Inside that blog post, you probably have keyword variants, if you’ve done your research, and those phrases will also end up ranking — giving you even MORE exposure.

All of this from writing a single blog post. Imagine the brand awareness you could generate from a consistent blogging strategy of four blog posts per month.

Content With Benefits

It’s never too late to start your content marketing strategy. It’s a long-term marketing investment that’s going to:

• Give you compounding ROI — no banner ad can claim that.
• Establish you as an expert in your industry.
• Nurture your leads from the top, middle, and bottom of your sales funnel.
• Boost your SEO, and rank on the first page of Google.
• Turn your customers into die-hard true fans.
• Support your sales and customer service teams.

What do you need to do to reap the benefits of content marketing?

Take action.

Write that blog post. Film that YouTube video. Create that infographic. Your ideal customers are out there on Google, right now, waiting to find you.

The post 12 Important Benefits of Content Marketing That Businesses Shouldn’t Ignore appeared first on CoSchedule Blog.