Content marketing is one feature of digital marketing that has proven over the years to be responsible for creating awareness and also facilitating sales for B2B and B2C businesses and that’s another aspect that we tend to overlook.

According to Content Marketing Institute, 60% of marketers report that content marketing generates demand/leads. In addition, 70% of marketers say that it helps to educate the audience, and 60% say that it helps build loyalty with existing clients/customers.

For you to see that content marketing as a tool can help to generate leads that would be converted to sales and at the same time educate the audience.

In a technologically advanced world, it is important that businesses take advantage of the opportunity to grow and expand their brand beyond what they are now and that is where content marketing comes in.

Definition of Content Marketing

Content marketing is the process of research, development, and distribution of digital assets, such as blog posts, videos, ebooks, audio, technical and solution briefs, and a variety of other digital content to provide information to your audience.

It is also a tool that is essential to search engine optimization (SEO) success. SEO is the process that allows your business to rank at the top of online search results and to achieve this, you need to create engaging, high-quality, in-depth content related to your industry, and business, and in line with the message, you want to pass across to your audience.

Business in this context relates to Business to business (B2B) and business to customers (B2C), regardless of its numerical value.

“Marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content Marketing is showing the world you are one.”

Robert Rose

Content marketing is much more than content writing, in fact, that is just a part of it. It is a strategy that if not properly structured, you may end up not getting the results you desire.

It can also be seen as a strategic marketing approach focused on creating, developing, and distributing valuable, educating, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience for the brand which translates to sales and profit.

Importance of Content Marketing

1. Audience connection and engagement

Content marketing allows you to connect with your target audience, create a medium for engagement and build a relationship with them. When you create and distribute valuable content, you not only attract new customers but also build trust and credibility with them which is a strategic approach to converting your audience to paying customers.

When you create a positive experience for your customers with your content, they are bound to stick around longer or get compelled to come back for more.

They also bring their friends, family, and everyone they know along with them.

2. Increased website traffic

Remember I said content marketing is a strategy on its own if you implement the strategy you are on your way to getting increased traffic to your website, especially for SEO.

The search engines must have crawled your website, discovered quality content that answers the questions of internet users, and indexed it. The next time an internet user asks for content related to what you have on your website, your website ranks on SERP (search engine result page), and that is a win for you!

{Read more on Technical SEO and Content SEO here}

3. Increased customer loyalty

As long as your audience are sure that you create trendy, educating, and informative content, you can be sure they will stick around. This can be compared to a magnetic drawing your audience closer to you, and keeping them glued to your business. In an earlier article, we shared how Brand Storytelling is Key to Long-Lasting Customer Loyalty.

4. Position as an expert

Content marketing helps to position you as an expert in your specific industry. If you can use it as a tool to exist in the mind of your audience then you have it. The content you research, develop and share has to be substantial and qualitative for your audience. People know quality when they see it, and it brings them back to your social media pages for example and they recognize your brand as an expert.

5. Increased sales

With content marketing, sales might not happen instantly, but there is what we call Top Of Mind Awareness (TOMA), this means that whenever someone from your audience wants to make a purchase of whatever products or services you offer, your brand comes first in their mind. The reason is that over time, you have established your brand as reliable and trustworthy with the content you create.

Types of Content Marketing

1. Emails and Newsletters
2. Social Media
3. Blogpost
4. Audio
5. Videos
6. Testimonials and review
7. Infographics
8. Ebooks
9. Guides and How-to
10. etc

For every type, there are different tools out there to help you achieve your goal. You can also read this detailed post on the content marketing types that will change your business.

Conclusion

In this article, I have shared with you the definition of content marketing, its importance, and its types. I have also shared extensive information about the benefit of sticking to it as a tool.