You know your business needs a website, but why in the world does your business need a blog? A blog plays an essential role in your content marketing strategy — a strategy that’s been proven to show a tremendous return on investment (ROI) than traditional outbound marketing and paid ads.
The following six facts offer undeniable proof that if your business isn’t utilizing content marketing already, it should in 2019.
6 Undeniable Reasons Content Marketing Boosts Your Online Leads
1. Content Marketing Attracts 3 Times More Leads Per Dollar Spent than Paid Search
Paid Search is often touted as the premium online marketing solution. And, paid search can often be incredibly effective. This is especially true if your business wants to see an immediate influx in website traffic.
2. Content Marketing Attracts Leads Months (and Even Years!) After It’s Published
A paid ad is only active while you’re paying for it to be shown. Content marketing lives on, with the potential to attract leads months and even years after it’s published. This type of long-term organic presence is known as Evergreen Content. In his case study, 'The True Power of Evergreen Content - A Case Study,' Nicholas Eubanks shows how traffic to an evergreen post can continue to attract inbound links and organic referrals. This can often result in:
The biggest traffic surges coming months or years after the post was first published
Rank improvements to the site overall, helping to boost the organic reach of future content
3. Content Marketing Generates more than 3 Times to Leads as Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing is traditional marketing — any interaction initiated by the company. Think cold calling, trade show booths, and seminar series.
Content marketing acts as a form of inbound marketing. It attracts customers to interact with your business. According to the 2016 study released by Demand Metric, content marketing generates more than three times the leads as outbound marketing.
4. Content Marketing Costs 62% Less than Outbound Marketing
Demand Metric also showed that content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing. Why? Most likely because banner blindness has caused audiences to shy away from promotional messages.
Nearly 70% of consumers simply don’t trust advertising. They try and avoid commercials. Their eyes glaze over at the sight of a pay-per-click ad. They simply turn the page to any magazine ads. And, the cold call results in so many hang-ups it’s become a national joke. On the other hand, content marketing allows businesses to deliver valuable, trustworthy information through multiple platforms. These could include:
Blog Posts
Social Media Posts
White Papers
E-Books
Infographics
Videos
5. Blogging Gains Businesses 126% Higher Lead Growth Than Businesses without Blogs
While the realm of blogging has certainly become more competitive, it’s far from dead. A 2018 HubSpot study revealed that business with blogs benefit from 126% higher lead growth than businesses without blogs.
It’s important to keep in mind that this kind of success requires a strategic blog and content marketing strategy. Your website needs to be optimized. Your content needs to be well-researched. And, your blog post’ structure needs to be both reader-friendly and SEO friendly.
6. 82% of People Have Purchased as a Result of Content Marketing
The 2018 study, ‘How Content Marketing Benefits Businesses,’ published by Clutch showed that 82% of users “have purchased a company’s products or services as a result of consuming content marketing.”
Today’s consumers are substantially more educated than in years past. They don’t simply buy a product because you tell them it’s the best. They want to know it’s the best based on fact. Furthermore, they want to be able to understand how and why the product will meet their need. That’s what effective content marketing does. It answers the ‘Why’ and ‘How’ questions a user has, so they can feel confident in their purchasing decision.
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