Marketing: Why through Content

Is Content marketing still the most effective strategy to promote your business? Statistics are clear: companies with a blog have 434% more indexed pages than companies that do not (Hubspot data). According to a recent survey, 70% of internet users prefer getting to know a company through its contents. The 2.0 Customer is tired of the simple advertisement or face-to-face sales. Used to browsing through pop-ups, banners and pay-per-click links, they look for three branded aspects of corporate communication aimed at brand loyalty: authenticity, transparency and cordiality.

What is content marketing?

There is a lot of confusion about the true meaning of content marketing. According to the famous Content Marketing Institute of New York, "it is a strategic marketing approach aimed at creating and distributing valid, relevant and coherent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience, with the aim of generating conversions". The consumer seeks a different contact with the brand, an approach not dictated by simple advertising but a relationship born from reading quality articles that can identify the right customer target and create a transparent relationship of trust. Marketers work precisely on this aspect because they have understood an essential truth: we need to bring the consumer closer to the brand in an innovative way that respects their freedom of choice. Going along the already beaten paths of advertising is the wrong choice. Paraphrasing the title of a famous TV series, content marketing is the new spot!

Why does content marketing work?

10 to 1. Providing you the numbers is the most direct way to show you the reason why content marketing is essential for your business. Brands that spend a portion of their investment on content generation average 10 more conversions than competitors who do not rely on this effective strategy yet. People have the need and desire to get quality informative material and it is your duty and interest to create it! If a user is attracted by content they are more willing to leave data, respond to a call to action or browse your site to search for information, stimulated by reading a well done article that has pushed them to search you. Content marketing works because it responds to the 4 research intentions of an internet user:

• Informative intent: Customers search the web for an answer to a question or solving a problem.
• Investigative intent: Customers search for information for future purchases or services
• "Browsing" intent: Customers search for a specific brand but not for purchasing it. The intent is to browse site pages.
• Purchase intent: Customers are ready for purchase, and so research is more targetted. Use of long tail specific and targetted keywords.

What's the secret to last longer? Content Marketing!

Quality content gives value to the company blog, to the brand and creates a "thirst" for knowledge that leads the client to read, click on other content on your site and browse for more in-depth information. Content marketing gives you another undeniable advantage: generates traffic and conversions over time, even after many months. Quality pays off, especially in the field of effective marketing. One last aspect that should not be underestimated is the activity of Google. The famous Cupertino search engine recognises and rewards valuable content, allowing you to position yourself at the top of search results.

Opposite Twins: content marketing and inbound marketing

Inbound and content marketing share the same nature but are not just the same thing. While the latter is based on the tactics of quality content, inbound marketing is characterised by the clear intent of sales right from the first contact with the customer. This strategy cannot exist on its own, it is based on loyalty and the interest in purchasing generated by content marketing. On the contrary, content marketing also works without the help of inbound because a company can decide to create quality content simply to improve its image and reputation without the goal of generating leads.