An average American encounters 6,000 to 10,000 ads every single day! Consumers are online and digital marketing has given a better chance of succeeding for smaller businesses as they have an equal chance of accessing affordable advertising options. But there is a catch- intense competition.
Businesses have to find exciting ways to engage people and stand out from the crowd. This is the reason why the adage, content is the king has become more relevant today in 2022. The need for efficient content marketing is growing exponentially to connect businesses with potential customers and perhaps more importantly to connect with the outcomes businesses are looking for.
But creating good content is hard. It is 2022 and the expectations of consumers for it are very high.
What is good content? The requirements for good content may not be straightforward. However, it is necessary for a successful digital transformation. Your content creation should address these questions-
- What type of content will bring in new customers as well as engage the existing ones?
- What content will be worthwhile to the customers?
- Will the content resonate with the brand?
Great content is truly a business asset as it has the potential to deliver value to both the customer as well as the business. Great content is still relevant in 2022-
To build trust
We may sound harsh but the truth is most brands create content for the sake of creating it. Don’t go by quantity. Instead, focus on content quality. Create content for your viewers. Create content that is something of value, perhaps educative or informative content. Or it may be something humorous that aligns with your brand value. It is simple, if the viewer is viewing your content, make their time worthwhile.
Delivering amazing content will make them want to come back or sit and take notice of your brand. They’ll get to know you and your products. The more time a viewer invests in your content, the better awareness they get of your brand and it gradually builds trust between the viewer and your brand.
To understand your audience
You create content for your audience. But what does your audience like? Your content may be highly creative. But if it does not resonate with your audience segment it is futile and will lead you nowhere. To understand your audience, you take the help of content and experiment with the audience’s likes and dislikes until a point where you start to understand their needs and behavior.
Getting into the mind of your audience segments may be challenging, but your content will help you to tap into the online audience. Stay ahead of trends and stand out. Choose the right topics and keep creating content consistently. Digital marketing in the form of paid ads and organic content posting will help you to not only understand your audience but also acquire new customers.
For brand recognition
Consistent content creation helps you build an interesting visual library of your products and brand. When someone visits your website or social media profile, you are instilling brand recognition in them. Eventually, when someone is in need of your type of products or services they will remember your brand and come to you.
Using powerful visual content indicative of your brand is especially important on social media. A viewer has to register your brand on their mind when they scroll through your image. If it resonates at this level, you are successful in building powerful brand recognition.
For SEO
Content is the holy grail of search engine optimization marketing. By boosting SEO through content, you are increasing your chances of a potential customer finding you among millions of websites. SEO can be truly tricky but with relevant keywords, you can tell the search bots that you are the perfect answer to the search query.
Use keywords on your website and social media. Use relevant hashtags on social media posts. Keep adding blogs while revamping the older ones. There are umpteen SEO tricks through content that will help your website get recognized and ranked higher on the search engine results page.
To establish your expertise
What makes you the best in your field? What does it take to stay ahead of your competitors? Show off your expertise through content creation. For instance, if you are an interior designer, show your expertise by teaching some tips and tricks. Answer viewer queries as if you are a pro. Teach them some basics of interior designing. Discuss your topics in-depth and prove that you know your stuff.
Every time you create a new piece of content, you are becoming relevant to your customer. When you spark an interest with your content, viewers will start to recognize your expertise on the subject gradually leading to improved trust and conversions. The customers will not hesitate to buy products or services from you.
To generate leads
Your intent to create valuable content is to reach the audience. For this, you ensure that you are active on social media. You find the best sources where your target audience exists. They may be on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, or Pinterest. Digital marketing can help you narrow down your search to a great extent.
Content marketing is as crucial as content creation. It reaches the target audience and ensures you have a steady flow of viewers who will resonate with your content. It helps you recognize the best sources for generating leads. Once your content reaches an appropriate audience, it will automatically generate quality leads that may get converted into sales and profits.
For every stage of the customer journey
It will be wrong to say that content is just for acquiring new customers. In fact, it helps you at every touchpoint along the customer journey. If you are aware of the sales funnel, you know that content is crucial at every phase from the start to finish and even for customer retention and attracting them back for repurchases.
First stage- Awareness
When customers enter the first phase of your content marketing funnel, you have to assume they are unaware of your products and services. You create content focused on educating your audience. You create content types such as-
- Podcasts
- Videos
- Blogs
- Social media posts
- Infographics
- E-books.
Search engine optimization marketing (SEO marketing) plays a significant role to get customers to your website and social media accounts. Check for the metrics and find out which of these content types is getting the maximum traction. Tweak your digital marketing strategy to address the audiences correctly and make them aware of your products and brand.
Second stage- Evaluation
In the second stage, your content helps the customer decide if they need to buy your product. You have to build trust and look for ways to build on a relationship with the customer. Your content types will be-
- Case studies
- Emails
- Events/webinars
- Useful downloadable resources
- White papers
Good content incrementally moves the prospect towards brand awareness and purchase. Have a comprehensive content marketing strategy ready to help you in your goal.
Third stage- Conversion
The customers want reasons to buy your product. Your content is crucial for this conversion process and it has to focus on giving customers a clear reason why investing in your product is the best thing to do. Now, your content type has to be-
- Comparison of similar products
- Discounts and offers
- Introductory trial
- USP of your product
- Benefits and use-cases
- User-generated content such as testimonials, reviews, and ratings
Influencer marketing helps in a big way at this stage. It reinforces the uniqueness and benefits of the products and gives consumers a strong reason to convert their desire into a sale.
Fourth stage-Delight
Although it is not a part of the traditional marketing funnel, this phase holds significance in the current e-commerce scenario. Your content is designed to keep the audience engaged and provide value to your business. Your content target is customer retention. This can be done through-
- Referrals and affiliate marketing
- Early previews of new products
- Subscriptions to newsletters
- Special promotions
- Rewards for reviews and feedback
Once you have a customer, they have an influencing power in their social circles. Create content telling them about the promotions and incentives. Repost user-generated content. Give them a reason to make a repurchase or become your brand advocates. Each stage of the content marketing funnel serves a specific purpose in the customer’s journey.
Content is indeed the king everywhere in your digital success as it addresses your specific purpose- to get a viewer to buy your product!
Bottom line
Content creation used to be a tool to stand out from the rest. But today, in 2022, it is a crucial digital marketing technique for any online business.
Hire Houston IT Developers, a reliable SEO service provider to power your content needs. We create a consistent content schedule to ensure you have a steady flow of leads.
From search engine optimization marketing to content marketing, we take care of everything for you to succeed in your online business.
Why do you think you still need great content in 2022? What are your thoughts on it? We would love to hear from you!
