Why Invest in Content Marketing?

Posted at Aug 19, 2022 5:00:00 PM by THAT Agency | Share

Content marketing is too expensive.

We need results now, not a slow burn.

Who needs SEO?

Now’s not the time.

I don’t have the time.

In the face of these – all too common – objections, why invest in content marketing? Bottom line: you cannot afford not to. Not in today’s world, with the most educated, savvy consumers in history. Yes, we still buy on emotion. Yes, we still buy on impulse. But we research, we rationalize, we review, we double-check, we confer with friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, and faceless peers across the internet.

Content is the way to reach them. It is an investment; it takes time to yield strong and sustainable results that build on each successive piece in terms of SEO, reputation, and consumer trust, but now is the time – and you have it!

Why Invest In Content Marketing?

If you are trying to justify an investment in content marketing, let the facts speak for themselves:

Consumers Want Content

Why invest in digital marketing? On average, we spend seven hours each day consuming content online. Seven. Your audience wants to hear from you to learn, research, be entertained, be engaged, and make informed decisions. We’re going to throw some numbers at you:

82% of consumers feel more positive about a brand after interacting with custom content.
78% of consumers perceive that they have a relationship with a brand after consuming content.
68% of consumers spend time-consuming content from brands that interest them.
60% seek out a product/service after reading content about it.
70% of people would rather learn about a brand through articles rather than advertisements.

They want it. They’re looking for it. Are you delivering?

Content Has a Powerful ROI

Content creation is reasonably priced, especially when considering how long it can keep paying off. In fact, it costs 62% less to launch and maintain content campaigns compared to other marketing avenues.

It does take a commitment. You can't just put up one or two pieces of content and expect the hits to roll in. Content builds on itself over time. Statistics show that sites with 400+ blog posts generate twice as much traffic, and pushing out two to four posts per week nets the highest traffic and conversion rate.

And it’s not a one-shot deal, so to speak. The first thing to understand is that content creation supplies you with an asset that will continue to pay off years down the road. Unlike many other forms of advertising, it's not a one-off marketing push. A piece of content may do well for you now, continue earning a steady stream of visitors for the next year or two, and then have a second life because its SEO becomes relevant again. Content continues production for a long, long time. This is a powerful reason why investing in digital marketing pays dividends beyond the initial expenditure.

Content Is SEO Gold

Where do you turn when you need answers? Google, of course! The mega-search engine fields inquiries for everything from “where’s the best Thai restaurant near me” to “what do these symptoms mean?” Most online experiences start with a search. Your ability to rank well in the search engine results pages is paramount: over a quarter of searchers click on the first result, and the top three receive 75% of all clicks.

Notoriously closed-mouthed about its ranking algorithms, Google explicitly says that creating high-quality, the original content will influence your website ranking more than any other factor. Every page, every blog, and every piece of unique content gives you a new opportunity to rank – and you are more likely to attract inbound links, which are also SEO gold.

You Position Yourself As an Authority – With a Story To Tell

Some objections to content marketing center around the idea that brands don’t want to “give away the farm.” That is, they don’t want to offer something of value for free. But don’t think about it like that: what you are doing is establishing and building your reputation as an authority, a thought leader, in your space.

Consumers see that you do, in fact, offer value without expectation – and this helps them form trust in your brand. It creates that sense of relationship and affinity. As we see from the stats, it also makes it more likely that they will seek you out and make a purchase (or complete another key CTA).

Beyond this, content marketing is storytelling. People share what has meaning to them: a story, a motivation, a passion. Content creation serves all of these purposes. Customers will become more loyal because they identify with the stories, facts, and motivations that they connect to in your content. Customers are more distrustful than ever today, and with good reason. Identifying with a brand is a commitment that takes more than slogans and a good website. It takes customers to become invested in the personality of your brand.

Content Marketing Provides a Solid Foundation for Other Strategies

Every other strategy is made stronger by having an established base of content. Content creation builds social media followers and makes your customers look to you with a certain level of trust. This allows you to become a thought leader within your industry. When you begin to be able to shape your industry, starting in small ways and growing from there, you're able to plan ahead, guide the market, and create expectations in your customers that you're best suited to meet.

Why invest in content marketing? It gives you something unique in advertising: an asset that continues to develop leads long into the future. It makes customers and clients more likely to buy, share, and draw in new customers. It can be the difference between reacting to new trends at the last minute and leading them.