There’s no way around it. Businesses have to spend money to make money. Although the amount varies industry to industry, marketing and advertising is the lifeblood to sustained growth and profitability. With this fact in mind, the question becomes where do I spend my marketing dollars? There are no shortage of options here.
I think pretty much everyone would agree the Internet is the marketing channel for the twenty-first century. Company have been learning that they can get a much better return on investing they marketing budget on more traditional mediums like radio, TV, or print.
Print, digital, television, outdoor and online are the major players. Each of them are effective in their own rite, some more than others. We are seeing a steady decline in print media spending, especially when it comes to magazines and other similar periodicals.
Meanwhile digital and online spending have gone up in excess of 6% this year alone according to Techcrunch.com. Television is still where the most dollars are being spent, but the high price tag associated with it makes this medium unattainable for many companies to make this part of their long term marketing strategy.
Having an online presence in more critical than ever. It’s more than just being easily found online, it’s about credibility. The success of your online reputation starts with content. Once you’re found online, what kind of message are you sending through your website? Does your website’s content connect with people on an emotional level and make them want to return? Is your message compelling to read and easy to digest? Good SEO starts with good content.
So why all this talk about content? Knowledge is power. Well written content makes you an authority. People do business with those they trust. Quality content is a great way to show people that you know what you’re talking about. Once you’ve established the reputation of being an authority in your industry and online the customers will come. No sales pitch required.
Comparing content marketing with other forms of advertising is apples to oranges. It’s a different philosophy altogether. Content marketing isn’t just blogs or social media, (although those two are by far the most employed tactics), but a good strategy uses many different channels to release content to their target audience. Put all this together and the result is a very positive ROI. Far more than traditional marketing strategies are able to convert.
As an added benefit, the content that is produced can be reused and repurposed for training materiel, additional sales collateral and other assets within your organization. Since quality content is, well… quality, it hold value in itself and as such can be used in other areas of your business.
As the world of business evolves into the digital age, we must adapt to new ideas and philosophies in all areas of our business. Marketing perhaps being the foremost of them. People think and buy differently than they did a mere decade ago. Today’s customers are hungry for information, let’s give them something to chew on.
Jon Smith has been in the online marketing industry for over 10 years. He and a few friends just opened a company called Digital Flavor. It is a full service inbound marketing agency that specializes in content marketing. Please be sure to visit www.digitalflavor.com.