January 07, 2014

Feeling Confident? Why Now is the Perfect Time to Invest in Content Marketing

With 2013 in the rearview mirror, businesses are feeling considerably more confident about what’s on the horizon for 2014. In fact, 80 percent of small business owners are more confident about business growth prospects than they were last year, according to the Pepperdine Private Capital Index. Moreover, the MNI Chicago Report business barometer averaged 62.7 over the past three months, the highest since the period ended May 2011, signaling sustained growth.

Armed with more confidence, businesses owners are more inclined this year to take risks, kick what didn’t work in 2013 to the curb, and find ways to take their business to the next level. But before they get too excited about expanding their business, they must have an effective marketing strategy in place, which is where content marketing comes into play. Content marketing – the creation and dissemination of custom copy – not only helps convert potential leads into paying customers, but it also doesn’t break the bank.

Let’s explore the top five reasons why now is the perfect time to invest in content marketing.

1.Consumer Spending Remains Strong: Following a five-percent rise in spending in the month of November on products such as electronics and services, financial analysts agree that consumer spending will remain strong in 2014. In fact, recent data showed that consumer sentiment skyrocketed to a five-month high in November suggesting that Americans are opening up their wallets once again. Content marketing is just the tactic you need to capture the attention of consumers and spread brand awareness.   

2. Your Competitors are Already Doing It: Believe it or not, your competitors are already on the content marketing bandwagon and reaping its many benefits. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 93 percent of B2B marketers use content marketing, up from 91 percent in 2013. Don’t be the last to the party, as there might not be any more cake (i.e. consumers) left.

3.Consumers Want Two-Way Dialogue: Today’s consumers no longer want to be bombarded with traditional “in your face” advertisements. Instead, they want to engage in meaningful conversations. A company blog or social media feed is the perfect place to build real relationships with consumers, while simultaneously gathering important, useful consumer information.

4.Search Engines Will Make or Break You: Let’s face it; your search engine rankings have a direct affect on your business’ success. After all, consumers rarely click past the first page of search results to find a service or product. With Google’s slew of farm animals and its newest addition, Hummingbird, content has never been more important. Today’s search engines are on the hunt for informative, original content which just so happens to be content marketing’s bread and butter.  

5. It Works: There’s a reason why content marketing has become the go-to integrated marketing strategy of 2014 – because it works! In business, your goal is to generate quality leads, which can be challenging. However, this is made easy as content, such as whitepapers and webinars, use “gated” forms to gather consumer information which can then be used by sales.   

Feeling confident? Then it’s time to get out there and put your stake in the content marketing world. 

 



Comments powered by Disqus


Related News