You’ve probably heard about social media marketing, email marketing and on and on. But what’s content marketing?

The short answer is providing useful content in the form of articles, tips, helpful videos, etc. 

to your clients and customers.

Businesses big and small are turning to content marketing as a way to nurture leads and retain clients and customers. But how does content marketing work, exactly?

To truly understand why you and your business need a content marketing strategy, you first need to understand how it will benefit your business. Below are four ways content marketing can help you and your business.

1. Social Reciprocity

When you provide someone with something of value, they will feel a subconscious, psychological need to give back to you and reciprocate. Famed psychologist Robert Cialdini, author of Influence, called this “social reciprocity.”

By producing useful content in your niche on a regular basis, you are providing your readers with something of value.

When those readers will be in need of the product or service you provide, they will think of you because they have that need to reciprocate.

2. Become an Authority

You may be the best at what you do, but how will your potential customers find out?

According to a study conducted by Relevance and the Nielsen Group, 85% of consumers regularly or occasionally seek out expert and trusted content when considering a purchase.

That’s where content marketing comes in. The more practical and helpful content you provide, the more you will become a source for anything pertaining to your industry.

As your audience grows and their trust in your brand increases, you will have established yourself as an authority in your field. Everyone wants to use the expert and everyone wants advice from a thought leader.

You be that expert. You be that thought leader.

2. Expand Your Reach

Billions of dollars are spent each year on social media marketing. Businesses and organizations are posting and sharing like crazy, hoping to one day see some results.

But social media marketing can be fruitless if you don’t understand why it is people share things online in the first place.

In 2013, The New York Times Customer Insight Group released a study detailing just that. They found that people share online for the following five reasons:

• To bring valuable, enlightening and
entertaining content into the lives of people
they care about

The study showed that 90% of people share to help someone have a positive experience (or avoid a negative one), and nearly as many (89%) share to help others save money.”

• To define themselves

To quote from the study: “As one respondent explained, ‘I try to share only information that will reinforce the image I’d like to present: thoughtful, reasoned, kind, interested and passionate about certain things.'”

• To grow and nourish their relationships

They found that, “80% share information with others as a means of staying connected when they wouldn’t otherwise keep in touch. And 73% share content online to help them connect with others who share their interests.”

• Self-fulfillment

“69% reported that sharing information makes them feel more involved with the world.”

• To get the word out about causes they
believe in

“84% of people share information as a way to support causes (or brands) they care
about.”

The key takeaway here is that people share things they find interesting, helps them build relationships, and aligns with their self-identity and worldview. This can only be achieved with a comprehensive content marketing strategy.

By definition, content marketing is geared toward providing content that is valuable to your readers. This way, when you post something that people find helpful, they will want to share it with their friends because they found it valuable.

Not because you wanted them to.

So, when crafting your piece of content, ask yourself: How is this content fulfilling at least one of these sharing motivations?

4. Visibility on Google

Google rewards sites whose content satisfies a search query. When you enter a question into Google’s search bar, you can be sure you’ll find a satisfying answer among the top five results.

In fact, Google will showcase the answer they think is the best even if it comes from a site with limited traffic.

So with some thought and planning, you can choose a topic that interests your specific audience, write a definitive and comprehensive piece of content, and you’ll improve your Google rankings.

Takeaways

Content Marketing will allow you to:

• Begin the process of social reciprocity

• Become an authority in your field

• Expand your reach with valuable, shareable content

• Earn higher rankings on Google

If you’re not confident about writing the content yourself, that’s fine. You can hire a firm to do the strategy, writing, and promotion for you. The point is, content marketing is one channel you don’t want to leave behind in 2018.

As always, feel free to leave a comment. And if you found this helpful, don’t forget to share it with your friends and colleagues.