Why Content is Still King

Content Marketing is without a doubt still one of the best forms of Digital Marketing in today’s online marketplace.

Why? Because other forms of Marketing are forced, disruptive. But with Content Marketing, the audience want’s to come to you. It’s voluntary, it’s inbound.

And it makes it a lot easier to get conversions. So yes, Content Marketing is still king.

A phrase first coined way back in 1996 when famous entrepreneur Bill Gates wrote an essay with the exact title “Content is King”, that statement still rings true now, 25 years later.

Within that essay he wrote:

“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting” – Bill Gates

Bill Gates knew then what is still true o this day. You need content to connect with your customers.

The internet is and always will be an information exchange. People use it to search for information, whether it be about problems, interests, or checking Facebook to see what their family is up to.

Content Marketing fits in with this by making your business about people, and how you can help them. Not about your business and how customers can help you.

Let’s get into why that is so valuable.

You Build Relationships With Customers

Producing regular content with personality, relevance and value will create a connection with and build a relationship with your customers over time.

You’ll build a relationship with readers as an authority, and that trust will lead to more customers as they see the value you can bring them. You’ll attract new customers while also keeping in touch with old customers who may seek to purchase from you again. And we all know that repeat consumers are what helps a business to thrive.

Keeping in touch with old consumers will also drive referrals, as your connection with them will help you be brought up in conversation, with those customers referring your business or reviewing their experience with you.

You Improve Brand Recognition

Good, consistent content is how you establish yourself as a brand that can be trusted.

And when you’re a trusted brand people talk about you. You’ll become recognized in your instrusty, and the customers and competitors within it.

It will be easier for consumers to be confident in recommending you to others, and for potential customers, being a trusted and known brand will help them make the final purchasing decision.

You Can Inform and Educate

Content is created to educate your audience. But not just with guide’s and thought pieces, but about your brand and your products. Show your audience how you can help them.

Don’t lecture them about your business, but when writing an article about a particular problem, show how your product can solve it.

Or invite potential customers in one of your guides to a free consultation that can help them further. Getting people to pick up the phone, even for a free meeting, get’s them much further along in the buyers journey towards making a purchase.

Whether in a meeting or in an article, you have the opportunity to remove any doubts about your business, and to answer any questions consumers may have about your products and services.

Content Influences Conversions

As I have mentioned above, when writing content you can offer a product or service as a solution to your consumers. This is known as a call to action, where you mention to readers how they can complete the conversion process and become customers. Including a call to action greatly increases conversions and is why Content Marketing can offer up to 6 times more conversions than other Digital Marketing approaches.

Other Marketing methods disrupts a target audiences online experience and uses hard selling techniques to force purchases. Content Marketing is not just effective, but a better experience for consumers. Instead, Content Marketing makes consumers voluntarily come to your site, because they see the value. And solutions are suggested, rather than pressured.

An audience that feels like the decision is in their hands, is more likely to make it.

You Can Improve Your Search Rankings

SEO is where content will always reign as king. Search engines reward sites that give their users the most value, and value is created through content.

Create high quality, relevant and original content and search engines will notice. Keyword optimise them, share them on social media for a boost and add some relevant links, and search engines will reward you for it.

Instead of having to pay for traffic or hustle on social media for it, it will come naturally as you rise higher and higher in the search rankings.

To receive value you have to share value with others, and the effect of great content on search engine rankings is the perfect reflection of that.

Content is Cost Effective

By creating great content, you have a very cost-effective way of creating business leads.

Online businesses or even businesses with an online presence are all about traffic. Valuable content will get you to it.

With a consistent Content Strategy, the traffic will consistently come. This can be a lot cheaper than running continual ad campaigns to bring in business leads. According to some studies, up to 62% cheaper.

Compared to other marketing methods, this can produce results of up to 3 times more business leads for every dollar spend, compared to other marketing methods.

When looking at it from this business perspective, there’s no wonder content is still king.