If you haven’t focused on content marketing so far, you’re probably wondering how effective such a tactic could be for your business. What KPIs to follow in a content marketing strategy, what costs they generate, and when to expect results, in the article below.
Through a consistent content strategy, pull marketing wins over push marketing. That is, you do not have to use the old urging techniques (Buy now!). Instead, you will make the consumer want to know about you, to arouse his interest in your products.
Thus, content marketing generates three times more customers than traditional advertising methods, and the costs are 62% lower. According to the Content Marketing Institute, companies that regularly update their blogs generate 55% more site visitors.
Top 3 performance indicators we can track in a content marketing strategy
- Awareness;
- Loyalty;
- Conversion.
Awareness
Every business needs to position itself as a partner for the target audience to build long-term relationships. Your target audience wants to trust you and build a relationship that will stand the test of time.
Thus, a first result you can achieve with a content marketing strategy is to make your business better known. But also to generate traffic on your company’s website.
Video content has an increasingly significant impact. Why? Because it responds to people’s entertainment needs while delivering a marketing message. Be careful when making video content. It would be best if you try not to produce a simple commercial. We, for example, had the challenge this year of creating a YouTube channel about light bulb recycling from scratch.
Yes. We thought in what context people would consume such a message and why they would be interested. We concluded that it would be interesting to include the message in a larger context of the idea of a sustainable lifestyle. In this way, we have created an attractive editorial plan that grows from month to month. Basically, we achieved their primary goal of increasing their community and creating awareness about their cause, namely recycling light bulbs.
Loyalty
One of the advantages of a content marketing strategy is that potential customers get used to a certain degree of expertise over time. They perceive your company as an expert in a specific field. When a need arises that touches on your services, they will no doubt turn to your company.
When we talk about content marketing, we must know that it is not just about writing an article or making regular quality posts on social networks. Content marketing can take many forms: from text to visuals to podcasts and videos.
For example, for one of our clients in the beauty industry, we created a brand magazine that we have been publishing quarterly for three years. Its purpose was to attract new customers and to retain existing ones. After three years, we can say that the goal is achieved.
Depending on the type of content, the time required to obtain results may vary. In the case of a site, for example, according to Fract, a period of 6 -12 months is needed to obtain visible results.
If you are new to the field, you should know that your site will need time to gain visibility in the SERP (Search Engine Results Pages). According to BrightEdge, 68% of online experiences start with search engines.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the best ways to capitalize on your marketing strategy. You have to keep in mind that SEO is a process whose results will be seen in time. According to Forbes, many companies consider that the time required to obtain the first results in SEO is between 4-6 months. This statement is justified because it takes time to reach the first results in a list in which the biggest players in the market compete. Although the results will not appear quickly, further, you will be able to stay in the first 3 positions without investing as many resources as at the beginning.
Conversion
To make the purchase decision, people need content that precisely addresses their needs. 81% of decision-makers in companies who want to contract services or buy products said they research before choosing a supplier. This research period is advantageous for you as you can contribute to decision-making through relevant and quality content.
3 important content features that generate leads:
- It addresses precisely the needs of the target audience (62%);
- Provides a detailed description of the products or services;
- It is mainly educational rather than promotional.
Types of content based on which people make the fastest purchase decision:
- Recommendations from colleagues/sales representatives;
- Individual research;
- Reviews;
- Events with physical participation (55%);
- Case studies;
- Webinars.
The buyer goes through 3 stages until he makes the purchase:
- Familiarization with the brand; (branded content: 80% / user reviews: 50%);
- Developing an affinity for the brand; (branded content: 50% / user reviews: 20%);
- Purchase decision (branded content: 38% / user reviews: 83%).
Final thoughts
Although many people have considered e-commerce an exaggeration of consumption, this is not the case. Raluca Radu, Country Manager Answer, tells in a D-PODCAST episode about the transition of buyers. Offline sales have shifted to online due to restrictions imposed by law. The consequence of this transition is a significant decrease in physical purchases.
At the beginning of 2020, approximately 3 million online shoppers were active in Romania. Strictly speaking of the e-commerce market, the reports show an increase of 36%, reaching an estimate of 7 billion euros in one year. With these numbers in mind, you can start thinking about what your content marketing strategy should look like.
Other articles that may help you:
How to improve your content marketing strategy.
Common mistakes in content marketing.
Content marketing guide. Everything you need to know.