Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
Research shows the vast majority of marketers are using content marketing. In fact, it is used by many prominent organizations in the world, including P&G, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and John Deere. It’s also developed and executed by small businesses and one-person shops around the globe. Why? Because it works. Specifically, there are three key reasons — and benefits — for enterprises that use content marketing:

• Increased sales
• Cost savings
• Better customers who have more loyalty

To help you better understand the importance of content marketing, we’ve put together a list of the top advantages that content marketing can provide your small business:

Improve brand reputation by building trust through content marketing.
One of the greatest benefits that really shows the importance of content marketing is the reputation building qualities of great content. In today’s busy digital marketplace, it’s vital that businesses work to build trust with their leads and customers. Building trust can help your business establish a positive brand reputation.

Great content helps influence conversions.

If you’re really wondering why is content marketing important, then look no further than the conversion statistics. Here are just a few of the stats that really speak to the importance of content marketing when it comes to improving website conversions:

Content marketing provides conversion rates about 6 times higher than other digital marketing methods. (ABG Essentials).
After reading recommendations on a blog, 61% of online consumers in the U.S. then decided to make a purchase. (Content Marketing Institute)
According to 74% of companies surveyed, content marketing has increased their marketing leads, both in quantity and quality. (Curata)
Video content can help provide a great ROI and significantly increase conversions,
according to 72% of businesses surveyed. (CrazyEgg)
HubSpot reports that inbound marketers are able to double the average site conversion rate (from 6 to 12%), in part due to their content marketing efforts.
Optimized content helps improve your SEO efforts.

The importance of content marketing becomes more clear when looking at the role that content plays in helping your business build and improve search engine optimization (SEO). SEO plays an important part in improving visibility for your business online. However, if you want to improve SEO, you need to create optimized content.

Creating great content is a cost-effective way to bring in new leads.

For those wondering why is content marketing important, take a look at all of the ways that content can help your business bring in new leads. Lead generation is important for small businesses that rely on consistent traffic to grow their brand and boost sales. Content marketing is not only great for lead generation, but it’s also affordable.

Though content marketing costs about 62% less than traditional marketing tactics, it generates about 3 times as many leads, according to DemandMetric. The affordability of content marketing makes it a necessary tactic for small businesses that want to maximize their budget.

Content enables your brand to showcase your subject matter expertise.

Consumers want to know that they are dealing with experts who know the ins and outs of the industry. This is another answer to why is content marketing important. Content marketing allows your brand to demonstrate its expertise in the field while providing valuable knowledge that can help readers make a more educated purchasing decision.

Our leads and customers want great content!

Why is content marketing important? Well, your leads and customers want to read great content. In fact, 20% of the time that internet users spend online is spent just reading content.

And if you’re thinking that people don’t want to spend time reading content from brands, think again. Research shows, 68% of people like to spend time reading about the brands they find interesting. Additionally, 80% of internet users like to learn about companies through the custom content they provide.

Content marketing helps you set yourself apart from competitors.

In the busy digital marketplace, it’s vital that your small business differentiates itself from competitors. This is the importance of content marketing. Content marketing is an effective way that small businesses can work to set themselves apart from others in the industry and show what makes their company special.

The topics that you create content around and the value of the content you provide can mean the difference between a consumer choosing your brand over a competitor’s. For instance, if a buyer is doing research about their challenges and certain products that can help solve those challenges, they will be more inclined to work with the business that’s provided them with helpful information.

Conclusion

With all the benefits described above, it’s easy to see why is content marketing important for businesses of all sizes. Not only does content marketing help you boost visibility, but it can also help you build stronger relationships with your leads and customers.

If you really want to see the importance of content marketing in action, it’s time to get started. Come work with us on developing a content marketing strategy that has your target buyers at its core. Then, you can be on your way to creating valuable content that helps boost conversions and improve customer retention.