Boosting ROI with Content Marketing: A Guide to Inbound Success
Content marketing is an effective inbound strategy that targets prospects by creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content. Written content such as articles and white papers, as well as broadcasts like educational webinars, are prime examples. The goal is to attract and engage a specific audience, ultimately leading to profitable actions within an organization’s online ecosystem. Unlike outbound marketing, which relies on disruptive tactics like cold-calling, email blasts, and traditional advertising, content marketing builds trust and establishes the business as an industry leader.
Consistent creation and distribution of valuable content enhances an organization’s online visibility, keeping the brand at the top of prospects’ minds while creating an avenue for lead nurturing and ultimately conversions. Valuable industry or product-related content also serves as a guide for current clients, further reinforcing product or organization sentiment that can lead to upsells.
Dynamic content is effective because it addresses the needs and challenges of both individuals and organizations, satisfying the purpose for which search engines exist — to provide answers and solutions. Example:
You ask a search engine how to “improve efficiency in supply chain management.” You find a blog with the perfect tip — and it works!
A few weeks later, you realize your supply chain also has issues with inventory management, so you ask a search engine how to fix those.
Again, you find another helpful blog that addresses your problem. But wait — that’s the same blog as last time. This company is pretty helpful!
Before leaving the page, you sign up for notifications for new blog posts to get more helpful tips as they’re published.A month later, you receive a notification that a new blog has been posted, so you visit the website. While reading, you see an offer for a free consultation to evaluate your supply chain management system. All you have to do is give your phone number, and they’ll set it up.
You just became a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL). That’s a notch in the marketing team’s belt, and you’re now in the hands of the sales team, who demo their solution and attempt to convert you into a client. Inbound marketing through content creation has worked!
Some Stats
Statistics show that inbound marketing, which includes content marketing, is more effective than outbound marketing. According to a study by HubSpot, inbound marketing costs 62% less per lead than traditional, outbound marketing. Additionally, Content Marketing Institute found that businesses prioritizing content marketing see 6x higher conversion rates than those that don’t. Furthermore, a survey by Demand Metric found that content marketing generates over three times as many leads as traditional marketing and costs 62% less. More stats:
49.7% of companies using content marketing increase sales within 7 months. Effects are not immediate but they are lasting
42.2% of companies using inbound methodologies increase their lead-to-sale conversion rate
Implementation
Every client I’ve worked with has benefited from hiring a dedicated content FTE and/or sub-tasking staff to write content about the capabilities or application of a product or service. For the skeptics, I start by establishing a thought leadership content plan that serves as a pilot program leveraging in-house experts that share their thoughts with the company’s audience in writing with the intent of proving ROI.
In Summary
Content marketing is important because it is a more effective and cost-efficient way to generate leads than invasive methods that can be interpreted as negative by your audience. It focuses on providing valuable information to attract potential customers and convert them into paying customers over time. As your content program progresses you’ll find it’s possible to spend less on advertising — allowing that budget to be applied elsewhere.