Content Marketing is a Brand’s Great Equalizer
November 4, 2020 | Content Marketing
By Jeff Cheatham
If lead generation is the lifeblood of your business, content marketing is the oxygen that keeps the blood circulating. Done right, a content marketing campaign can produce a steady flow of incoming leads. And with a variety of tools at your disposal, you can create a custom-built, scalable program for any budget.
What Content Marketing Is
Let’s talk about what content marketing is—and what it isn’t. At its core, it’s storytelling. It’s taking relevant and useful information about your brand and communicating it to your target market. It comes in a variety of forms including blogs, social media, white papers, case studies, videos, podcasts, webinars, influencers, infographics, email blasts, and newsletters.
What Content Marketing Isn’t
If you think content marketing is a fancy Madison Avenue, six-figure-budget undertaking that requires a massive amount of personnel and resources, we have to disappoint you. In reality, content marketing is a scalable exercise that can be tailored to your precise needs. It’s never a one-size-fits-all proposition. And it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
What We’re Hearing
“We’re not even on the first page of Google results when I type in our company name.”“Our sales guys can’t get consistent appointments with decision-makers.”“Our lead generation efforts aren’t meeting projections.”“Our sales are off because nobody knows who we are.”“With the resources we have, we shouldn’t be struggling so hard.”
Trust us, we hear you loud and clear. As you’re ticking off this laundry list of your marketing’s shortcomings, we empathize, because you’re not alone. These are challenges we solve every day for our clients.
Why Content Marketing Matters
We’ve covered the types of content that make up a content marketing campaign. Now, we explain why putting together a mix of them is important to your brand strategy. Whether you publish videos, white papers, case studies, blogs, or infographics on social media or your website, you’re amassing an arsenal of information about your brand. You are telling your audience who you are, what problems you solve, what type of corporate culture you have, and a host of other ideas. Regardless of the type of assets, content marketing is a sound investment for a brand. Why is that? The best answer is this—content marketing doesn’t just parrot your credibility to your target audience. It demonstrates it.
Content Marketing Success Stories
Still skeptical of the power of content marketing? Here are three recent, real-world examples that demonstrate successful content marketing campaigns—and the brands behind them:
BlogsMuch like Paige Black, Buffer is a company that helps brands grow their audiences—albeit through a narrower focus of utilizing social media tools. Rather than just produce one simple monthly blog series about their company, they used guest blogging to initiate interest and growth. The pace was frequent—twice daily, but it eventually attracted over 100K users. They now maintain four separate blog series and, through the power of social sharing, have grown to 400K users and a million followers.
Social MediaIntrepid Travel used an innovative content marketing campaign on Instagram where they invited travelers to share their images and stories related to their personal travel experiences across the globe. By leveraging user-generated content and cross-posting the entries to their Facebook page, they drove their audience to half a million followers.
Visual ContentIf 90% of our knowledge comes from sight, it’s obvious why videos should play a big role in content marketing strategies. This time, the example is one of Paige Black’s own clients, a commercial manufacturing company that processes output through complex processes. But understanding their capabilities and how they’ve integrated high-tech solutions is hard to describe in a blog. So, they made a slick video. In just under four minutes, with narration from their CEO, the video takes viewers on a fast-paced virtual tour of their entire facility. In 2021, the video will be repurposed and shared through multiple content marketing platforms to engage a much wider swath of their target market.
Content Marketing Produces Real-World Results
If you now have a grasp of what content marketing is, but still don’t get how it can benefit your brand, consider these facts:
Content Marketing by The Numbers
If you need evidence of the reach, power, and influence of a content marketing campaign coupled with the popularity of social media channels, consider these recent facts and figures:
People spend an average of 2.5 hours a day on social media in 2020.
It costs 60% less than traditional marketing, but can produce three times the leads.
Sixty percent of consumers seek products and services after reading content about them.
Seventy percent of consumers would rather read articles about a brand than ads.
Ninety percent of consumers find custom content useful to them.
A Content Marketing Call to Action
No, you haven’t missed the boat, and it’s never too late to establish an effective content marketing campaign of your own. Whether you’re a multimillion-dollar commercial construction firm or a start-up enterprise looking to take on the majors, content marketing has an innovative and unique way of leveling the playing field.
Paige Black has a talented team of experts with the combined experience to build a scalable solution tailored to fit your brand’s exact needs. It’s estimated that only 50% of brands are handling content marketing in-house. Are you part of the 60% that could use an outsourced solution to meet your specific content marketing needs?
If you need a scalable content marketing campaign—or to refresh an ineffective one, contact Paige Black today. Let’s schedule an appointment to discuss your unique situation. We’ll take your input and let our talented team of experts develop a custom approach that solves your most pressing needs. We can implement, track, and report on the metrics of any content marketing campaign—and be ready to celebrate the positive results alongside you.
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