3 Rock-Solid Reasons Small Businesses Should Use Content Marketing

3 Rock-Solid Reasons Small Businesses Should Use Content Marketing

People hate to be sold, but they love to buy! Huh? How does that make sense? It all comes down to the psychology behind the purchasing process.

What’s your natural reaction when you’re bombarded with ads? If you’re like most people, you probably just want to run and hide or yell back at the advertisers. It all depends on your personality. After all, who doesn’t get annoyed by the 5th or 6th consecutive TV commercial, when all you want to do is watch what you tuned in for?

The web is no exception. Consumers will expect some advertisements, but too many can drive them away. Adblocker software is on the rise, and the average internet surfer can spot ads from a mile away.

So what can you, the small business owner do about this natural sales resistance? Luckily there is an alternative to bombarding your target market upside the head with ads. It can even be less expensive and more effective if done correctly.

It’s called content marketing. Here are three rock-solid reasons you should use content marketing blogs in your business.

Save Money on Marketing and Advertising

Content marketing isn’t free, but it’s less expensive than paid advertising. If you don’t want to produce the content in-house, you must outsource the production, which does require an up-front investment.

However, if done properly, promotional content can be shared across multiple platforms, increasing your brand exposure.

If your content is entertaining, it can go viral, and introduce your brand to audiences that may not otherwise be accessible. If your content is evergreen, it can sit on the web and deliver targeted leads for months, or even years to come.

By the time you consider all the ways your content can be viewed or shared, it’s a steal! Content marketing is well worth the investment.

Presell Your Audience on Your Product/Service

As previously mentioned, people love to buy but hate being sold. They want to come to a purchase decision on their own and not be forced into it unwillingly.

The purchase decision often involves research on the product or service a person is considering. Imagine your ideal customer arriving on the blog section of your website, where they find an abundance of educational articles based around your offer.

They gobble up your content with a spoon because it’s free! It’s a win for them. They got something for nothing. Although they may not realize it, they are subliminally growing fond of you for educating them, which eventually creates a desire to return the favor.

This is human psychology at work. When the customer seeks you out, finds you, then receives something for nothing, they will come back to you when the time is right.

Improves SEO and Relevancy in the Market

Providing up-to-date information about the market you serve is a great way to improve your visibility in the search engines, and let potential customers know you are staying informed about market trends.

If you publish a high amount of content, the search engines will have more to latch onto and serve your potential customers when they go searching for information about your product.

Strive for high-quality content production over high-quantity. A thousand pieces of low-quality content is useless compared to 10 well-prepared, well-researched articles.

The search engines also tend to favor websites that are producing fresh content. If your article is relevant but was published ten years ago, it may not rank as well as an equally relevant article that was published within the last year.

Old content can also give your visitors a sense that you are not staying up to date with market trends. On the flip-side of the equation, new content that discusses recent events or news in your market can give your visitors a great first impression!

Conclusion

Hopefully, these three reasons to use content marketing have given you the motivational kick you need to get started. Every small business should consider it. It will require an investment of time and money up-front, but the rewards can make the investment more than worth it.

Start assembling your content marketing strategy today!