Many marketers are at a loss when it comes to measuring the value of their content, and making people outside the industry understand what it is about can be hard. There are a few simple ways, however, to show how important content marketing is.
According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), there are two key aspects to content marketing: whether is provides long-term profit to your company, and whether it is relevant and useful to your target audience. So, when introducing the concept of content marketing to an executive, you should stick to these essential values.
One of the most important things to know about online content is that it is permanent and once created it will always exist. Evergreen content is a long-term asset for the company and will continue to be beneficial long after it was created. Moreover, a recent study by Kapost and Eloqua found that at present, ROI from content marketing is more than three times higher than the ROI of paid search.
Another key value you should highlight is the fact that content marketing boosts search rankings; ever since Google introduced its Panda algorithm, high-quality content has been crucial for search engine rankings. If you regularly publish industry-related content, the search engine will start to recognize you as an expert and will give you more prominence in certain industry-related queries. This matters, as research by Nielsen found that consumers were 67% more likely to purchase products they found through an online search.
Last but not least, content eventually results in loyal customers. Content should meet the needs of consumers, which means it should be useful, entertaining and easily accessible. If you manage to provide them with this over a period of time, you will build trust – which users will willingly show and share with others.