Businesses have become very interested in content marketing. The frequency at which the term content marketing is searched, has increased more than ten-fold in the past decade. What is content marketing and why is it such an important tactic to attract customers and make sales?
The most important thing to most companies is attracting traffic to the company website. While driving traffic to one’s website is crucial, once a potential customer arrives at a website, they stay for an average of 59 seconds, and only 2-3% of website visits result in a sale. A business’s marketing goal, then, shouldn’t be to just get traffic to the company website; the goal should be to accomplish these three things:
- Increase the number of visitors to your website
- Make your website interesting enough for people to stay, and then return
- Increase your conversion rate to between 5-10%
If those goals sound a bit lofty, here’s how content marketing can make all three become a reality.
- The best way to drive large numbers of people to your website is to appear on the first page of a Google search. Google uses 200 factors to determine how it ranks companies when displaying search results. Effective search engine optimization (SEO) customizes a website to meet Google’s ranking criteria with content that uses keywords and that is regularly updated. A good content marketing strategy will easily satisfy both those requirements.
- Content marketing builds relationships with customers. It creates and disseminates information a customer will find interesting and relevant. Content marketing isn’t trying to sell anything; instead, the content is used to steer a customer onto the path to purchase. There is no sales pitch. Consequently, customers feel comfortable and won’t feel like the only purpose of the site is to make a sale. Additionally, friendly retargeting can entice one-time visitors to return to the site.
- Content marketing is meant to charm the customer by selling your company’s story, vision, uniqueness, and—ultimately—giving the customer a reason they should buy from your company rather than your competitors.
For examples of the effectiveness of content marketing, check out
- Ben & Jerry’s – They’re not selling ice cream anywhere on the site. Yet, because it’s fun and informative, visitors will spend time on the site and will want to return. More importantly, the next time those visitors are in the ice cream aisle, it’ll be Ben & Jerry they’ll be thinking of.
- Chase Bank – If you think banks are cold and unfeeling, Chase is out to prove it’s not so. Their News & Stories, prominently featured on their home page, has something for everyone. You’ll be interested, you’ll trust them, and when it comes time to get a car loan or mortgage, Chase is the bank that will spring to mind.
If you’d like content marketing to convert a higher percentage of web visits into sales, contact McFadden/Gavender and let our digital and creative team help put your conversion rate where you’d like it to be.
