Content marketing is the heart of branding on the internet today and it is essential to your growth as a business to have a sound content marketing strategy. No matter what size your business, it is important that you keep up with your competition by using content marketing to your advantage.
But how exactly does content marketing drive sales?
It all starts with traffic. People expect to find valuable information when they do searches for particular products. Here’s the process that occurs from the search to the sale:
- Someone is looking for a product, like a new digital video camera, so they do a search for digital video cameras. Google and the other search engines scour the web for the words “digital video camera” until it locates the most relevant, high-quality content related to these keywords.
- Your site has (hopefully) been optimized with the right keywords without overdoing it. The key ingredient of a good website is good content, rather than all-important keyword use.
- You have a variety of engaging and delightful things to offer people on your website, which attract the visitor and entice him, so he wants to know more.
- Your “call to action” leads the visitor to your landing or sales page, where she will be able to make a purchase or sign up for a list.
- You complement the content on your website with videos, which enhance your message and add to search results. Videos also serve to increase conversions as it has been shown that people make a buying decision much faster after having viewed a video about the item they are looking to buy.
Ideally, this process occurs in a smooth, uninterrupted fashion. But all of the pieces must be in place, including good, solid engaging content, which is helpful to the reader and offers some inherent value. This is not only Google’s rule — it’s just good ethics.
What Drives Content Marketing?
The impetus behind content marketing, therefore, is all of the components in this process working seamlessly together, to provide valuable information to customers and potential customers. With increased traffic due to your high quality content, you will drive more traffic, and thus more sales from the sheer numbers.
A Word About Targeted Traffic
The most important aspect of traffic, though, is that you drive targeted traffic to your website. Tools lije Google Analytics allow you to study and analyze who is coming to your site, how long they stay, and even the type of device they are using. This information gives you insight you wouldn’t have otherwise and helps you know how to gear your content marketing strategy toward higher sales volume.
Good luck and have fun!
Deborah K is a radio DJ, media producer, professional blogger, technology business owner, and video marketer who is now a full-time work-at-home entrepreneur. She enjoys sharing what she’s learned with businesses to help their businesses grow!