What’s the best way to grow your business?
One way to do it is to focus on developing exceptional products. Or, you could base your business success on delivering next-level customer service. If you’re lucky, your target audience will recognize your brand’s dedication. And they will award you their loyalty.
But focusing on customer experience isn’t enough — especially if you want to attract and engage a bigger audience. Or if you wish to inspire conversions and boost customer retention. To achieve these goals, invest in producing and distributing high-quality content.
A strong long-term strategy could be the best way to transform your business into a powerhouse.
Well-developed content is a low-cost way to boost business results. It could also be the thing that differentiates your brand from your competition. And it could give you a much-needed advantage in a world of almost unlimited consumer choices.
Are you looking for effective ways to yield long-term business growth? Here’s how to use content marketing to reach your objectives.
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Set highly focused and attainable goals
According to research, the primary content marketing goals for 2023 included:
- Attracting web traffic
- Increasing brand awareness
- Maximizing lead generation
It’s worth knowing this because you want to understand what outcomes you can reach through publishing high-quality resources. Then, you can confidently incorporate content marketing into your business growth strategy.
But, the best way to use content for your brand may not include any of these objectives. You might want to produce resources to boost your brand’s authority. This would be especially useful if you’re operating in a competitive industry.
Establishing yourself as an authoritative voice is essential for building trust with consumers. It’s also crucial for gaining a competitive advantage.
Or, you could focus on relevant content for first-time buyers. That way, you will optimize the onboarding process and maximize their customer experience. It’s a smart way to set a strong foundation for brand loyalty.
For example, take a look at how the Pergola Kits USA website includes user manuals in its Learning Center. The posts are all technical documents awareness or evaluation-stage consumers wouldn’t search for. But, for buyers who just made a purchase, these resources help position the business as user-oriented. The range of information and instructional value in each post ensures a positive shopping experience. Plus, it maximizes their chances of leaving a favorable review or recommending Pergola Kits to their peers.
(Image Source: Pergola Kits USA)
How to set growth-oriented content marketing goals
Regardless of your desired outcomes, there are a few ways to ensure success.
- Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals.
- Get to know your audience as well as possible. Study their interests, online behaviors, and preferences. Identify the pain points you can solve with content. And try to track their reactions to the resources you publish.
- Put together an ace content marketing team. You don’t have to hire content creators for every piece you publish. Technical experts and customer service specialists working for your business already have a lot of valuable insights they could share.
- Ensure you translate their knowledge into business growth. So, explore topics and formats that appeal to your target audience. Furthermore, remember to make each resource user-friendly by optimizing for readability, engagement, and visual appeal.
Perform in-depth keyword research to uncover content marketing opportunities
Not all content is created equal. Sure, publishing often may boost your brand’s visibility for a limited time. But it won’t necessarily contribute to business growth.
So, what is a more effective way to develop a content marketing strategy for growth?
Well, the best thing you can do to grow your brand is to determine the type of resources your prospects want and need.
The most practical way to do this is to perform keyword research. Brainstorm ideas related to your solutions and your audience’s pain points. Then, use a keyword research tool to identify target phrases with a solid monthly average search volume and low difficulty — like “ghost mannequin photography,” for example.
Screenshot provided by Author
Take the time to perform this step. You’ll exponentially increase the chances of your content marketing efforts leading to long-term business growth.
- Knowing what search terms to target with your posts maximizes your content’s chances of ranking high on SERPs. This is crucial for reaching your audience and generating traffic. Keep in mind that the last result on page one receives 143% more traffic than the first result on page two.
- Keyword research can help identify related search terms. You can use these to create new content for your blog. Or, you can incorporate the terms into your existing posts to make them valuable and relevant to a bigger audience.
- Most keyword tools will help you identify your competitors. By analyzing their content, you can see what you have to do to make your resources more valuable than theirs. You can also look for content gaps and produce resources that will address specific pain points or differentiate your brand.
The brand Mannequin Mall uses these tactics to identify content opportunities. For example, take a look at the guide for shooting strap dresses on ghost mannequins. Using the above strategies, the resulting post is not only effective at attracting traffic due to great SEO. It also does a tremendous job presenting the brand’s target audience with unique value.
Use original long-form content to generate leads
One of the most valuable benefits of using content marketing is that it can help you generate leads.
Now, if you don’t already employ email marketing, consider adding it to your roster of digital strategies. Not just because it’s a low-cost way to engage your audience. More importantly, email allows you to nurture leads into customers. Plus, it can help you encourage customer loyalty by keeping your brand’s solutions at the forefront of your audience’s minds.
To get prospects to become leads in the first place, you need to optimize the resources you publish for lead generation. There are many ways to do this.
Add conversion elements to awareness-stage resources
Are you creating an awareness-stage post that introduces your target audience to a topic related to your services? Why not enrich the resource with engaging conversion elements that present the extra value readers could unlock by converting?
This is what BJJ Fanatics does in its What is Jiu-Jitsu article.
Here, the brand empowers readers with helpful information about the martial art. Then, it displays an ad for the Insiders Club subscription. The lead-generation element lets readers know they can speed up their learning process. It also shows how they can unlock private lessons and drills by signing up for the brand’s subscription service.
Create walled content to attract B2B audiences
Are you trying to target and attract professionals? In that case, keep in mind that the B2B buyer’s journey is long.
Research shows that professional buyers often evaluate multiple product providers. They consider several factors, resulting in an average sales cycle of between one and three months.
Considering these challenges, one of the most important things you can try is to convert B2B leads into newsletter subscribers. Content can help tremendously with this.
Professional users often research their pain points extensively. Therefore, presenting them with high-quality content that establishes your brand’s authority can be an excellent way to maximize your brand’s growth potential.
Think of businesses like Aspire. Even though they enjoy a solid reputation, they require help keeping their leads engaged.
To overcome the issue, the brand regularly conducts original research. Then, it puts the findings behind a sign-up wall.
Doing this doesn’t just populate the brand’s newsletter subscriber list. It also allows Aspire to present qualified email subscribers with additional conversion-inspiring content to maximize their chances of becoming customers.
Explore a variety of formats to create a content ecosystem
Diversification is one of the best ways to use content marketing for long-term business growth. After all, each audience segment will have different expectations from your brand.
For instance, some of your leads will prefer to consume bite-sized pieces of information via laid-back distribution channels for a no-pressure way of solving their pain points. Others will want to dive into the research process, trying to resolve their needs as efficiently as possible.
With this in mind, adopting a growth mindset is essential. By being open to learning from different approaches and continually refining your strategy, you can explore a variety of formats and distribution channels, ultimately creating a diverse content ecosystem.
Blogs
Written content is popular for a reason. It is a low-cost, high-yield way to boost brand awareness. Plus, online reading is the preferred way for many people to get information — especially during the product research phase of the buyer’s journey.
According to data, 55% of people still use search engines to find product information before shopping. Even though price comparison and social media sites come in at a close second and third, the findings show how essential it is to create insightful buying guides for your target audience.
So, if you want to invest in content that can move prospects through the sales funnel, consider creating blog posts for each section of the buyer’s journey.
For example, consider an evergreen article, like Evo’s Ultimate Guide on How to Choose a Surfboard. It is an excellent way to attract early-stage buyers to your site. And, it can help present web visitors with relevant, conversion-inspiring content.
Multimedia formats
For a more user-friendly way of helping your target audience solve pain points, consider investing in more than just written content.
You can use multimedia formats, like podcasts, infographics, or videos. These can help your prospects extract additional value from your resources. Moreover, they can make it convenient and easy for web visitors to engage with your brand.
For example, research shows that people learn quicker with visuals supplementing text. So, Classical Guitar Shed uses videos and graphics to enrich its educational content, as you can see in this guide. These multimedia formats make it super-easy for web visitors to learn guitar basics. Plus, they transform the blog post into a great resource to bookmark, as aspiring musicians often have to revisit lessons while honing their technique.
Seasonal and trendy content
Sometimes, the best way to use content marketing for business growth is to invest in evergreen resources that will continue attracting web visitors for years. Other times, you can boost brand and product awareness by catering to people’s needs with seasonal or trendy content.
Admittedly, trending topics aren’t a reliable way to reach your target audience. Still, they can help put your brand on the map.
For example, Last Crumb regularly creates products or collections for holidays like Father’s Day. Logically, the brand also invests in seasonal content to inform customers about the availability of these products. Thanks to its original approach to content marketing, Last Crumb manages to go viral almost every holiday.
This tactic doesn’t just earn hundreds of thousands of views. The approach also allows the business to transform its products from sweet treats to coveted gifts for any special occasion.
Or, if you’re willing to update your content (which you definitely should), you could do something similar to Love the Night Sky. Every month, this business updates its Planets Visible Tonight guide. This helps aspiring astronomers get up-to-date info on what they could pick up with their telescopes. And it positions the brand as a reliable source of all things astronomy-related.
(Image Source: Love The Night Sky)
Repurpose for alternative distribution channels
As you explore ways to use content marketing to grow your business, remember that people spend a lot of time on social media.
In 2024, the average person spent 143 minutes browsing social networks. So, to expand your brand’s reach, combine your content strategy with your social media marketing activities.
Sure, building a presence on multiple platforms requires time and resources. Still, creating valuable content you can repurpose for alternative distribution channels is an excellent approach to using your posts to grow your brand.
For instance, you could turn research findings into easy-to-understand graphics. This is what Digiday does on Instagram. It is an excellent method for ensuring as many people as possible see the value your brand’s content offers. It can also be a tactic for directing high-quality organic traffic to your website.
Additionally, you can communicate with your audience more once you repurpose content for alternative distribution channels. By integrating dynamic QR codes, you can make it easier for prospects to interact with your content across various platforms. This not only makes your content more enjoyable but also helps you build a community of followers.
Not sure why connecting with your prospects is key to business growth? Consider this. According to Adobe, 56% of people want to support brands that get them and care about their needs. Just being there and offering a solid solution won’t cut it anymore. People have plenty of businesses to choose from and want that deeper connection.
So, as you find ways to make your posts go the extra mile, explore opportunities to add interaction invitations to your repurposed content. You could do something along the lines of Dribbble.
This business regularly challenges creative professionals to submit their designs. The content team chooses the best examples of the user-submitted images. Then, it turns them into X threads to help Dribble users gain attention and encourage more designers to participate in the weekly challenges.
Final thoughts
There’s no single way to grow your business through content marketing. Over the long term, the best thing you can aim for is sustainable growth.
To get results, you need to have specific goals in mind. You need to fully understand your target audience’s needs. Then, you can offer them truly valuable content.
Regardless of your business’ size, the tips from this guide are an excellent start. To secure the best possible outcomes, monitor your content’s performance. Additionally, be prepared to adjust your strategy when you notice you’re not getting the desired reach or engagement rates. After all, consumer preferences and behaviors continue evolving. Winning their attention requires an agile approach to content creation and promotion.