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No doubt you've heard plenty about content marketing in recent years, but often
it's discussed in broad terms rather than specific ideas and handy tips you can
'hang your hat on'. So to fix that, here are 7 interesting content marketing stats
you should know and some advice on what to do about them.
1. Companies with an active blog report
97% more leads
Content+ (2013)
One thing most successful brands have in common is a trustworthy identity. To develop
that identity a business must tell its story by openly sharing information with
the world – and a company blog is an excellent way to start that process.
Tip: Add a blog page to your business website and ensure somebody is responsible
for updating it at least once each week.
2. 70% of consumers prefer getting
to know a company via articles over ads
Content+ (2013)
People receive hundreds of marketing messages every day. It's such a part of our
lives that we are increasingly able to block out the ads we don't want to hear –
in fact 86% of people skip TV commercials (Content Marketing Institute, 2012). But
that doesn't mean we abandon our marketing efforts. If traditional ads are too easily
ignored, perhaps a more creative approach is required.
Tip: Publish a professionally-created company success story to highlight your expertise.
3. Clicks from shared content are
5 times more likely to result in a purchase
Voltier Digital (2012)
The key message here is the power of referrals, both direct and indirect. Buyers
associate shared content with a certain level of credibility. After all, it's an
unbiased person with similar business interests giving your ideas the tick of approval.
Tip: Always ask yourself one question – would I share this content with my industry
peers?
4. Articles with images get 94% more views than those without
Content+ (2013)
Images grab people's attention in a way pure text can't, so think of the article's
pictures as your bait and its words as your gourmet dish that earns the rave reviews.
Wouldn't you like almost double the number of customers feasting on your
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content? Time to dust off the camera.
Tip: Take photos of your people and products in action at every opportunity and
save them to a marketing images folder for future use.
5. Posts with videos attract 3 times
more inbound links than plain text posts
SEOmoz (2012)
Each and every organic referral to your website should be treasured. Your ability
to earn links from credible sources outside the company is crucial to your search
marketing campaign. A video adds clear value to a page, which can turn into more
traffic and more leads.
Tip: Create a simple 'About Us' video for the website homepage and a series of short
demo videos for your top products.
6. 46% of people say a website's design is the number one
criterion for discerning the credibility of the company
Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab (2012)
Your website is often the first impression you make on a potential customer. If
it's outdated, unattractive and difficult to use, people might assume your whole
business is just as underwhelming, and that's a scenario to avoid at all costs.
Tip: Don't look for shortcuts. Invest in a highly functional, visually appealing
website that represents your business in the positive light it deserves.
7. 64% of B2B content marketers say
their biggest challenge is producing enough content
Content Marketing Institute (2012)
So you recognise the importance of quality content, but you feel under-resourced?
You're not alone. This calls for a 'big picture' approach; while creating content
costs time and money, doing nothing and losing valuable engagement with your market
sets you back significantly more in the long run.
Tip: Make content marketing a top budget priority. Could the financial resources
be found elsewhere?
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