Trying to explain the virtues of search engine and content marketing to an executive internally or a prospective client can be quite a challenge to say the least. Many business owners generally still think advertising first – whether it be online (PPC) or through more traditional means.
Justifying the virtue of content marketing over traditional advertising can be difficult for some.
How can an online marketing professional effectively convince executives within their company (as part of a marketing team) or prospective clients (outside executives) of the value of developing informative content?
Content Marketing Institute recently compiled some tips from some of the best content marketers around on how to do this.
Here’s a couple of their responses to the question – “Content marketing can be a new way of thinking for some marketing teams. How would you explain the value of content marketing to a manager or executive who is primarily familiar with traditional advertising approaches?”
“Content Marketing has significant value in a few different ways. For one, the content you create and distribute on the web has a much longer shelf life at a lower cost then any traditional campaigns you will run. Each object of content you create can add the the total poll of content that represents your brand and works to get your customers talking back to you. Over time when your collection of content grows larger, you will notice increases in online traffic and engagement. A bigger collection attracts more interest.” Nate Riggs
“The value of content marketing lies in the engagement between the customer and your company. Traditional advertising shouts at prospect customers whereas content marketing talks with them. Essentially, it is about the creation and participation in meaningful conversations and development of relationships. Content marketing can benefit your company by increasing sales leads and positioning your company/brand as a thought leader, in addition to increasing the number of visitors to your website.” Amanda Maksymiw
Nate and Amanda hit on probably the two biggest advantages of content marketing over traditional advertising. One being cost – which one commenter says is one of the best ways to talk to someone clung to traditional advertising – and the other being the fact traditional advertising is not about the customer but about you.
As Amanda says, traditional advertising shouts while content marketing pulls up a chair and talks.
Other reasons you can provide your superiors or prospective clients include:
- Draw customers in through relevant content rather than one-size fits all materials
- More dynamic, easier to change
- Has a longer shelf life
- Easier to measure, more metrics and tools available
- Fewer risks and costs
- Reaches a wider audience
- …and more
Besides discussing the benefits of content marketing over traditional advertising, we also get a glimpse into some of the ways you can show your boss or prospective client the advantages of building content rather than using traditional advertising.
This is where testing comes in – nothing is more convincing than data to backup your claims of increased traffic, conversions and revenues. Show your prospect data from previously successful content marketing campaigns, provide word-of-mouth referrals and more.
Traditional advertising has been on a consistent downward trend for quite some time now. There are still some instances where it can work but as CMI and others say, there’s only one way to measure progress and that’s sales.
Providing these reasons along with some data to back it up will go a long way toward convincing your bosses or prospective clients that content marketing is an effective way to spend their marketing dollar.
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