You’ve heard of WIIFM, right?
It’s the question everyone asks before committing to anything—a new purchase, a new exercise program, or even adoption of a new marketing tactic. It’s “what’s in it for me?”
Everyone talks about how great content marketing is. Today, let’s talk about the benefits of content marketing.
To be clear, I’m not talking about the obvious stuff like sharing your ideas or proving you’re human. You probably already know all that. Which is why I want to look at the deeper benefits, the things you may not think about right about…
Here are the top 5 benefits from my perspective.
1. Quick Authority & Trust
Whether you’re launching a new business, refocusing your brand, or optimizing for growth, content is the vehicle you’ll use to get the word out. And if that content shares valuable, in-depth information, you can quickly build authority and trust.
Research has shown that familiarity breeds trust. As Harry Beckwith says in his book Unthinking,
“The first time someone gets our attention, we take away two messages: that they exist and that we’ve never hear of them before…. It’s not attention good marketers want; it’s attention over time.”
That’s why we do content. When people see your content regularly over months and years, you become so familiar, they start to feel they know you.
The format itself doesn’t matter. You can create case studies, step-by-step instructions, commentary, or analysis. You can create written content, video, or graphics. The point is that you do it consistently and well.
The Challenges You’ll Face
Your first challenge is to produce consistently authoritative content. Which means you’ve got to be comfortable with freely sharing your expertise, and your content needs to provide a ton of value.
Your second challenge is to get it in front of your best customers. You’ve got to figure out where they hang out online, and produce content specifically for those sites.
2. Easy Lead Generation
When we have questions about how to solve a problem or achieve a goal, what do we do? We search the internet for answers.
Sometimes we’re in solution seeking mode, and we plug our query into search engines. Other times, we’re just scrolling through Facebook and see an ad that promises the information we need. Still other times, we’re reading a fascinating article about the topic we’re interested in, and the author promises more information if we just “click here.”
So we do.
If you can produce content that addresses people’s immediate needs, you can build a simple lead generation system that continues to add new people to your list.
Throughout your website, offer free downloads of valuable information. In social channels or through advertising, send visitors to a landing page that offers the information they want. Then ask for their email in exchange for the content.
You need three types of lead generation content.
First is content upgrades—short one- or two-page pieces of content designed to add value to specific blog posts. For a how-to article, it might be a checklist or a resource list. For a case study, it might be the steps that led to success. You get the idea: quick wins or value-adds.
Second is brand or category optins. These are usually longer pieces of content related to your brand’s mission, your blog categories, or a product or service you provide. You may offer a manifesto available on the main pages of your website, and a category optin on blog posts that don’t have a content upgrade.
Third is lead magnets for funnels. These may be short or long, but regardless of length, they offer quick and easy solutions.
The Challenges You’ll Face
Creating multiple lead generation options is smart, but to make it work, you need to be able to create a lot of high-quality downloads. Time is an issue—both in creating lead gen content and in keeping it updated.
Try recycling content. Webinar recordings, a collection of blog posts formatted as an ebook, slide decks from presentations can all make good optin offers.
Check out this post for even more list-building ideas: 5 Insanely Simple List Building Tactics that Actually Work
3. Meteoric Growth
People buy from people they know, like, and trust. And as I mentioned above, these qualities are often developed through familiarity.
Simply by appearing to be everywhere your prospects are online, you can get their attention and direct it towards your products.
Danny Iny used this strategy to build Firepole Marketing (now Mirasee) in 2010. To promote his new business, he published a dozen articles within a few weeks, and the attention boost gave his business the kick start he needed.
More recently, Jason Quey used influencer marketing, which he calls a force multiplier, to go from unknown to well-known by 1,000 influencers in just one year. You can get some of that story here.
Jason recommends asking yourself this question each time you write an article: “Will this actually help anyone?” Your goal is to add value not just to your readers but to influencers and thought leaders as well.
It’s that type of focus that stimulates growth.
The Challenges You’ll Face
Your first challenge, of course, is to maintain velocity over time. It’s often possible to flood the web with your content for a few weeks or months. But it’s a time-consuming project, and eventually, other priorities will demand your attention.
Fortunately, though, if you’re strategic, you can create the impression of being everywhere without having to create an unrealistic amount of content. For example, try to put your content on highly reputable, high-traffic blogs so fewer posts can generate maximum exposure.
Your second challenge is the one we face every time we sit down to create a piece of content, and that’s quality. You won’t influence anyone if your content isn’t worth their time and attention.
Don’t create content for content’s sake. Always add value.
4. Massive Goodwill
Neil Patel is your role model for this one. A few years ago, he started publishing advanced guides, veritable books co-authored by experts in whatever topic was being covered.
No charge. No optin. Just super in-depth information available for free.
By the way, if you haven’t seen it already, you should check out the Advanced Guide to Content Marketing, co-authored by me!
Neil told me that he didn’t get a long-term boost in traffic from these guides, though he did get huge spikes when they were new. This is a case where content delivers intrinsic value rather than measurable growth.
I mean, everyone loves Neil. Really. Read the comments from his blog posts, and you’ll see what I mean. By providing such useful epic content, he’s built a huge, cult-like following.
And he keeps the love flowing by regularly posting his content on high-profile blogs such as Entrepreneur and Inc. as well as his own sites, QuickSprout, NeilPatel.com, and CrazyEgg.
The Challenges You’ll Face
Epic content—the kind that turns visitors into raving fans—is expensive.
For written content, you’ll need a writer and a designer. Good ones. Or you’ll need to be able to invest 2-6 weeks minimum to do the work yourself. Either way, it’s a big investment.
It’s the same for video. At the very least, you need a scriptwriter and a video editor. Then there’s the equipment: cameras, microphones, lighting, backdrops, specialized software for recording and editing.
5. Better Funnels and Launches
Think about the typical funnel or launch—free training or information, served up in useful downloads, ebooks, webinars or videos, followed by an offer. It’s all content marketing.
Regardless of how you deliver the content, your goal is to give “value in advance,” so people are more inclined to reciprocate and buy your product.
And it works. People love free content—especially when it gives them a feel for the trainer and the information being taught before making a commitment.
The Challenges You’ll Face
The biggest challenge here is identifying the precise problem you’re going to solve. The most successful funnels and launches address a simple problem that people want solved.
Once you know the problem you’re solving, you need to be able to create a collection of content pieces, each building on the other. Some will be offered free as promotional content, while others are held back for paying customers.
There are lots of challenges in building these campaigns and products. What to give away and what to charge for… how to structure it all… how to keep a unifying thread going through the entire series (we call that “scent” in marketing but it’s just as important in content development).
The good news is that you don’t need to be a big brand with a big budget to produce successful funnels and launches. It all comes down to quality content that generates interest in your product.
Bottom Line, Content = Growth
To review, content helps you achieve:
- Credibility and trust
- Lead generation
- Business growth
- Goodwill and loyalty
- Better funnels and launches
These just so happen to be the foundations of any successful business.
And that’s the real benefit of content marketing. It gives you a vehicle for communicating your mission and message, connecting with people who love what you’re doing, and converting them into loyal customers.
Now Let Me Share One More Benefit…
This is actually my favorite: Content is completely customizable to your strengths and your resources.
You can create content in any format or style of delivery. It’s up to you.
If you’re a writer, create written content. If you’re a talker, go for audio or video. If you’re an artist, create graphics.
Just play to your strengths and whatever your target audience likes best.
What’s more, you can use content in every stage of your business and in every phase of the customer journey, so you can use it to get leads, build relationships, and drive sales. Which makes it one of the most versatile tactics in your marketing toolbox.
