When I speak with potential clients about digital marketing, one of the first things I share with them after the importance of having a website optimized for search is this: You need fresh content on your site. By regularly adding content to your website, it will rank higher in Google search engine results over time. Naturally, for someone who preaches the importance of having a blog, where you provide this fresh content, I was pleased to see the chart below published by Statista showing content marketing as the No. 1 digital marketing strategy employed by digital marketers around the globe.
The power of content and digital marketing revealed in a single email
I was reminded about the power of content marketing and digital marketing recently as I was preparing to meet a potential client in a downtown restaurant. As I was waiting, Bill DeRodes, a local businessman, came in. I told him I was just talking about him yesterday. I had just interviewed Jon Ansel, the president of his company in which he is a minority owner, about giving back to the community. The company, D+S Distribution Inc., provides trucking services to the Wooster Hope Center, which operates a food pantry in Wooster, Ohio. The blog post/content marketing piece had been published on the Wooster Hope Center’s website, and it was being pushed out on social media networks. (You can read the blog post here.)
As I was telling DeRodes this, he said, “Wait a minute. My wife just sent me an email from Florida about something.” As he retrieved his smartphone and opened up his email app, he found the story he his wife had sent him. It was indeed the content marketing piece I had written for the Wooster Hope Center that had been shared via social media.
The power of a story combined with the reach of the Internet creates a wonderful opportunity for companies like yours to connect with people around the world. People click on stories and share them when it touches them.
Does your company have an integrated digital marketing plan?
A log of business owners and leaders recognize the importance of having a digital marketing plan integrated with the rest of their marketing efforts, but too often the digital piece is not given the attention it deserves. There are just far too many distribution channels out there to ignore it or to leave it to chance.
I recently spoke to an advertising sales rep who is finding it increasingly difficult to recommend to clients the purchasing of newspaper print ads. As a former journalist, I have a soft spot for newspapers, and I continue to see value in them. But the ad rep’s point was subscriptions continue to decline and they continue to get smaller. The size, unfortunately, is directly related to the number of ads sold.
Many business owners are also telling me this might be the last year they advertise in telephone books. Let’s face it, when is the last time you reached for a telephone book to find a telephone number? If the number is not already stored in the contacts of your smartphone, then you are likely searching for it on the web.
The advertising sales rep’s and the business owners’ concerns demonstrate how it is becoming increasingly more difficult to reach your customers. The distribution channels are just too many to be in all of them, so you have to pick and choose wisely. This is why you should have an integrated marketing plan that includes a digital marketing piece. Too often, it is just added to someone’s list of things to do. And, it might get done today, or it might not. It all depends.
The success of your company should rely on a solid plan, not “it all depends.”
How can content creation/content marketing help
Creating content for your own website is beneficial in a number of ways, here are just a few of them:
- You provide useful information for potential customers/clients;
- Over time, you demonstrate you are an authority/expert in your industry; and
- You drive more traffic to your website, where people will have an opportunity to learn more about what you do.
As always, Wooster Media Group can help make sure your website is optimized for search, has fresh content regularly produced and uploaded to your website, and is managed on social media networks. Check out our booking page to schedule a time we can meet with you over the phone or in your office.