6 reasons why you need a content marketing strategy for 2018

2018 is a year of change and disruption, and the way organisations conduct external marketing is not immune. No longer is it sufficient to employ an agency, or re-boot last year’s, tired ad campaign; cutting-edge digital technologies and major shifts in audience viewing habits mean organisations will need to actively develop and implement a content marketing strategy in the year ahead.

Content marketing means taking all aspects of your organisation’s brand to market and leveraging social media and different user interfaces to reach a wider audience than was thought possible. A small amount of planning and strategic direction now could produce huge results as the year winds up – and here’s how producing a content marketing strategy this year is going to change your business:

You will attract, and retain the best talent

In the wise words of Campbell’s CEO Doug Conant, “To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace.” Employees are the building blocks of any organisation; without great foundations, the entire structure will crumble.

In the current market, employee loyalty is at an all-time low and recruitment agencies aggressively headhunt the cream of the crop – so, how do you make sure your organisation can hire great new employees while retaining existing high performers?

In two words, content marketing. Marketing your employees as being the most fundamental part of your organisation will simultaneously make them feel valued while also appealing to other superstars in the job market. All good recruiters know that talent attracts talent.

You will better showcase your company’s brand

The traditional forms of marketing just aren’t cutting it in the modern landscape. With a new focus on the customer journey and consumer engagement, it’s crucial to go beyond bland logos and slogans – you’ve got to tell the story of your brand.

Marketers and millennials will put more emphasis on the “why” and the purpose behind your brand’s message, so carefully curating a brand’s “story” is an essential part of engaging consumers.

You will keep abreast of emerging trends

Gone are the days of stuffy boardroom meetings and longwinded story-boarding. Speed-to-market is the buzzphrase of 2017, and for good reason. Look at viral videos – more than 50% of the views/shares occur in the first 3 weeks of a video’s existence.

So, you can imagine the importance of good content marketing. If a piece of content is relevant to your organisation, or to its customers, you’ve got to put it in front of them and leverage its power in a very short space of time. The same can be said for emerging technologies and platforms; failure to plan for the rapid nature of the digital world will result in an anachronistic brand profile.

The way content is marketed is set to advance in many ways throughout the course of the year – plan now or pay later.

You will demonstrate your brand’s power and potential

Effective content marketing gives you control over how your brand is perceived in the market. A simple move such a restructuring your web page, highlighting key achievements or successes you have enjoyed, or advertising the quality of your employees, will go far towards convincing customers that you are the right option.

Content marketing offers control over reputation, which in turn results in growth and new opportunities. If your focus is not just on creating content but actually engaging the audience, you will be able to create a customer journey which increases both public reputation and sales potential.

You will reach a more diverse and receptive audience

The best way to show your customers how great you are? By reaching them! The more views, the more shares, the more members of your target audience exposed to your message, the better!

The nature of digital marketing and social media is such that organisations can reach far wider audiences than was ever possible in the past.

There are several ways of ensuring your message is seen by the maximum number of customers possible and developing a steadfast, content marketing strategy is one of them. It’s not enough to simply get your message in front of these customers, the key is to engage, and that means thinking about the content your customer will want to see.

You will save money

This might seem counter-intuitive but shelling out for a good content marketing strategy now could result in cost savings down the track. Yes, you can conduct all your marketing internally (or employ other cost-reducing techniques), but even if you pay a premium for a reputable marketing agency, your bottom line might ultimately benefit.

From an ROI perspective, going for the latter option might be more beneficial. When it comes to content marketing, most organisations will find the return on investment an interesting calculation and worth doing at this early stage. If your business can’t afford to engage the experts now, consider taking out a small business loan to pay an organisation to help. A small business loan could set you up with an exceptional content marketing strategy now and position you to reap the rewards down the track.

Traditional marketing strategies just won’t cut it in 2018. The world is changing at a rapid pace, and the only way of ensuring your customers stay engaged, interested, and loyal to your organisation is implementing a content marketing strategy now. Spending the time and money now may make all the difference towards financial crunch-time. And, with the new world of technology and digital disruption, there’s just no excuse to remain behind the times – rocket your organisation into the year with a structured content marketing strategy and guarantee growth and success!

Written by: Toby Smith