Doing marketing WELL is a lot harder than it looks.  Well done marketing supports your brand values, is consistent, and is ROI-focused!  Well done marketing puts the business goal first and then deploys the right mix of activities to support that goal.  AND, well done marketing sits on top of a foundation of content marketing

I LOVE being able to show people the outcomes of their marketing investments. To that end, Simons Marketing became a HubSpot partner in 2020 in order to have more tools at hand to measure ROI. But today we’re going to shine the light on the unsung hero of marketing…. content marketing.  When it comes to content marketing, the benefits can be robust, even if it’s hard to draw a straight line from investment to profit. 

Great marketing comes out of the right mix of art and science, and this is especially true when it comes to content creation and sharing. Here are just a few of the outcomes connected to high-quality, well positioned content based marketing efforts. 

Good Content Sells

I know what you’re thinking...I just told you that you can’t really measure return on content marketing, and here we go talking about sales. Hear me out. Blogs, newsletters and social media drive traffic to your website. Which, just so happens to be one of your most important sales tools. Even if someone receives a referral, they are still going to check out your website. And, we know that the majority of the sales process is happening online before prospects even reach out. Therefore, even though a specific blog post may not be directly responsible for closing a deal or landing a sale, there is intrinsic value in that content because it was part of the buyer’s journey. 

Keeping your blog updated shows visitors the firm is active and engaged. The same goes for social media activity. It’s a proof point to buyers that firm leaders are in-the-know and they can also get a sense of the personality of the firm.  (Marketers would call this Branding.) These are all factors that could lead to someone’s decision to work with you. Conversely, if your last blog post is from 2018 and is about mid-term elections, a visitor may wonder if anyone is home at the inn.

Useful Content Improves Relationships

Just as important as bringing in new business is nurturing relationships with current and former clients, referral sources and industry associates. Constantly trying to hard-sell your current clients will likely only result in ignored emails, annoyed clients and wasted time on your part. Plus who has time to constantly reach out to clients and prospects to see ‘how it’s going?” Instead, blogs, newsletters and social media can serve as vehicles for meaningful touchpoints that provide educational content, ranging from firm announcements to industry news to discussions on topics that matter to your clients and referral sources. Once someone sees you as a trusted source for timely and valuable information, they will be more open to learning about what you have to offer. They may even come to you first!

That brings us back to intrinsic value. A lapsed or less engaged client may still open your newsletter, and while not all of the content will apply to them, if they still find value in reading your emails, in time, you may see them come back when they are in need of your services. The same is true for your best clients. No one wants to constantly deflect sales emails, but if engaged clients are reading your emails and following you on social media, they will be primed when the occasion arises for them to consider additional services.

The Right Content Boosts SEO

We can’t talk about any online marketing and not talk about Search Engine Optimization. Getting found by search engines is really important. And you can’t achieve a high rank through paid ads alone. An active website is paramount for SEO, and for most professional services firms, your blog is your best bet for consistently updating and creating pages on your site. Again, this is not an exact science, but all of the pieces of your online marketing strategy work together to improve your SEO. 

Here’s how it works. You published SEO optimized blog posts, email them out in your newsletter and share on social media. This drives traffic to your site as people click through to read your articles. The more activity and the more traffic you get, the better your SEO. If your content isn’t appealing or is released inconsistently, you’ll miss out on the boost. That makes it even harder for you to be found by search engines. Then you’re missing out on potential web traffic, and so on. See the pattern?

While you may not be able to decisively say that your SEO led to certain sales, it’s still an essential component of your online presence.  At this point you may be starting to notice that you can’t separate these three areas of prospect engagement from each other, any more than you can separate content marketing from sales. 

Even though I love calculating ROI, a solid content marketing strategy serves as the base for professional services marketing plans. Leveraging your website, the smart and experienced people at your firm, and thinking about what your clients and prospects want to hear about from you will create a strong foundation for successful content marketing - even if you can’t say that any given article led directly to a sale. If your content marketing could use some love, Marketing Essentials may be right for you. Contact me today!