Content marketing's popularity versus social media: Google’s findings may surprise you!
Social media may be the big buzzword when it comes to marketing today. Undoubtedly, it is an important tool for marketers. However, did you realize that content marketing is a MORE popular trend than social media marketing? Recent news from Google Trends reveals that content marketing really is the key to the online marketing puzzle.1 This article on the subject goes on to explain that in reality, social media marketing is only a small part of the content marketing package. By creating high-quality content, many firms can get twice the benefit—not only will it improve search engine position organically, but you can use this content to power your social media machine. Discover exactly how powerful content marketing is, and you’ll quickly realize why your focus should be on producing content that makes an impact, instead of only writing another character limited Tweet.
Blogs outperform social media in terms of lead generation.
According to a Moz.com article, 93.97% of those working in marketing use blogs as an important source to keep up with the latest industry news and shifts.2 You, too, probably follow industry blogs. Blogs have a higher level of authority in the eyes of many business leaders and marketers. Blogging is taken seriously in a way that social media is not.
Even business-to-business companies that have an active blog and use it as a lead generation technique generate around 67% more leads than those companies that do not have one.3 For many sales and service-based businesses, generating leads is vitally important. That’s why it only makes sense to utilize a lead generation technique that has been proven to work.
The benefits of content marketing deserve attention.
Demand Metric reports that content marketing costs 62% less than so-called “traditional marketing.”4 However, despite the lower cost, it is often even MORE effective. The same article states that content marketing generates three times as many leads as the more-expensive traditional marketing. While social media is reaching people, it is often not the right audience. Your reach is only a small part of the picture when it comes to inbound marketing—content marketing meets the other metrics, too.
Another report by Moz.com shows that the demand for great content is rising. In 2013, demand increased by 70.94%.5 This is not likely to stop anytime soon. Experts predict that this will continue throughout 2014. The social media trend is considered by many to be just that, a trend. If you are interested in marketing for tomorrow as well as today, remember that high quality, evergreen content often receives traffic over time, while a Facebook post does not.
Content marketing is a very important part of any type of online marketing campaign. If you are not already taking advantage of the boost that blogs, ebooks, downloads and other types of content can give your page, you are missing out. The Google Trends findings and these content marketing facts only put into perspective things that many marketing executives have long suspected: a well-rounded content marketing plan is the single most important investment a business can make. You can’t argue with the facts. Content marketing performs, has performed and will continue to perform with or without the support of social media.
Want to learn more about how content marketing can increase website traffic?
Download our case study to see a successful content marketing campaign in action. Or, do you need fresh ideas to help meet your content marketing goals? Register now for our free Content Marketing Assessment and Action Plan for a personalized, one-on-one session that will ensure your content marketing strategy is working as hard as possible.
Sources:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.