A modern marketing mix will include advertising, trade shows, other lead generation campaigns and lately, more and more content creation. Here is why creating content may be the most effective marketing spend in the long run.
In this study by Kapost, content marketing proved to grow over time, surpassing paid search, continuing unabated. Get the whole report here.
Put your marketing dollars to work on Google ads and you will get some leads, for sure. If you really need to blow your budget, get a big booth. You’re practically guaranteed to get leads at a trade show, especially if you accost innocent attendees walking by.
In both cases, you spend your money and you get your leads. We can argue merits of advertising versus trade shows, such as cost per lead, etc., but one thing is certain. Stop spending and the leads stop coming in.
Contrast that with content creation. A good review of a product, once written and posted online, can keep selling your product long after it has been commissioned.
When we reviewed the popularity of articles on TenLinks.com, we found (much to our surprise) that some content were generating thousands of views months after they had been published.
Good content stays “alive” long after it has been paid for, in contrast to ad campaigns, where leads die off when ad campaigns stop. We expected the initial spike upon publication. We expected interest to decline over time to near zero after a month or two. But instead, after the initial surge the interest actually settled to an average constant traffic, often enjoying small spikes (thanks Google) — no doubt as a result of a mention, usually by a person or company.
This is why content creation needs to be part of marketing strategy. While initial costs may be high (as you have to find someone knowledgeable and trustworthy to create content), the cost per lead will at some point be less than with any other method.
I'd welcome feedback from the readership in this blog.
Roopinder
