A consistent challenge every marketer faces is working within a budget. Any marketer’s primary goal is to grow its customer base, but sometimes it is difficult to accomplish this without putting a big dent in the company’s budget.

Experts say it is far more costly to gain a new customer than to retain an existing one. However, with a strong content marketing strategy, it is entirely doable to simultaneously reach out to new and existing audiences in a way that is affordable.

Developing a strong content marketing strategy

If it’s done right, content marketing not only costs far less than traditional advertising approaches, it also generates about three times as many leads. The key to growing a customer base with content marketing strategy is to understand the process. Here are a few questions to contemplate while determining the best course of action:

• Understand your audience. Who are you helping and why?
• How does your strategy fit into your overall business plan?
• Can you execute your strategy or should you hire an expert?

According to one study, 60 to 80 percent of satisfied customers do not return to a business. A peculiar statistic, isn’t it? Logic would say that a satisfied customer would also be a returning customer. Interestingly enough, it turns out the primary reason they don’t return is due to a “lack of connection” with that company.

By offering targeted and innovative content, marketers can grow and solidify strong connections with their customers and, through the nature of sharing, continue to expand their base.

Construct interesting content

By and large, content marketing is a great way to grow brand visibility, showing customers what a company is all about and positioning it as an expert in its respective industry. However, before a campaign commences, it is essential to understand what content marketing is and what it is not.

Indeed, successful content marketing is more than churning out daily posts on your blogs and social media. Static, unimaginative content will quickly grow stale with current and potential customers. The primary objectives are to focus timely, focused and shareable content. To construct a good blog post, an article should:

• Be consistent in voice. Decide on the voice of the company or brand and stick with it.
• Focus on points that resonate with readers. If the article includes a relevant and thought-provoking point, readers are more likely to engage with and/or share that content.
• Include imagery that complements the content, making it more interesting and expanding the story being told.
• Articles should be well-organized and structured, and flow smoothly. Be sure to integrate subheadings and bullet points to make your words more digestible.
• Make unique content, because online readers typically bounce from pages sharing the same generic information everyone else posts.
• Ideally, the content should lead to some type of “call to action.” What is the next step readers should take?

Remember, today’s web readers are picky and like a variety of easily digestible content. A successful content strategy initiative must stand out and go beyond straight-forward blog posts. Content such as short videos, e-books, info on event-based activities and other promotional tools is what will attract customers and keep them.

Ultimately, if audiences see a steady stream of distinctive content, they will be much more inclined to keep coming back for new posts and sharing what they see.

Challenges marketers face

It’s not unusual to feel flat-footed by the prospect of creating content strategy that flourishes and retains customers. In fact, 52 percent of marketers say they find producing engaging content to be their biggest challenge. 

According to Hubspot, customer & visitor content engagement was second only to producing enough volume. For those who struggle in this area, hiring outside content experts to execute the brand strategy is a smart and cost-effective solution. According to statistics, 62 percent of companies hire content experts as the answer to their content challenges. Tempesta Media thrives in this space; helping companies refine and define their brands.

Content strategy is more than just writing blog posts or determining how much content is enough. Tempesta Media offers full-service solutions: thought leadership, strategic execution and distribution. Our mission is to deliver expert content at a cost-effective price.