Content Marketing, which is a component of Inbound Marketing, refers to using content (ex. blogs, ebooks, videos) to generate awareness, leads and sales.

Rather than paying to show your ads next to the content your ideal customers are reading, content marketing CREATES the content your ideal customers will want to read in the first place.

This content is then published online (your website, YouTube, SlideShare, etc.) where it can be found by potential customers, no matter where they are in the country, or world.

A properly executed content strategy positions YOUR COMPANY to be a go-to source of information, news or education about your industry. Make sense?

Developing a content marketing plan should be at or near the top of the list of (marketing related) priorities for any company expanding into new regions.

Regardless of whether you have a sales team on the ground, a well-executed plan will allow your company to reach today’s self-educated buyers. Those buyers who are, right now, searching for the products or services you sell.

This is the group that is most difficult for your sales team to discover because the self-educated buyer doesn’t contact sales reps during the research stage.

In fact, a study by CEB and Google found that the average B2B buyer is 57% of the way through their purchase decision before they engage a supplier sales rep.

Here are three more reasons why content marketing is ideal for expanding companies:

1. Search Engines Love Content

Search Engines love well-written, useful content. They love it because their customers (those of us doing the searching) love it. High quality content is what the best search results are made of.

Really isn’t this what online search is about…I type in my problem or question and the search engine returns with pages that answer my question, or provide solutions to my problem.

Be the company that uses online content to answer your customers’ questions.

Search Engines are a prime source of visitors to our website. The right content, written with your ideal customers in mind, will attract those visitors most likely to be interested in the products/services you sell…no matter where they are physically located.

Earlier this year Demand Gen surveyed 150 B2B buyers who had been involved in a major purchase decision in the past year.  46% said the first source of information they consulted when beginning their purchase research was a web search. A further 18% said they started with a vendor’s website.

2. Digital Content Expands  Your Reach, Without Duplicating Your Efforts

Simply put, if your company publishes valuable content on your website, that content has the ability to draw in visitors from around the world.

Digital content is an effective way to expand your reach and grow your influence beyond your local region.

82% of senior executives, and 52% of non-executives, reported that content had a major impact on their purchasing decision.
Source: Demand Gen

3. Content Marketing Generates Leads

I explained above how the content your company publishes online can get you found by potential customers (i.e. generate awareness). The right content can also be used to convert qualified visitors into leads.

Content that generates leads must be valuable and helpful enough that your ideal customers will give their contact details in exchange for downloading it.

Hold right there, if you have doubts that anyone will actually give their contact details in return for content – don’t have doubts. I know many companies that receive dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of leads every month, from buyers who want to download their content.

Here are some examples of content that generates leads:
1. Patient and Staff Retention: A Prescription for Keeping People Happy and Motivated
2. 16 Most Common Ways to Get Money for Your Small Business
3. 10 Point Checklist for Ocean Racers and Weekend Sailors
4. Comprehensive Guide to Helen, Georgia

————-
Think of content as your company’s digital sales force, going to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

To recap the three reasons why content marketing makes sense for expanding companies:

1. Search Engines Love Content
2. Digital Content Expands Your Reach, Without Duplicating Your Efforts
3. Content Marketing Generates Leads

If your company is expanding into new markets you’ll appreciate the following white paper…