There are so many reasons to put off making content marketing a priority. You have a never-ending to-do list, and you don’t have time to think about blog posts or whitepapers. You know you “should” be working on your business’s brand, but you’re too busy working in your business. Sound familiar?
Stop sacrificing your long-term future for short-term wins. The best time to start content marketing was yesterday, but the second-best time is now. It’s not too late yet to change your company’s future positioning in the market using content, but if you wait until next month or next year, it might be.
Luckily, investing in content marketing will actually help you to more effectively accomplish the other things on your to-do list. Would making a sale be easier if you could nurture that lead with great articles? Yes. Would building a social media presence be easier with great blog content to share? Also yes. By investing in content, you’re investing in all of your day-to-day goals.
When considering the right time to invest in content marketing, here are a few common trigger moments that show you that now is the time to step up your content game:
1. You’re Trying to Raise or Have Recently Raised Funding
When raising funding, above all things, you need investors to trust you. This is where content marketing becomes the dark horse of your fundraising strategy. Putting out content that demonstrates your expertise and builds your industry influence is a phenomenal way to build this trust. Getting published helps build the credibility you need to close the deal. And if you’ve recently closed on a round of funding, now is the time to put the pedal to the metal and grow! Double down on growth by positioning your website as a top industry resource. It should be chock-full of informative blog posts, educational whitepapers, and newsworthy events in your industry. Your content lives online and works all hours of the day to grow your company. In a way, it’s your most loyal employee, working 24/7.
2. You Have New Company Leadership
Using content marketing to position the members of your C-suite as thought leaders in your industry is an effective way of building their brand and bringing exposure to your company. This is especially true if some of these leaders are new to their respective roles. Putting names and faces behind your company humanizes your brand and builds trust with your prospects. People want to do business with people, not a faceless company. For new company leaders, this is a particularly effective way to quickly boost their recognition, so try utilizing guest-contributed articles and press mentions in respected publications to spread the word.
3. You’re Launching a New Website
Spending time and energy on a new website is an important step for your business, but how are people going to find it? And what are they going to do when they get there? A beautiful website is a great marketing tool, but it needs content if it’s going to be a successful one. It’s critical that you create valuable content that lives on your new website and off-site content that links back to your new digital home. A quality blog is the bread and butter of an effective website. Don’t invest in a new car only to neglect buying the fuel.
4. You’re Expanding Your Target Market
Content is the secret weapon that every sales team member needs, but it has to get created in the first place. If you take the time to create content that will serve your new target market, you’re equipping your sales reps with the information they need to convert leads to customers. Figure out what the members of your new target market need to know and what questions they’re going to ask, then create a blog post or infographic that addresses those needs. Bingo — you’ve just saved your sales team a ton of time and effort making progress with leads.
5. You’re Releasing a New Product or Service
When your company is coming out with something new, you need to get the word out there to your new prospects. This is a time when you need to invest in reaching out to new leads, educating them, and nurturing them. Create an article for a specific publication, a blog post to educate prospects who make it back to your site, and email drip campaigns to nurture those new leads. If you have content that shows leads they can trust you and your new release, they’re more likely to become customers than if you merely threw sales pitches at them.
When something big is happening with your company, it’s easy to get caught up in all of the little things that need to get done. But try to consider those big and exciting moments opportunities to get your company’s name out there and generate conversations. Content marketing is an extremely effective tool that shouldn’t be put in a corner when big moves are made — it should be used to highlight them.
Are you getting the most out of content marketing? If you aren’t sure, take a look at our checklist to see what areas you can expand to take your content to the next level.
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