Useful content should be at the core of your marketing. Traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective by the minute; as a forward-thinking marketer, you know there has to be a better way.

Instead of pitching your products or services, you are providing truly relevant and useful content to your prospects and customers to help them solve their issues.

An annual research shows the vast majority of marketers are using content marketing. In fact, it is used by many prominent organizations in the world, including P&G, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and John Deere. It’s also developed and executed by small businesses and one-person shops around the globe. Why? Because it works.

But what is content Marketing and how can you take advantage of it? This article will provide answers to this and many more questions you might have concerning content marketing

• What is Content Marketing
• Why Content Marketing is Important
• Types of Content Marketing
• What Are The 7 Elements of Marketing

What is Content Marketing

Content marketing is a digital marketing strategy in which companies create honest, transparent, and educational content on a consistent basis for an ideal buyer profile.

Typically, the goal is to use the publication and promotion of content to drive organic website traffic, increase qualified lead generation, and (ultimately) empower the sales team to close more deals faster.

Why Content Marketing is Important

To help you better understand the importance of content marketing, we’ve put together a list of the top advantages that content marketing can provide your small business:

1. Improve brand reputation by building trust through content marketing

One of the greatest benefits that really shows the importance of content marketing is the reputation building qualities of great content. In today’s busy digital marketplace, it’s vital that businesses work to build trust with their leads and customers. Building trust can help your business establish a positive brand reputation.

Great content can help you build trust with your leads and customers. When consumers read your content, they start to develop an opinion of your brand.

If the content that they find is engaging, educational, and valuable, then they will start to think the same things about your business. The more value you can provide with your content, the easier it will be to build trust with your target audience.

In addition, when your leads and customers start to see that you are consistently publishing content across platforms, they may come to see you as a leader in the industry.

Publishing content through third-party publications or sharing your content with influencers can also help you further build trust within your target market.

2. Great content helps influence conversions

If you’re really wondering why is content marketing important, then look no further than the conversion statistics. Here are just a few of the stats that really speak to the importance of content marketing when it comes to improving website conversions:

• Content marketing provides conversion rates about 6 times higher than other digital marketing methods. (ABG Essentials)
• After reading recommendations on a blog, 61% of online consumers in the U.S. then decided to make a purchase. (Content Marketing Institute)
• According to 74% of companies surveyed, content marketing has increased their marketing leads, both in quantity and quality. (Curata)
• Video content can help provide a great ROI and significantly increase conversions, according to 72% of businesses surveyed. (CrazyEgg)
• Inbound marketers are able to double the average site conversion rate (from 6 to 12%), in part due to their content marketing efforts. (HubSpot)

Content marketing helps to improve conversions because it allows you to connect with and educate your leads and customers.

Not only are you working to build trust and relationships, but you are also encourage conversions by giving consumers the information they need to make an educated purchasing decision.

To optimize your content for conversions, be sure to include a clear call-to-action. Your CTA tells the reader what they need to do next, guiding them to the next step in the conversion process.

Whether converting means making a purchase, getting more information, or contacting your sales team, it’s important to make it clear to the reader within the content what you want them to do next.

3. Optimized content helps improve your SEO efforts

The importance of content marketing becomes more clear when looking at the role that content plays in helping your business build and improve search engine optimization (SEO). SEO plays an important part in improving visibility for your business online. However, if you want to improve SEO, you need to create optimized content.

According to Tech Client, content creation is the most effective SEO technique. In fact, business sites that post consistent blog content have on average of 434% more pages indexed by search engines than those that don’t publish at all. The more content you have on your site, the more pages the search engine has to index and show to users in their search engine results.

Though more pages does not necessarily result in higher traffic, it does give your brand the opportunity to rank for more keywords. For instance, creating blogs on different topics that are relevant to your target audience gives you more chances to rank for the keywords that these target users are searching for on the search engines.

Not to mention, the more content you have on your site, the more reasons you give visitors to stick around. This means a higher on-site time, which can also positively impact your search engine optimization. Google sees time spent on site as one indicator that your site provides valuable content.

4. Creating great content is a cost-effective way to bring in new leads

For those wondering why is content marketing important, take a look at all of the ways that content can help your business bring in new leads. Lead generation is important for small businesses that rely on consistent traffic to grow their brand and boost sales. Content marketing is not only great for lead generation, but it’s also affordable.

Though content marketing costs about 62% less than traditional marketing tactics, it generates about 3 times as many leads, according to DemandMetric. The affordability of content marketing makes it a necessary tactic for small businesses that want to maximize their budget.

It’s important to note that content marketing is time intensive, and it can also take a while to see the results of your efforts. This is especially true when it comes to SEO. However, when it comes to creating quality content, a little can go a long way.

In fact, according to Social Media Examiner, more than 81% of marketers found that they experienced increased traffic by investing as little as 6 hours per week in their social media content.

The importance of content marketing is easy to see when you consider the return on investment. Since creating content is fairly affordable and highly effective, many small businesses will see an impressive ROI on their content marketing over time. In fact, per dollar spent, content marketing efforts produce 3 times as many leads as paid search ads.

The key to maximizing content ROI is creating a content marketing strategy that takes your target market into consideration. You should never just create content for the sake of creating content. If you want to get your money’s worth, your content should be strategic in the topics you choose, types of assets you produce, and your promotional methods.

5. Content enables your brand to showcase your subject matter expertise

Consumers want to know that they are dealing with experts who know the ins and outs of the industry. This is another answer to why is content marketing important. Content marketing allows your brand to demonstrate its expertise in the field while providing valuable knowledge that can help readers make a more educated purchasing decision.

Every time that you publish a new blog post, white paper, or other piece of content, you’re showing leads and customers how much you know about the industry and the challenges that they face. When it comes time to make a purchase, consumers will remember the brand that provided them with the information they needed to better understand their problems, solutions, and other options.

Let’s say it comes down to purchasing from a business that publishes consistent content that’s educational and informative or one that doesn’t have any content. The consumer is more likely to purchase from the business that has demonstrated their knowledge and expertise.

That way, they can have peace of mind in knowing that they are being taken care of by industry experts who can answer their questions and easily troubleshoot any issues.

6. Want to build relationships with customers? Publish great content

If you’re still wondering, why is content marketing important? Consider how great content marketing can help you build relationships with your customers.

Previously, we discussed how content is an integral part of building trust and establishing a positive brand reputation. This can help you grow your audience and reach new leads.

But what about those who have already purchased from you? Repeat customers are the bread and butter of many small businesses. In fact, according to BIA Kelsey, 61% of SMBs say that half of their revenue is coming from repeat customers. Furthermore, Marketing Tech Blog reports that a loyal customer is worth, on average, up to 10x as much as their first purchase.

It’s clear that loyal customers are nothing but an advantage to your business. If repeat sales make up a significant portion of your company’s revenue, then you’ll need to find ways to strengthen your relationships with current customers.

This is where content marketing comes in. Providing great content doesn’t stop after a lead becomes a customer. Content that provides value for your customer base will help increase brand loyalty by strengthening the relationships you have with customers. This can encourage repeat sales and help you establish powerful brand advocates.

7. Your leads and customers want great content

Why is content marketing important? Well, your leads and customers want to read great content. In fact, 20% of the time that internet users spend online is spent just reading content.

And if you’re thinking that people don’t want to spend time reading content from brands, think again. 68% of people like to spend time reading about the brands they find interesting. Additionally, 80% of internet users like to learn about companies through the custom content they provide.

So why not give the people what they want? If you want your content marketing to be effective, then don’t ignore the data that you’ve collected from your audience.

Gather data for your customer insight from journey maps, user feedback, vanity metrics and customer persona. These information are vital for your content planning.

Create custom content that speaks to your target audience and provides some type of value. Whether it’s entertaining or educational, use your content as an opportunity to show consumers what your brand is all about.

The key to creating effective content that helps you connect with your eager audience is focusing on topics that are relevant to their needs, interests, and challenges. And don’t forget to show a little bit of personality to help consumers get to know your brand and what sets you apart from the rest.

8. Content marketing helps you set yourself apart from competitors

In the busy digital marketplace, it’s vital that your small business differentiates itself from competitors. This is the importance of content marketing. Content marketing is an effective way that small businesses can work to set themselves apart from others in the industry and show what makes their company special.

The topics that you create content around and the value of the content you provide can mean the difference between a consumer choosing your brand over a competitor’s.

For instance, if a buyer is doing research about their challenges and certain products that can help solve those challenges, they will be more inclined to work with the business that’s provided them with helpful information.

If this isn’t enough to show you why is content marketing important, consider the role that content plays in helping you develop a brand personality and voice.

Beyond just the type of content that you produce, you can also set yourself apart from the competition through your content’s language and the way that you present your information. Is your brand personality serious and professional? Fun and educational? Maybe a mix of both?

Determining how you want to portray your brand and developing a brand voice can help you create content that is unique to your business. This brand personality can help you connect with your target buyers and show them what makes your business special. One of the best ways to show this personality is through the marketing content that you create.

9. Content is important during each step of the marketing funnel

Now let’s think about the importance of content marketing when it comes to your marketing funnel. There are three major areas of your marketing funnel that you need to think about while you’re developing your digital marketing campaigns. And content marketing plays a role during each stage of the funnel.

Here’s where content marketing comes in throughout the marketing funnel:

• Top-of-Funnel (TOFU): At the top of the funnel, your prospective customers are just starting to become aware of their problems. They are also starting to become aware that there are solutions available. During this stage, content can help educate them and get them the information they need to decide which type of solution might help.
• Middle-of-Funnel (MOFU): At the middle of the funnel, leads are evaluating their options for products or solutions. Content during this stage of the funnel is meant to educate leads on what their different options are so that they can start to narrow their choices and come closer to a final purchasing decision.
• Bottom-of-Funnel (BOFU): Once leads reach the bottom of the funnel, this means that they are ready to convert. Content during this stage is meant to give a final nudge of encouragement to the buyer and empower them to make an informed purchasing decision.

When creating content marketing to reach potential customers at each stage, be aware of what each lead needs at this point in their buyer’s journey.

Prospects at the top of the funnel need more general information that helps them better understand their challenges and potential solutions.

Leads who reach the middle of the funnel need more detailed information that encourages them to evaluate their options. While leads at the bottom of the funnel need content with specific details about your unique product or solution to help them make an educated purchasing decision.

10. Content helps support nearly every other digital marketing strategy

Yet another importance of content marketing is that consistent, quality content helps support every other part of your digital marketing strategy.

Most small businesses have more than one tool in their digital marketing toolbox. From email marketing to social media to PPC ads, there are many different tactics that you can use to attract and engage your ideal audience.

Examples of Content Marketing

1. Switchback Travel’s Image Featured Snippet

First, a reminder — featured snippets are Google’s attempt to answer a search query on the results page itself. Google features these snippets in a box just before the number one organic search listing. They’re important because they take a significant portion of the search traffic from the results below them.

Featured snippets can show up in a variety of formats. However, below are the most common featured snippets Google generates:

• Paragraph featured snippet
• Image featured snippet
• YouTube featured snippet
• List featured snippet (bulleted and numbered)

Occasionally, a source might claim both the text and image featured snippet, but that’s not always the case.

One good content marketing strategy is to try and optimize your images for Google’s featured snippet. Google sometimes pulls from more than one site to answer a person’s question. 

Ultimately, you might consider optimizing your images for search to try and capture the featured snippet result for keywords related to your product or service.

2. Coke’s “Share A Coke” Campaign

If you haven’t seen or heard of this campaign, then you’ve probably been living under a rock.

Welcome back to the world.

Coke’s “Share A Coke” campaign gave everyone the opportunity to personalize their favorite drink.

They took the 150 most popular names in Australia and added them to the side of the bottles. And, well… people went crazy for it.

Everyone was talking about Coke.

Since then, the campaign has spread all around the world.

Why was it so successful? Personalization.

Coke made you feel special. It was just you and your bottle against the world.

And this personal touch is the crux of content marketing.

Coke wasn’t tracking online behavior, (re)targeting customers or looking at vanity metrics.

Instead, they targeted the most important thing to customers — their name. After all, everyone’s favorite subject is themselves. And if you want to get someone to pay attention, using their name is a great place to start.

Research shows that 74 percent of marketers know personalization increases customer engagement. But, only 19 percent of them ever use it.

That’s like knowing you’ve got a clean diaper in your bag but never actually changing the baby.

Coke revolutionized emotional connections by asking people to “share” its product. It’s a viral campaign in a bottle.

Think of your customers as people with emotions, just like you. How do you want to make them feel? Personalization and emotional connection are key.

3. Buffer’s Open Blog

Buffer is a social media-tracking app. It allows you to schedule posts and track your growth via social media.

But the magic isn’t in their product. It’s in how they market it. Enter the Buffer Open Blog.

The foundation? Transparency, openness and trust.

And while that might sound simple, it’s genius.

They show you not only what they do, but how you can do it, too — giving you incredible value with each and every post.

When you read their blog, it’s like you’ve been given the key to a secret club — that there are hundreds of people wandering aimlessly, but you know the secret knock to get to all the juicy information.

It’s the velvet rope effect.

They tell the stories people want to hear. They’re finding solutions to specific problems for specific people — and doing a damn good job.

Focus all your time and effort on value. Inform and educate your customers. Give behind-the-scenes solutions. How else will they know how awesome you are?

4. Microsoft And Stories

The guys at Microsoft know how to tell a good story. And what better place to do it than a blog?

It’s aptly named “Stories.”

Enjoying a good story is in your DNA. You’re hardwired to connect with it.

Storytelling releases the feel-good hormone oxytocin. And if you can get your audience to feel emotion with your story, they’ll trust you — and they’ll buy from you.

In fact, author and entrepreneur Seth Godin’s whole marketing philosophy is based on this principle. The better stories you tell, the better you’ll connect with your audience. The better the connection, the stronger the relationship.

Be human. It’s the one trait you and all of your customers have in common.

5. Toyota Europe’s YouTube Featured Snippet

Google looks at more than just website content when it comes to featured snippets. Google additionally pulls content from YouTube, which is why it’s important to optimize your video content accordingly. Google may choose to recommend a specific clip from the YouTube video, as well.

For instance, check out Toyota Europe’s YouTube featured snippet, which offers a suggested clip:

By correctly optimizing your YouTube videos for SEO, you have a chance of being featured on search engines, rather than just YouTube. This enables you to reach a larger audience. 

6. McDonald’s Question Time

Ever wondered what is actually in a beef patty? You’re in luck. McDonald’s will tell you.

This content marketing strategy is changing public perceptions through honesty.

McDonald’s Canada decided to take on the challenge of answering customer’s questions: all of them.

Answering around 10,000 customer questions has a way of helping you build strong relationships. McDonald’s stepped out from behind the brand and shared the facts. And, people loved their transparency.

As Joel Yashinsky, chief marketing officer for McDonald’s Canada, told author Jay Baer, “If you have a good story to tell, tell it. But you have to do it in a way that’s authentic.”

This builds trust and belief. With this you can turn even the worst reputation on its head.

Have superior customer service. Engage with the customer on their terms, at their level.

7. GoPro And Visual Content

Visual content is increasingly powerful. Infographics and visual content will boost traffic, and GoPro knows it.

Their marketing strategy is all about quality: quality visual content and quality products. The facts and figures? They have 3.4 million subscribers on YouTube and 6.8 million followers on Instagram.

If that’s not proof of the visual pudding, I don’t know what is.

They focus on the user. What do their customers love? Pictures. Really great pictures. So that’s what they provide.

When used properly, infographics can potentially double traffic, according to entrepreneur Neil Patel. Posts with photos are proven to engage users more than those without.

You see a funny/great/slightly weird picture or meme on social media and you share it. It creates a personal connection, and it works.

Get friendly with pictures. Visual content is increasingly powerful in content marketing. Learn to do it well.

8. Content Marketing Institute’s Click to Tweet

If you make it easy for people to share something interesting with their network, then they’re much more likely to do so. An effective way to encourage readers to share your content with their social network is to embed a “click to tweet” button that automatically shares an interesting quote or statistic from your article.

For example, this blog post for Content Marketing Institute is the most widely shared guest blog post I’ve ever written:

Months after publication, they still get daily Twitter notifications from people tweeting about this article. And the majority of the tweets come from the “click to tweet” option that Content Marketing Institute offers throughout the post.

Types of Content Marketing

1. Blogs

Having a blog on your website that corresponds with your product and its market attracts potential customers looking for the answer your business solves. Blog posts improve SEO and can be a low-cost way to boost organic traffic.

When writing blog posts, be sure to keep these things in mind:

• Optimize your content for SEO
• Use a pillar or cluster model to organize your blog topics
• Keep your content focused and relevant to your product.

For example, Jeff Bullas has been named one of the top influential global marketing officers. Therefore, his website has blog posts about content marketing and global social media.

Videos engage an audience quickly. According to HubSpot research, 54% of audiences want to see videos from brands they support, which is more than any other type of content.

2. Videos

Videos are also a versatile medium; you can create a variety of content in your industry that engages your market and leaves them wanting more.

For instance, design businesses can benefit from AR video marketing, which delivers a digital model of what you view using a smartphone. In 12 steps, including how to shoot with an iPhone, you can learn how to video market like a pro.

Microsoft uses their technology to empower everyone. Their recent commercials have shown just how inclusive their definition of “everyone” is, producing powerful messages about how technology can inspire many to achieve their goals.

3. Infographics

Infographics are so fun and can wake up a marketing strategy with eye-catching content. They’re bright, visually captivating ways to present stats or processes. Infographics are quick and low-cost music to a marketer’s ears.

Data can be easier to recognize and understand when presented in mediums like this. Further, infographics can make your product more reputable if there’s hard data involved.

4. Case Studies

Case studies are effective for leads who want to learn more about your business from the customers themselves. With case studies, buyers see a customer’s journey from start to finish and see similar use cases in real life.

A case study by LinkedIn, provides an in-depth look at how Adobe uses LinkedIn to market their business and drive applicants. It provides data and screenshots of Adobe’s campaign and demonstrates how the brand measured their success using the workplace platform. This case study could help similar businesses see how using LinkedIn in a similar way could improve their applicants.

LinkedIn also conducts video case studies, like this one about HSBC. It shows how LinkedIn’s marketing strategy includes diversifying the way their content is presented.

5. eBooks

If you’ve never created an eBook before, think of them as long-form blog content. They’re not a novel, they’re not a multiple-page ad for your business. Instead, they’re a way to give potential clients valuable information.

The Experience Optimization Playbook by Optimizely is a free eBook that explores optimization strategies from Fortune 500 companies.

6. User-generated content

User-generated content is an amazing content marketing method because it gets customers involved. People respond to others like them, and it’s more likely to make them interested in your business.

These are user-generated content examples from Twitter. Netflix has a stand-up from Hannah Gadsby and this retweet is from a fan tweeting a quote from the special they enjoyed. A single tweet provided instantly shareable content for Netflix’s comedy account.

This Wendy’s fan tweet gave the fast-food giant a way to celebrate Friday the 13th, and promote their customers as well as their fries. As a bonus, Twitter users got to see a spooky Jason/Wendy mashup.

7. Checklists

Checklists provide value to potential customers, especially for SMB customers. They show a step-by-step method for solving a problem and can be formatted to fit your social media pages.

This example, by HubSpot Academy, shows how marketing is tied to the content with the last checkbox. It’s as easy as thinking of how your product fits into your target audience’s daily routine. You can also create an internal checklist to use for the team, making sure some content is always client-specific.

8. Memes

A form of content marketing best described as, “Don’t knock it ’til you try it.” Memes are a relatively new type of content marketing, but they work extremely well. A meme is an image set with culturally relevant text that is rapidly circulated online. If you can time a meme perfectly, and align it with your social aesthetic, it’s a savvy way to increase traffic.

Hulu loves using memes to promote what’s on its streaming service. That’s not surprising, considering they’re some of Hulu’s most popular tweets. Memes require digging into the current social climate and seeing where your company fits. Social listening can help with that.

9. Testimonials and customer reviews

Like user-generated content, testimonials and customer reviews are content generated straight from your audience. If you’re operating in a niche market, testimonials give a short synopsis of why your company stands out.

Nike uses testimonials from top athletes to market their shoes. In fact, most of their Instagram and commercial content comes from celebrity endorsements and reviews. Smaller businesses can benefit from adding customer reviews on their website or in emails (because we all can’t have tennis pro Simona Halep take over our social accounts).

10. Whitepapers

These often misunderstood pieces are not eBooks. Both are forms of lengthy content, but whitepapers are more densely packed with data and information. Whitepapers pay attention to detail and are a key part of the research phase for 71% of buyers, according to the Demand Gen Survey Report.

This whitepaper, by Tata Communications, about network optimization is a great example of an in-depth, visually stunning document that breaks down data using charts and graphs.

Whitepapers can be visually appealing, even if the content is more … uh … utilitarian. Keep design in mind when you’re formatting page layout and key takeaways. And use appealing and easy-to-read fonts when constructing your pages, so readers are more inclined to keep turning the page.

11. How-to guides/academies

If you’re offering a product like a CRM, or any other kind of software, how-to guides are a must in content marketing. From Google Ads to Skillshare and even HubSpot, training courses are an interactive way for new and potential buyers to test drive your product before committing.

If you’re a smaller business and an academy isn’t feasible for your company, Instagram Carousels might be the answer. Carousels allow for further explanation of products/services on Instagram in a visual way. Instead of creating an entire guide, you can upload 30-second clips or multiple photos in one post and make it a highlight.

12. Influencers

Industry influencers can be highly beneficial to a marketing campaign. Having influencers promote your content can attract an entire audience you weren’t previously able to reach.

Vegan YouTuber Caitlin Shoemaker does sponsorships with other vegan brands on her socials to boost her reach and the brands’ reach as well.

To connect with an influencer in your industry, simply email their representation with a press release or reach out to their company or manager directly.

What Are The 7 Elements of Marketing

1. Product:

The service product requires consideration of the range of services provided, the quality of services provided and the level of services provided. Attention will also need to be given to matters like the use of branding, warranties and after-sale service.

The service product mix of such elements can vary considerably and may be seen in comparisons of service range between a small local building society and one of the largest in the country; or between a small hotel offering a limited menu range and a four star hotel offering a wide range of meals.

2. Price:

Price considerations include levels of prices, discounts allowances and commissions, terms of payment and credit.

The location of the service providers and their accessibility are important factors in services marketing. Accessibility relates not just to physical accessibility but to other means of communication and contact. Thus the types of distribution channels used (e.g. travel agents) and their coverage is linked to the crucial issue of service accessibility.

Price may also pay a part in differentiating one service from another and therefore the customers perceptions of value obtained from a service and the interaction of price and quality are important considerations in many service price sub mixes.

3. Place:

The location of the service providers and their accessibility are important factors in services marketing. Accessibility relates not just to physical accessibility but to other means of communication and contact. Thus the types of distribution channels used (e.g. travel agents) and their coverage is linked to the crucial issue of service accessibility.

4. Promotion:

Promotion includes the various methods of communicating with markets whether through advertising, personal selling activities, sales promotion activities and other direct forms of publicity, and indirect forms of communication like public relations.

Expanded mix for services:

Because services are usually produced and consumed simultaneously, customers are often present in the firm’s factory, interact directly with the firm’s personnel, and are actually part of the service production process. Also, because services are intangible customers will often be looking for any tangible cue to help them understand the nature of the service experience.

These facts have led services marketers to conclude that they can use additional variables to communicate with and satisfy their customers. For example, in the hotel industry the design and decor of the hotel as well as the appearance and attitudes of its employees will influence customer perceptions and experience.

Acknowledgment of the importance of these additional communication variables has led services marketers to adopt the concept of an expanded marketing mix for services shown in the three remaining columns in Table 2.1. In addition to the traditional four Ps, the services marketing mix includes people, physical evidence, and process.

5. People:

All human actors who play a part in service delivery and thus influence the buyer’s perceptions: namely, the firm’s personnel, the customer, and other customers in the service environment.

All of the human actors participating in the delivery of a service provide cues to the customer regarding the nature of the service itself. How these people are dressed, their personal appearance their attitudes and behaviors all influence the costumers perceptions of the service.

The service provider or contact person can be very important. In fact, for some services, such as consulting, counselling, teaching, and other professional relationship – based services, the provider is the services. In other cases the contact person may play what appears to be a relatively small part in service delivery, for instance, a telephone installer, an airline baggage handler, or an equipment delivery dispatcher.

Yet research suggests that even these providers may be the focal point of service encounters that can prove critical for the organization.

6. Physical Evidence:

The environment in which the service is delivered and where the firm and customer interact, and any tangible components that facilitate performance or communication of the service.

The physical evidence of service includes all of the tangible representations of the services – such as brochures, letterhead, business cards, report formats, signage, and equipment. In some cases it includes the physical facility where the service is offered, for example, the retail bank branch facility.

In other cases, such as telecommunication services, the physical facility maybe irrelevant..In this case other tangibles such as billing statements and appearance of the repair truck may be important indicators of quality.

Especially when consumers have little on which to judge the actual quality of service they will rely on these cues just as they rely on the cues provided by the people and the service process.

Physical evidence cues provide excellent opportunities for the firm to send consistent and strong messages regarding the organization’s purpose, the intended market segments, and the nature of the service.

7. Process:

The actual procedures, mechanism and flow of activities by which, the service is delivered the service delivery and operating systems. The actual delivery steps the customer experiences, or the operational flow of the service, will also provide customers with evidence on which to judge the service.

Some services are very complex, requiring the customer to follow a complicated and extensive series of actions to complete the process. Highly bureaucratized services frequently follow this pattern, and the logic of the steps involved often escapes the customer.

Another distinguishing characteristic of the process that can provide evidence to the customer is whether the service follows a production-line/standardized approach or whether the process is an empowered/customized one. None of these characteristics of the service is inherently better or worse than another.

Rather, the point is that these process characteristics are another form of evidence used by the consumer to judge service. For example, two successful airline companies, Southwest in the United States and Singapore Airlines, follow extremely different process models. Southwest is no-frills (no food, no assigned seats), no exceptions, low-priced airline that offers frequent, relatively short length domestic flights.

All of the evidence it provides is consistent with its vision and market position. Singapore Airlines, on the other hand, focuses on the business traveler and is concerned with meeting individual traveler needs. Thus, its process is highly customized to the individual, and employees are empowered to provide nonstandard service when needed. Both airlines have been very successful.

Bottom line

Content marketing is a scalable way to bring in customers and potential customers to your site via each of these stages. You can create content that targets those in the awareness, consideration, or purchase phase.

As long as the content is optimized and provides what the audience is looking for, it has the potential to continue to bring in potential customers long after it’s been created.