Today we have a guest post from Brandon Schmidt, Director of Digital Strategy at YDOP, an internet marketing company in Lancaster, PA that specializes in Local SEO, website design & development, digital advertising, video marketing, and conversion optimization.
Most local businesses don’t benefit from traditional content marketing approaches. Learn why that is and how you can create better content that generates leads.
For years, the steady drumbeat of content marketing has been ringing in the ears of local business owners and marketers. Marketing experts, agencies, and blogging advocates have all emphasized the importance of content marketing and how regular blogging will transform a business.
But lately we’ve been encountering more and more local businesses using traditional content marketing strategies with little success. That might surprise some who believe that businesses which produce more content find more success. In our experience, that’s not necessarily true for local businesses.
In fact, we’re seeing cases where it costs those businesses years of effort, only to discover that their efforts were in vain. After spending a lot of time and money, they’re not seeing the results they need: namely, more phone calls, form submissions, and in-person visits. Is content marketing the best approach to help businesses reach their local markets?
Content Marketing: National vs. Local Strategy
Content marketing is the strategy of creating content for the purpose of answering customer questions and building interest in a product or service. Marketing content differs from other forms of online content in that it’s not explicitly promotional.
Agencies and experts that preach content marketing are normally ones that have a business model that resonates with content marketing: SaaS, internet-only businesses, companies with a national or large regional territories, or industries with a long sales cycle.
It is easy for a local business to fall under the spell of content marketing, buying into the belief that content is king and by merely writing blog posts your business will grow. But local businesses need to use local content strategies.