You’ve no doubt heard that content marketing can boost your business and you may have even glanced through the various options, but if you haven’t yet implemented a plan in your company, you’re missing out. There are content marketing methods for every type of advertisement and any industry you can think of. Whether you sell toiletries or custom sports cars, you can increase your sales dramatically by integrating content strategies in your advertising.

Forbes.com states that companies without a content marketing plan are missing the boat. Using the help of a professional marketing team may not seem like a necessary expenditure, but even brand-new companies can benefit. Some business owners question the cost, but studies show that companies with a content marketing service have enjoyed a 300 percent increase in the effectiveness of their marketing messages, a 94 percent rate of opened targeted email offers and lead page conversions of almost 70 percent when case studies are involved.

With numbers like that, a better question is how can you afford to ignore the industry any longer? Here are some of the many reasons you should implement content marketing methods in your advertising plan and how they can help your company grow.

Seeing is Believing

Many potential customers are more attracted to a piece of content if it has an image or infographic attached. Bold, easy-to-read headers located on the image can quickly convey the message you are trying to send and immediately snatch your viewers’ attention. One expert posted an infographic to one social media channel and generated 22 leads from the single post. After sending the same image out in an email, the company also noticed an 83 percent increase in open rates. A great visual can gain potential customers that may otherwise pass you by.

If you have a product that needs instruction for use, a video demonstrating the ease and giving tips can be a great addition to your content marketing plan. Something like this can be shared across every channel and sent to customers after purchase. There are many ways you can include visuals in your content marketing, and each one carries potential that the written word lacks.

Read All About It

If you’re wondering whether or not adding a blog to your plan would be beneficial, just ask the 80 percent of B2B marketers who have used this outlet for their company. More than half feel that they are enjoying increased success after introducing blogging, attesting to the perks of providing longer, more informative content.

Blog posts are not only beneficial to your readers, they can also provide you with great resources for creating even more content. You can split up a long post into smaller sections and use those in social media posts, tweets and SlideShares. Blogs can also be reposted multiple times to bring new eyes to your site.

Another way blogs can benefit your content marketing is by helping you gauge which posts are favorites of your clients. When one of your posts generates many views, tweets or likes, reuse the information in as many ways as possible. You can create videos, infographics and webinars about the subject. Another great benefit of a blog is that you can feature guest posts and gain access to another professional’s readers as well as share your own.

Get Social

Social media is not just for teenagers. If you’re not using multiple social media channels to market your business, you are missing out on a deep well of free advertising. Creating an account on many sites is especially helpful since you may find that the majority of your new customers come from one over another. You may have to do a little research to determine which avenue deserves your greatest attention, but ordering tweets and posts from your content marketing service can generate many customers that you may not reach any other way.

Watch Your Legs

One last piece of advice that many experts give is that business owners need to mind the three-legged stool. This refers to the three branches of a good content marketing campaign. The three branches are content marketing, SEO and social media. In order to have a solid strategy that will support your company, you need to build all three.

These three elements work together and support each other and, while you may find some success with one or two, you will not create the presence that you will if you utilize all three. If you have a social media account, but nothing to post, you aren’t going to attract many followers. Likewise, if you have a great blog with hundreds of informative posts but aren’t sharing them with anyone, they most likely won’t get read.

One of the main goals of a content marketing plan is to boost your ranking with Google. Using all three legs to generate more viewers will not only lead to more leads and followers but also increase your page views and move you up the ranks. Having great SEO techniques implemented in your content will give your site the extra boost that it needs to reach your goals for success.

Get Professional Help

The reason that the content marketing industry has grown so dramatically over the last several years is that more and more companies are realizing that the best way to gain the exposure they need is to utilize these strategies in their own marketing plan. In the constantly evolving world of online marketing, one of the best ways to stay afloat is to be sure you don’t miss the boat.