Does Content Marketing Actually Work?
This episode might reference ProfitWell and ProfitWell Recur, which following the acquisition by Paddle is now Paddle Studios. Some information may be out of date.
Originally published: October 29, 2018
Content marketing has become the gold standard in marketing, helping your prospects and customers understand your business, the problems you’re solving, and giving them value before they’ve even considered purchasing from you. The growth of content is also undeniable with the U.S. about to see nearly 30 million blogs, and the entire world is seeing roughly 5 times that. But is it working?
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Customer acquisition costs (CAC) are up across the board, but content CAC is roughly 15% less than paid CAC, suggesting some efficiency when it comes to an inbound marketing strategy.
Note though that content CAC is actually growing at a quicker rate than paid CAC, suggesting that this gap may be closing as content becomes more expensive to produce due to the density of how much content is out there.
Here’s what’s interesting though:
47% of buyers still view 3 to 5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales representative, companies with blogs tend to get 67% more leads than those who don’t have a blog, and Inbound marketing close rates are still 8 to 10 times higher compared to those of outbound efforts.
So even though there are increasing costs, there’s a compounding effect when it comes to content. After all, content ads significantly to brand, trust, and even surface area since content can sit on your site forever.
When it comes to retention, companies who are deploying content are seeing 5%-10% better retention, especially when they deploy content that is more customer success focused.
And yet, content’s power appears to be more on the overall growth side of the house as hinted at from the facts and figures cited above.
When comparing overall growth rates between companies deploying a content strategy with those who aren’t, the content companies are seeing roughly 30% higher growth rates than folks not using content marketing.
It’s safe to say that the whole theory that HubSpot drove so many years ago around Inbound Marketing turned out to be true.
While we can give HubSpot credit, this also reflects just the shift in the market. Density of more and more companies vying for your attention and the diminishing of information asymmetry means that our customers have more power now, and that’s amazing.
The onus is now on us to focus on brand, focus on education, and ultimately focus on a great user experience to convert prospects into customers. It’s the inbound way.
Want to learn more? Check out our recent episode: Customer Success Reduces Churn & Increases Expansion Revenue and subscribe to the show to get new episodes.
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You've got the questions,
and we have the data.
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This is the ProfitWell Report.
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Hey, Patrick.
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Chris Handy here from CloseOne
with a quick question for you
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about content marketing strategy
being executed at companies.
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If a company is really going
hard on content marketing,
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is that really paying off?
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Are they getting the results
at the end of the day when you
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look at the balance sheet?
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Content marketing has become
the gold standard in marketing.
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Helping your prospects and
customers understand your business,
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million nearly thirty
million blogs and
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the entire world seeing
roughly five times that.
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But is it working?
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To answer Chris's question,
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we looked at over three
thousand companies and thirty
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thousand customers and
here's what we found.
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Customer acquisition costs or
CAC is up across the board, but
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content CAC CAC is roughly
fifteen percent less than paid
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CAC suggesting some efficiency
when it comes to an inbound
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marketing strategy.
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Note though that content CAC is
actually growing at a quicker
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rate than paid CAC suggesting
that this gap may be closing as
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content becomes more and more
expensive to produce due to the
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density of how much
content is out there.
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Here's what's
interesting though.
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Forty seven percent of buyers
still view three to five pieces
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of content before engaging
with the sales rep.
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Rep.
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Companies with blogs tend to
get sixty seven percent more
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leads than those who don't have
a blog and inbound marketing
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close rates are still eight to
ten x those of outbound efforts.
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So even though there's
an increasing cost,
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there's a compounding effect on
growth here especially when it
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comes to content.
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After all, content adds significantly
to brand trust and and even
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surface area since content
can sit on your site forever.
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When it comes to retention,
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companies who are deploying
content are seeing five to ten
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percent better retention
especially when they deploy
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content that is more
customer focused.
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00:01:56,165 --> 00:01:58,965
Yet content's power appears to
be more on the overall growth
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00:01:58,965 --> 00:02:02,960
side of the house as hinted at from
the facts and figures cited above.
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00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,440
When comparing overall growth
rates between companies
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00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,115
deploying a content strategy
with those who aren't,
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00:02:08,115 --> 00:02:10,675
the content companies are
seeing roughly thirty percent
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00:02:10,675 --> 00:02:14,435
higher growth rates than folks
not using content marketing.
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00:02:14,435 --> 00:02:18,060
It's safe to say that the whole
theory that HubSpot drove so
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00:02:18,060 --> 00:02:21,660
many years ago around inbound
marketing turned out to be true.
50
00:02:21,660 --> 00:02:23,660
And while we can
give HubSpot credit,
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00:02:23,660 --> 00:02:26,385
this also reflects just
the shift in the market.
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00:02:26,385 --> 00:02:28,865
Density of more and
more companies vying for your
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00:02:28,865 --> 00:02:31,665
attention and the diminishing
information asymmetry that
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00:02:31,665 --> 00:02:35,060
exists in the market means that
our customers have more power
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00:02:35,060 --> 00:02:37,060
now and that's amazing.
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00:02:37,060 --> 00:02:41,145
The onus is now on us to focus
on brand, focus on education,
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00:02:41,145 --> 00:02:44,505
and ultimately focus on a
greater user experience to
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convert those prospects
into customers.
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After all, it's the inbound
way. Well, that's all for now.
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If you have a question,
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ship me an email or video to p
c at profit well dot dot com.
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Now let's also thank Chris from
closed one for sparking this
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research by clicking the link below
to share and give him a
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nice little shout out.
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We'll see you next
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week.
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This week's episode is
brought to you by SalesHandy,
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a sales communication and
analytics tool to make inside
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sales teams around the
world highly productive.
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00:03:14,739 --> 00:03:16,824
Sales handy dot com.
