The benefits of content marketing for link building, for SEO and for audience engagement have been huge topics of discussion at this week’s SES San Francisco conference. Content aggregator Technorati goes a step further, sharing data that suggests content can drive sales.
Charles Black, president and chief strategy officer of Technorati Media, reminded marketers that it is important to create search-optimized blogs as a lead generation tactic. While social media marketing is all the buzz at present, he shared data indicating that consumers are twice as likely to trust blogs as they are to trust social media. Blogs are second only to consumers’ friends in terms of trusted information/shopping resources.
Moreover, Black’s data suggests that consumers often read blogs specifically to get insight that will inform their purchase decisions. Nearly two-thirds of consumers (65 percent) read blogs with the intention of accessing expert opinions. Fifty-two percent of blog readers say blog content has factored into the critical moment they decided to buy.
Content agreggators – such as Technorati, LinkedIn Today, Google News and more – are great channels for adding exposure to blogs. Of course, Black points out that there are quality and credibility requirements to gain visibility in these spaces. Technorati pulls content from more than 1.2 million blogs, and each has been approved by the company’s authority ranking tool. Marketers might want to invest in creating content of the highest editorial caliber, accordingly.
Investing in search-friendly content marketing is something that should be on marketers’ radars this year. In addition to this SES San Francisco insight, Brafton has reported that 57 percent of blog marketers say they have acquired new customers via their content.
