​Content marketing can produce SEO content that acquires and retains customers.

​Business owners can acquire and retain customers using their websites. However, new data suggests marketers must leverage creative SEO content to speak to every type of visitor online. While businesses have to be smart with how they allocate funding, content marketing has proven a dynamic strategy that engages audiences in a variety of ways.

An October 2012 Constant Contact study looked at 1,305 small businesses to understand how different internet marketing programs balance customer acquisition and retention. Seventy-seven percent of surveyed professionals say their websites are the most effective channels for striking an effective balance. More, 69 percent of businesses said their blog content reached both new and existing customers, and 60 percent credited social media marketing with lead gen and nurturing.

BtoB Magazine reported that 43 percent of B2Bs see their sales cycles slowing down, and content marketing might help brands interact with more customers at once to increase website conversions. Businesses that publish a variety of website and blog content, from evergreen articles to videos to infographics, will give prospects and current customers all they need to make informed decisions. This both resolves concerns about a prolonged sales process and delivers on demands for channels that both acquire and retain valuable clientele.

Ted Karczewski is an Executive Communications Associate at Brafton. He works to develop his own voice and apply his passions to the evolving world of SEO and content marketing, but he doesn't shy away from writing for fun. After graduating from Suffolk University, Ted used his Communications degree to test out Sports Journalism before Marketing at Brafton.