As a consumer, would you say that most of the ads you are exposed to from day-to-day interrupt you, annoy you or are irrelevant to you? If your answer is yes, you’re not alone. A poll from marketingcharts.com reveals that 58 percent of American consumers are annoyed by ads for products and services they don’t need. But believe it or not, people don’t hate advertising. For proof, look no further than the Super Bowl earlier this month. A survey from Venables Bell & Partners revealed that a whopping 78 percent of Americans look forward to Super Bowl commercials more than the game itself. Consumers actually only hate intrusive ads that try to capture their attention without offering them any real content of value.

This is where traditional advertising strategy fails. The process involves picking out media outlets that are most likely to reach the target audience, and then plugging in marketing content that will hopefully snatch their attention briefly. It’s almost like a template that marketers use. Finding out which forms of media consumers will inevitably come across gives marketers an opportunity to shovel content at a captive audience. This drives consumers crazy.

Fortunately, the advertising industry is a living, ever-changing organism. In recent years, it has evolved from intrusive traditional marketing to a more content-first approach. This means that marketers’ first priority is to encourage consumer interaction by developing engaging content. Once marketers have quality, worthwhile content such as blog posts, YouTube videos and infographics, they can then decide how to deliver it to consumers in a non-intrusive way that interests them and makes them want to know more. Here are five major advantages of using strong, content-focused marketing:

  1. Powerful content won’t be ignored.
    We’ve all done it. We encounter an ad and we instinctively skip, close, mute or ignore. When an advertisement interrupts us, it’s like a built-in reflex to avoid it at all costs. But this is much less likely to happen when the content has some value to the audience. In fact, high-quality content will pique the interest of your audience, allowing them to take notice and further interact with your brand.
  2. Content of value evokes positive consumer attitudes.
    When consumers find content that they enjoy, something special happens. They start to develop feelings of loyalty and trust for the provider of the content, while continuing to engage and come back for more. Instilling these positive feelings and attitudes in customers is absolutely priceless for a brand to accomplish.
  3. Content marketing is consumer-centric.
    One of the biggest downfalls of traditional advertising is the fact that it is primarily centered on selling a product or service. It attempts to promote and deliver information about the product while expecting the audience to care. Content marketing on the other hand is completely focused on the consumer. Deliverables are designed and crafted to interest the consumer first, while focusing on the sale of the product or service only after you have their attention.
  4. Engaging content gets shared.
    In the world of advertising, credibility is everything. When you use a traditional advertising strategy, the majority of consumers are not going to listen to the claims you make for one reason; lack of credibility. When consumers know you are trying to sell them something, they will be skeptical no matter what you say. But when consumers hear about a brand or product from their friends and followers, it’s a completely different story. Content that is shared via social media holds an immense amount of credibility and can spread like wildfire. When you look at what really gets shares on social media, it is undoubtedly links to high quality, interesting content. If you can produce this type of content, your message will be spread through a trusted vehicle that will create the exposure you’re after.
  5. An abundance of content helps with Search Engine Optimization.
    A survey from Pew Internet revealed that 92 percent of Internet users search. Simply put, your first point of contact with most of your target audience will be through a search engine. In today’s fast-paced world, showing up toward the top of searches is exponentially important. Having an abundance of content pages for Google, Yahoo, Bing and other engines to index is one of the best ways to increase your search engine presence. The more pieces of content you put out there, the easier it is for consumers to find you.

Absolute Marketing Group has content experts that will help you engage with your audience on another level. Give us a call at (701) 478-1111 or email us at info@absolutemg.com.