The Business Case for Content Investment
If an organization wishes to increase its content investment, someone needs to be able to make a compelling business case for it, right?
There’s the traditional view of content as a nice-to-have marketing expense. That’s not a difficult argument to make.
But to what extent can content evolve beyond this characterization into a business-critical, revenue-generating asset?
Content as Essential Spend
The first thing to understand about content is that businesses need it whether they like it or not.
At a minimum, businesses require content to describe themselves and explain their products. An enterprise can’t function without some level of content.
Even a local pizzeria needs a name, a menu, flyers, and signage. A company without any content is invisible.
Flip your Content Thinking
A critical step is reframing content away from a discretionary marketing expense to a necessary infrastructure cost.
Infrastructure is an accurate term here. Content performs a number of key business functions that would leave an organization weaker in its absence.
It’s your digital shopfront.
It communicates your brand and value propositions.
It describes your product and services.
It creates depth and richness around your business
It helps close new deals and retain existing customers.
This is content as core infrastructure. An organization without content is like a building without walls, windows, paint, or signage.
Content as Growth Engine
For organizations that get good at content creation, there are practical ways to grow your business and generate revenue from the good work you’re putting in.
Sponsorship: Invite partner companies to underwrite your key content projects, from podcasts to white papers to extended videos.
Online Conferences: Name a large B2B firm that doesn't organize, or hasn't recently considered organizing, a virtual conference of some shape or form. And what is the primary draw of each event but its content?
Networking: Content is increasingly the bedrock of networking. Look at the significant investment LinkedIn has made in promoting user-generated content across its platform.
Advertising: Go old school and allow targeted advertising to appear against your content.
Data: Build trust with clients and prospects through content, and encourage them to share more granular information with you over time. Learn what your audience is interested in and what it isn’t.
Public Relations: Earn favorable media through strong content. Publishing proprietary research is a proven way of winning links back to your website and getting your business' name out there.
Influencers: Content gives your advocates on the ground something tangible to shout about on your behalf.
Finally, remember a commitment to content will not only keep your client informed about your product and services but help manage customer service costs. These days more than ever, people actively want to figure things out for themselves. Meet their needs through content—and drive efficiency at the same time.
Content Creates Value
“Marketing is not the art of finding clever ways to dispose of what you make. Marketing is the art of creating genuine customer value," wrote marketing theorist Philip Kotler. "It is the art of helping your customer become better off."
Switch out "marketing" for "content" in this statement, and the sentiment holds true.
It's never too late to reframe your organization's approach to content. View content both as an infrastructure cost and as an asset that yields over time. Watch as the question moves from "Why content?" to "How do we do content well?"