One of Brafton's clients shows how content marketing services can help brands kill two birds with one stone - driving traffic and increasing brand awareness.

Industry: Real estate
Content: Consistent blog content, transition from SEO strategy to lower funnel-targeted editorial
Highlights: 200% traffic gains, 142% increased site conversions

For one of our clients in the real estate industry, a 200 percent increase in year-over-year organic search traffic was not just an indicator that the content was doing its job to generate traffic. In addition to building the company’s footprint in search results AND directing visitors back to its website, the web content was also increasing consumer awareness about the brand.

Cast a wider net with consistent content

Comparing data from 2013 to 2014, we could see the website was getting 239 percent more visits from new users as people became familiar with the brand. These were clicks from people who had not previously interacted with the company and were clicking through to its content for the first time.

The website was getting 239% more visits from new users as people became familiar with the brand.

This is how content marketing is supposed to work. When you create high-quality articles that are closely related to your business, you rank better in search results because you’re providing valuable information to searchers. Along with a better ranking, you get more clicks (aka traffic) and people come across your brand name more often. Consumers recognize that your company is on the leaderboard and are more likely to click through to find out what you offer and how you can help them.

Hook qualified visitors with relevant content

New visits are great, but you have to make sure that casting a wider net is going to pull in the right kinds of prospects.

It’s normal to see a dip in engagement metrics when you get an influx of traffic. Any time you’re getting significantly more visitors, there’s a chance that a portion of those new people won’t be your ideal customers – there will be leads who need some nurturing and others that are looking for different solutions.

However, a strong content strategy makes the most of the opportunity to get in front of web users. By giving readers a clear sense of the information they’ll find on your page, you are more likely to get qualified visitors and less likely to see those new users bounce off the page.

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This client did see some of those tell-tale signs of a growing audience, but the goal completion rate also increased 142 percent. That means the number of on-site conversions doubled throughout the year as the site brought in new users.

Create content that does more than SEO

SEO is an important goal, but it’s not the only marketing objective your custom content can achieve. Build a strategy with stamina that fuels your entire sales funnel. Provide valuable information to prospects at different stages in the buying process – whether they’re just learning about your business or aggressively comparing competitors before making a major purchase.

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To learn more about how content fuels marketing goals, check out these related resources:

 

Lauren Kaye is a Marketing Editor at Brafton Inc. She studied creative and technical writing at Virginia Tech before pursuing the digital frontier and finding content marketing was the best place to put her passions to work. Lauren also writes creative short fiction, hikes in New England and appreciates a good book recommendation.