We talk about content a lot here at SD Marketing, digging into the statistics, watching industry trends, and adjusting and perfecting our content strategies. Why? Because the heart of all marketing is content, and if you do not understand the coming trends, you can’t adjust your content marketing strategy for business growth.

Society always pushes us to look for the “latest and greatest,” which is true in marketing. Many new tactics are to be discovered and utilized, but it is essential to learn from and leverage what has already been universally time-tested and proven. Interestingly, the latest trends in content marketing allow you to do just that.

Content marketing has been around for a long time. Though there are earlier examples, most people typically cite John Deere’s quarterly publication, “The Furrow,” first published in 1895 as the birth of content marketing and brand publishing. “The Furrow” wasn’t a catalog. It didn’t overtly seek to sell products on every page. Instead, it strove to establish a connection between the brand and customer by sharing articles and agricultural tips in addition to advertisements for John Deere products. This genesis of content marketing became so popular that it had four million readers by 1912. That is about 4.5 percent of the total U.S. population at that time, all without commercials or social media!

That worked in 1912. How about now? According to Dragon Search, 61 percent of consumers report being highly influenced by content marketing. That is not just significant to your success in 2022; it’s groundbreaking.

Here’s the bedrock truth of content marketing for 2022: Content has historically been a critical component in business success for hundreds of years, and using today’s tools lets you do what they did even better.

Understand that content marketing can take time to show results, but it is a robust and long-term approach to improving your brand visibility and nurturing customer relationships. It is a strategy that uses quality content to attract visitors to your site. Rather than a fast push to buy as with an ad, it allows them to browse content that sends a clear message that you are attuned to their security needs and are ready to help solve their problems.

Without a doubt, content marketing in 2022 can produce dramatic results for your security business. But it takes time, focus, and key applications to become effective at it. We recommend that security companies not become sidetracked by all the peripherals of digital marketing and concentrate on the things that make the core historical success of content marketing easier or more effective.

Google analytics have become increasingly sophisticated, which you can use to your advantage. Unlike other lead generation strategies, content marketing gives valuable information to prospects instead of or before asking for something. The idea is to make the content high-value and help the prospect feel genuinely understood. Google rewards content that provides a high level of content value, authority, and authenticity by ranking you higher in search results.

We recommend:

• Using SEO tools to help create content.
• Clarifying complicated topics.
• Relating a solution to real-life problems.
• Providing “how-to” information.
• Optimizing for voice search.
• Re-Imagining and restructuring your content.
• Using conversational language for content.
• Targeting long-tail keyword phrases.
• Creating content for every stage of the buying cycle.

We understand that most security companies want to focus on ads because ads sell. While we are huge proponents of digital advertising, we also want to stress it is essential to compliment that strategy with content marketing. Remember, it is not just about converting the immediate buyer. It is also about building a firm foundation of trust and recognition within the industry, successfully engaging prospects at every stage of the buying cycle, and positioning yourself ahead of the competition. Only content marketing can do that.