Why Content is More Important Than Ever in 2022

These days, content strategy is one of the most important aspects of any marketing plan. If you’re marketing in 2022, it’s truer than ever. It’s why everybody has a blog these days, from the biggest companies in the world to that local mom-and-pop shop just down the street. 

“But why is content marketing so important?”, you may be wondering. 

I could tell you that your content strategy is a primary way for you to tell your story to customers, and that it’s a huge part of how you define your brand personality. But first and foremost, your content marketing strategy is a critical component in how you set yourself apart from the competition. 

Content Marketing: The Experts Weigh In

Business guru Neil Patel put it this way: 

“Content marketing provides content that customers want in exchange for permission to market a product or service.”

What I believe Neil Patel is saying is that great content is almost like a trojan horse but in a good way—you hook the reader with the useful content that they’re looking for, all the while subtly marketing your business. If your content is good enough, sometimes you don’t even have to try to market yourself because it speaks for you!

That’s why some people would even argue that content is MORE important than copy and ads these days. After all, millions, if not billions, of people search for useful content every single day. On the other hand, nobody goes out of their way to look up ads (unless it’s the Superbowl). To put it bluntly, most people simply hate ads–it’s why services like AdBlock are so popular. 

Besides, most ads are simply desperate attempts to try and sell you something. There’s often no other value in it other than, “Hey you! Buy this!”. People see right through it, and resent the intrusion. 

According to Hubspot:

“91% of respondents agree ads are more intrusive today compared to two to three years ago, and 87% agree there are more ads in general.”

Relying solely on ads and copy may even be a losing battle, because no matter what you do, people are getting better and better at ignoring them. 

At the end of the day, do you really want your brand associated with being held hostage by an annoyingly unskippable YouTube ad that plays constantly to the point where people are actually angry at your brand? 

Probably not.

Anyone who’s been on YouTube is probably familiar with this dreaded message.

Great content can be your biggest advocate

If people read your content and it actually helps them, you’re automatically building positive associations with your brand–even if they don’t buy anything. If you build upon that and continue putting out useful and relevant content, then you could even position yourself (or your brand) as a thought leader or industry authority that others look up to, which will only help you and your brand in the long run. 

Plus, great content can give you a huge boost SEO-wise, especially if your content is well-planned and executed because many of the important keywords you’re targeting will be used naturally. If you use strategic headings on top of that, you might already be miles ahead of the competition. You can also supplement your content with links to your menu, products, or services when it’s appropriate. 

Even better is if you do all of the above with a focus on creating evergreen content--but that’s a topic for another article.

With enough practice, content marketing will become second nature as long as you implement the right content processes that help you create quality content that people actually love reading.