Producing strong content about your space is not a means to an end, but rather, it is the end itself.

By now, if you are running a company, you have heard about the benefits of content marketing. You have probably bought into the concept of establishing your name as an authority in the space by generating consistently valuable and engaging content.

Having said that, chances are, you are under the mistaken impression that the content you write is only valuable if it brings in more eyeballs. “If no one is reading them, what is the point of writing articles?” 

Well, on the one hand, you are not wrong. Of course, you should see the numbers increasing and eventually, you should expect to see significant traffic to your site, and hopefully high quality traffic that converts. However, in the short term, there are many reasons to write or produce high quality content about your industry even if your numbers are low. 

Here are five.

1. The traffic has to come from somewhere.

It is a legitimate question to ask what the point of writing content is, if only a few people are reading it. Guess what? The opposite question is also true. Think about it, how do you expect to get traffic if you don’t give people something to follow and read?

Google and the rest of the search engines are here to promote strong content. You expect to get traffic from search, but you are not giving them anything to promote people who are actually searching. Instead of doing what so many SEO professionals waste their time doing, buying links, how about you produce something meaningful that people will talk about, link to, and then you can watch your traffic soar?

2. Your social channels will benefit.

Even if not one person reads your article, you can share it on social media when people are discussing the topic, and your article contributes to the conversation. In other words, while you wait for the organic traffic to come, you can proactively leverage your content to establish your authority in the space by sharing it across social media.

3. Your outbound communication can be much more effective.

When your employees send the hundreds of emails that they send every day, you can and should share your articles in a company-wide signature or just in a casual way saying something like “You might enjoy our recent article” with a link to the post. 

Not only does this help drive traffic to the post, but it also livens up your email and hopefully provides real value to the recipient who is interested in your industry.

4. It brings your website to life.

At the end of the day, a static website explaining your product can only go so far. It won’t bring in many eyeballs due to its static nature, and let’s be honest, it is mostly good for people who are already familiar with the company. However, if the site has a dynamic feed of your content, that you produce regularly, that content, even if few people read it, brings the site to life.

The website instantly becomes more engaging and even adds a clear call to action, as opposed to being purely informative with nothing for the reader to actually do. An interesting and compelling website will always be more effective, across the board.

5. It helps you own your story and your company voice.

If you keep at it, and generate high quality content for a significant period of time, eventually, the search engines will promote your content. When your traffic does start increasing, your first posts, which at the time, got little to no traffic start to get some visibility and then your brand, your voice, your story is something you defined.

The last thing any company wants is to have someone else own their story, whether that’s the press or people speaking negatively about the brand on social.

By embracing content marketing, you are laying the foundations of owning your story down the road and you are ensuring that your voice is heard and hopefully, appreciated.

PUBLISHED ON: APR 1, 2019 By Hillel FuldTech marketer and startup adviser@hilzfuld