While content is a multimillion industry for big brands worldwide, there are still many business sectors – especially smaller businesses – that don’t see that content as worthwhile. They’re not necessarily against content; they may in fact quite like the idea of having a blog or publishing regular articles or ebooks. It’s just that their marketing budgets are finite, and they aren’t sure how paying a freelance writer like you to write content for them will yield a decent return on their investment.

Here are some key ways to help you build a business case when selling your content work.

Content is essential for SEO 

These days, by the time a potential customer gets in touch with a business, they will already have done a lot of their own research online. They will be looking not for sales messages, though, but for answers to real questions:

How does a first-time mortgage work?
If I buy a rabbit, will it get on with my cats?
What’s the best way to migrate my accounting records to the cloud?

Companies with a commercial interest in reaching the people asking such questions (e.g., mortgage providers, pet stores, cloud providers) can win favourable attention by providing useful content that supports their effort. Over time, Google will reward their efforts with higher rankings. Good-quality, audience-focused content demonstrating what Google calls ‘expertise, authority and trust’ will improve a business’s search rankings, meaning more people know about it and are likely to buy from it. More details here and here.

Content can help people understand why they need a business 

Content often takes the form of useful explainer articles designed to address pain points that consumers face. Consumers realise that a business really understands them, and also makes them consider why they might need help. As someone who wants to write a will for the first time, for example, I might be grateful for an introductory article from a law firm outlining the questions to consider and steps to take. But the content may also make me think that I’d be better off seeking expert help, and, of course, now I know who to ask. Educational content makes consumers 131 percent more likely to buy from a brand, according to this survey.

Content can help a business demonstrate its purpose 

In today’s divided world, people are looking to buy from brands they trust and who have values they share. Customers are now “assessing what a brand says, what it does and what it stands for,” says Accenture in this report. “They support companies whose brand purpose aligns with their beliefs. And they reject those that don’t.” Whether through case studies, articles, explainers, or social posts, content is a great way for a business to showcase what it stands for and to demonstrate how it acts in accordance with its values.

Content helps customers and potential customers subscribe to you emotionally 

If you create regular content – say, via some combination of email newsletter, social channels and blog – you give people the chance to follow you in various ways. Having something new and useful for them helps make you aware of their needs, gather feedback from your followers about your service and products, and develop a personality that people can recognise and appreciate. Email newsletters regularly deliver a return on investment of over $40 for every $1 spent on them.

For all the reasons above, content can help add more dollars to your bottom line. People buy more from businesses they trust and like, that they consider to be experts and, most crucially, that they are familiar with. No wonder three out of four business-to-consumer marketers say that content marketing brings them success, according to the 2020 CMI survey.

BIO: Dan Brotzel’s debut collection of short stories is Hotel du Jack (Sandstone Press)