Getting Googled — 5 Clear Reasons Why Content Marketing Beats Advertising & SEO

I think a lot about advertising and all the different ways to interest potential customers in a service or product without advertising.

I recently had a neat idea for someone who wants to start up a new alcoholic beverage brand and have every other liquor bottle advertise for them.

Just name it “responsibly.”

I don’t know how well it would work, but it sure sounded funny in my head.

Here’s the thing though — getting your brand noticed is no longer about advertising or Seach Engine Optimization.

When was the last time you saw an advertisement, and thought, “oh, I need to go buy that product”?

I’m sure it’s happened, and you may even remember it, but I bet that for every advertisement that interests you, thousands get totally glossed over.

This leads me to the first of my reasons why content marketing is the future, and advertising is just annoying:

1. Over-Saturation

I bet that you’ve seen dozens of ads by lunchtime today, even if you haven’t left your house.

They’re not just on billboards and tv, they’re on every single webpage, video, and social media feed.

It would be enough to drive people insane, except that as a population, we’ve developed a strategy for dealing with them.

We ignore them.

It’s that simple, think about it — you probably see a dozen or more ads per hour if you’re doing some light internet browsing, about the same if you’re watching TV, and probably a lot more if you’re driving around town.

How many of them do you actually notice though?

2. Google Is The Go-To

When you find yourself in need of a product, any product, let’s say it’s a fridge or a new TV, what do you do?

You don’t think “oh, well I saw an ad for one, I’ll go buy that.”

No way.

If you’re like most people, you Google it.

Do you browse the first 10 pages of the search results? Not a chance.

In fact, it’s incredibly rare for Google users to even browse the second page, and no one ever clicks on the “sponsored links” except by accident.

3. Content Is King

What do you click on when you’re looking at those Google results?

You might click on your local appliance store to see what they’ve got, but most people want to get the best fit for their needs, and they find that through content.

You might click a list of the 10 Best Fridges With Ice Makers.

Or the Top Double Wide Refrigerators Of 2022.

Maybe Affordable Energy Efficient Fridge/Freezer Combos.

I could come up with list headlines all day, but the point is, those are all content.

They all contain useful information that you actually want, and they also have a link to a local business that will sell you those products.

It’s a win-win.

4. Double Whammy

Here’s where it gets really neat — we know you want to be on the top of the Google search results — who doesn’t.

We also know that content provides your potential clients with the information they actually want and a link back to your website.

But did you know that helpful content like that will actually improve your rankings on Google?

This is where it turns into a win-win-win.

Does that make it a triple whammy?

Who cares, we’re not done yet.

5. Triple... Quadruple... All The Whammy’s

You’ve probably heard of SEO — search engine optimization.

It’s a neat trick, using keywords people are likely to search for to improve your chances of being near the top of the search results.

How many keywords can you put in the headline of your website though, before it just turns into word soup?

This is where useful content strikes again, because every blog, podcast, slideshow, video, press release, or whatever content you’re putting out, has its own set of keywords.

Every piece improves the algorithm's chances of listing your business near the top, and adds another article that can also rank high in the results.

And they all lead back to your business.

But wait, there’s more!

And I hope you read that in the voice of the dearly missed Billy Mays of As Seen On TV and Oxiclean fame.

Do you know what the best, the absolute most amazing, wonderful, and fantastic part of the whole content marketing thing is?

Your customers won’t hate your annoying ads.

That’s right. Haven’t you ever seen an ad that was in your way, interrupting a show, or just generally annoying as heck?

Don’t be those guys — be the brand that gives your customers the information they want, when they want it, and also provides a convenient link to where they can buy the mentioned products or services.

It’s not advertising, it’s just helping your customers out, and yourself as well!