Content marketing is a new ballpark for advertisers and marketers in every industry. With content marketing, your business will be attracting, engaging, listening to and converting consumers who are already interested in what you have to offer.

The days of blind-sending direct mailers are out — especially since those messages get lost in the noise anyway.

Content marketing is worth the time investment. Traditional marketing tactics average out to $373 per lead, while the cost-per-lead using content marketing is 62 percent less, at $173.

Let's jump into how your business can begin attracting new customers by setting goals for your content marketing plan, then making them a reality.

Attracting new customers

When you attract customers to your site, they're already invested in your content and what you have to offer. The next step is earning their trust and showing them that you're an expert in your field.

But, how do new customers find your site?

Write SEO keyword-driven posts and content that answer the questions your audience is asking. You know the questions that you (or your sales team) get asked frequently.

These questions often revolve around cost, comparisons, problems, reviews and "best of" articles. Take the questions you hear daily and write blogs and website copy that addresses the questions your audience is asking.

Setting goals

Before you begin brainstorming blog ideas with your team, first identify the goals of how you'll attract new customers to your business with content marketing. One of the first things to do is identify your target audience by asking these questions:

  • Who are you trying to attract? Define demographics, psychographics and interests.
  • What is your target audience interested in? What questions are they searching?
  • How many visitors do you want to have to your website or blog each month?
  • In one year, how many new customers would you like to convert from those visitors?
  • What is the average readership you'd like to have for each piece of content you create?
  • How often can you consistently publish content? Think about weekly projects, like blogs and social media, as well as the monthly goals, like e-books, landing pages and calls to action.
  • Who will create and manage your content?

With content marketing, your business, blog and website will be found by potential customers via a Google search. They'll ask a question or search a term related to your business, and your page will pop up. Voila!