According to the State of Inbound report, content creation is a top priority for 53% of marketers. Moreover, on average, content marketing accounts for 29% of B2B marketing budgets.

Consistency in brand messaging is one of the many factors that determine the growth and success of your business. Big brands know how to portray their brand consistently and at every customer touch point.

The same reasoning applies to content marketing, as well — your content needs to carry a unique and identifiable voice, style, and pitch across all distribution channels.

In fact, according to Forrester, a consistent customer experience helps build a trusted brand.

Additionally, a study by McKinsey & Company reveals consistency is the secret ingredient to making customers happy across their entire journey with your business.

Content consistency establishes your credibility, builds your trust, and strengthens your reputation.

So, we know the content you create has to be consistent. However, why is content marketing so beneficial in the first place? Here are the top benefits of content marketing:

Benefits of Content Marketing

1. Increase audience retention.

Great content is an important asset. It has the ability to create a positive experience for your potential customers and compel them to come back for more. It’s your ticket to capturing your audience’s attention and continually reinforcing a positive brand impression.

2. Better social media traction.

It’s one thing to increase your social media followers across channels, and it's quite another to create content that trends. If you’re one of those businesses that doesn't see much traction despite having a huge follower base, it’s time to use content marketing to your advantage. Quality content can help your business gain traction on social media.

Track the performance of your content campaigns using HubSpot’s analytics software.

3. Establish trust with your audience.

Creating content helps your business build a relationship with your audience. You can answer their questions and interact with your customers. When you create value without taking anything in return, your audience is more likely to trust your advice and recommendations.

Ultimately, when your content shows up at the right place and the right time with the right audience, it'll improve your brand's reputation.The more quality content customers see, the more likely they are to have a positive association with your company.

4. Generate leads.

Content marketing can also generate leads. When your audience views with your content, they're more likely to be interested in purchasing from you in the future. Additionally, calls-to-action (CTA) placed directly in your content can generate new leads for your sales team.

So, how can content generate leads?

According to Lindsay Kolowich, the team manager of the HubSpot Academy Acquisition Content Team, "content is a great way to guide users to a landing page. Typically, you create content to provide visitors with useful, free information. You can include CTAs anywhere in your content — inline, bottom-of-post, in the hero, or even on the side panel. The more delighted a visitor is with your content, the more likely they are to click your call-to-action and move onto your landing page."

5. Improve conversions.

The content you post influences conversions. Customers are more likely to purchase from you once they've read your content. The high-quality, consistent content helps your audience connect with you and gives them information they need to make an educated purchasing decision.

Additionally, your content should always include a CTA and guide your reader on what they should do next.

6. Enhance SEO efforts.

The more consistent, high-quality content you produce, the better it'll be for your SEO efforts.

For example, your content should help your business become visible online and build trust and authority with your audience. With a developed content strategy, such as the pillar/cluster model, your content should help you rank higher in search engines.

7. Build authority.

Creating quality content will also help build your authority online. If your business is established as a credible place to get information, you're more likely to rank higher in search engines.

Plus, your customers are more inclined to trust you if they view you as an industry expert. Your content should demonstrate your expertise in your field and provide valuable answers to your audience's questions.

Overall, content marketing is important. But, how can you be successful at it?

You can assess the quality of your content. One particularly beneficial assessment of quality is content scoring.

As more businesses are increasing their content marketing budget, there’s never been a better time to incorporate content scoring metrics into your marketing campaign.

With the help of content scoring, the Red Hat marketing team improved their content marketing performance and offered great value to their audience.