Personal relationships heavily influence purchase decisions for professional service firms. There's just no way around it. Relationships lay the foundation for trust. With this insight in mind, it's easy to see why many direct-response marketing tactics that work for self-serve products are much less effective for service companies.

Without a strategy to initiate conversations and build rapport with prospects, new opportunities can be unpredictable with slow sales cycles.

This insight validates data from the 2024 High Growth Study by the Hinge Research Institute. It found that the top three strategies of high-growth professional service firms include creating content, brand differentiation, and social media marketing.

Content marketing strategies present a scalable approach to building relationships with prospects. By sharing insights and educating audiences about topics of interest, firms can establish credibility and position their brand and stakeholders as reputable solution providers.

Let's look at the pros and cons of content marketing for professional services companies.

Content Attracts High-Intent Customers

In a study of over 3,000 business executives, 75% of decision-makers and C-suite executives say that a piece of thought leadership content has led them to research a product or service they were not considering (Edelman).

In addition, 9 in 10 say they are moderately or very likely to be more receptive to sales or marketing outreach from a company that consistently produces high-quality thought leadership. 

When prospects can see that you understand their challenges more deeply than they do, they lean in. If your content shares helpful information that reduces their risk of failure and accelerates their success for a specific initiative, they will remember you when they need your help.

Content Accelerates Sales Cycles

The content you create should serve a purpose. Customers who consume your helpful content get a taste of the value of your services. When they are exposed to multiple touchpoints sharing your firm's expertise, you build a level of trust before ever making personal contact.

This is a superpower of content marketing. It creates leverage. Content creators can publish something once, and it continues to reach a larger audience for as long as it's distributed by search engines, social platforms, and ads. 

When you initiate a conversation with audience members about your services, they've already formed confidence in your ability to help them, requiring less education and building rapport building during sales conversations. Customers will enter the discussion with a clear understanding of how you can help them, unlike a cold prospect that requires significant education.

Content Improves Sales Win-Rate

Similarly to accelerated sales cycles, content has a positive impact on sales win rate.

For prospects who have been following your posts and content about topics related to your services, you gain a significant advantage when it comes to closing deals. They have already qualified you as an expert, and someone able to help them accelerate their success with your support. 

Where customers might normally seek multiple proposals before making a decision, prospects who have already positioned you as an expert will not see a need to explore alternative options. You're the clear best solution because you've already demonstrated your strengths and minimized the risk of failure in their mind.

Content Differentiates Your Brand

It's no secret that everyone's attention capacity is stretched to the max. That includes your ideal customers. In an environment where it's more difficult than ever to stand out, content has the potential to break through more effectively than most marketing material.

Every industry is saturated with similar offerings from brands that look and talk alike. When people in your target audience take notice of a consistent stream of insightful content from your brand, they file your brand away as a credible expert in your field.

If your content is something they're invested in educating themselves about and you show up in their timeline frequently enough, you have the potential to become the foremost expert in their mind. This is a powerful advantage if you offer services that help customers increase their success.

The Powerful Impact of Content for Professional Services

If no one reads or consumes your content it's useless. Content visibility is just as important as quality. By making content discoverable and accessible to your audience on search engines and social platforms, your content takes on a life of its own.

In 2019, there were over 6 million brands in the U.S. Think for a moment about how many of those you know about and can recall. One day you don't know anything about a company, and within a few weeks, all of a sudden you're very familiar with what they do.

When a piece of content becomes the first impression for your brand, it has the potential to trigger a series of events that change people's perspectives.

Search engines categorize and rank your content based on topics and value. When your content meets the criteria for these platforms, people have the potential to discover your brand that they might not have ever known about. 

Platform algorithms take note of the content you consume. Discovering one piece of content can lead to seeing all of your content. Virtually overnight, you become recognizable and unavoidable. If done well, your audience will even look forward to seeing the next piece of content you put out.

Take it a step further and say someone signs up for your newsletter that shares valuable insights on certain topics. Now your audience is seeing your content seemingly everywhere, changing their perspective of credible sources of information forever.

It's a lot to think about. But when you take a step back to understand the role content creation can have for your business, it starts to look like a no-brainer strategy for attracting new customers.

The Disadvantages of Content Marketing for Professional Services

Content marketing has many benefits, no doubt. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Particularly in the early days, it has several challenges. Here are a few obstacles you'll likely face.

Content Marketing is Resource Intensive and Time Consuming

One of the primary disadvantages of content marketing is the significant investment of time and resources it requires. Crafting high-quality content that resonates with your audience will take time to plan, execute, and evaluate. In most cases, you will probably want to enlist the help of specialized experts to accelerate success. These resources cost money, whether outsourced or in-house.

Content is not a set-and-forget strategy. You'll need a plan in place to consistently have topics scheduled and created. Writing, editing, and designing each piece of content are all time-consuming tasks. Additionally, if the subject matter of your content is coming from experts in your firm, they will need to dedicate time to sharing their knowledge with the content team.

Content distribution is a challenge

Creating valuable content is only half the battle. Without a well-planned distribution strategy, even the most insightful content can go unnoticed, reducing the overall impact of content marketing efforts.

Best practices use a process referred to as repurposing to get the most out of the time spent creating content assets. Repurposing involves editing and formatting elements of one piece of content for multiple distribution channels.

For example, one long-form written guide published on your blog is great for search engines but will have limited reach unless it's repurposed for social platforms, email newsletters, videos, and paid advertising. This process allows more of your audience to be exposed to the content you invested in creating.

Repurposing for stronger distribution requires disciplined project management systems. In some cases, like video content, it can also require additional specialized skills and team members.

Most companies will need to make prioritization decisions about which platforms to focus on. In the beginning, it can be challenging to identify the best channels for reaching your target audience and experimenting with each channel can take additional time.

Content requires discipline and a tightly defined strategy

Successful content marketing will always be rooted in a disciplined approach and a well-defined strategy. Companies must work to align their content efforts with their overall business goals, which requires a deep understanding of their target audience and the problems they face. 

Developing a content strategy involves extensive planning to ensure the content remains relevant and effective. This level of discipline can be challenging to maintain, especially in firms where marketing is not the primary focus. Without a coherent strategy, content efforts can become fragmented, leading to inconsistent messaging and diminished returns on investment.

Content takes time to deliver results

Unlike traditional advertising, content marketing does not deliver immediate results. Building favor with algorithms and establishing authority through content takes time and consistent effort. This can make it difficult to justify the initial investment when immediate results are not apparent. 

This long-term nature of content marketing can be frustrating, particularly for firms under pressure to generate quick leads and sales.

Content Marketing Outcomes Requires Tight Alignment with Sales

For content marketing to be truly effective, it must be tightly aligned with your sales efforts. This alignment ensures that the content not only attracts and engages the target audience but also guides them toward sales outcomes. 

Marketing and sales will need to work together to activate engaged audiences. Content must be designed to inspire action, whether it's downloading a whitepaper, signing up for a webinar, or reaching out for a consultation. This activation turns passive readers into active participants, laying the groundwork for deeper engagement and potential sales opportunities.

Ideally, sales is armed with data to proactively reach out to engaged audience members and follow up over time. Once content has attracted interest, the sales team must take deliberate steps to reach out and build a relationship. 

This might involve personalized email campaigns or direct messages on LinkedIn inviting contacts to upcoming events or joining a discovery call to learn more about their challenges. 

Without this close coordination between content marketing and sales, even the most compelling content may fail to translate into tangible business outcomes.

Final Thoughts: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Content Marketing for Professional Service Firms

Content marketing offers professional services firms a powerful strategy to build trust, accelerate sales cycles, and differentiate their brand. 

However, it is essential to recognize and address the challenges that come with it.

The resource-intensive nature and need for a disciplined strategy can be significant hurdles to finding success. Despite these challenges, the potential rewards make it a valuable strategy for firms committed to sustainable growth.

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Are you working on a content strategy for your company? If you want help making it as successful as possible, get in touch with us! We’d love to learn more about your goals and explore how we can help you develop a strategy, gain team alignment, or create high value content that converts. Contact Us.

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