Local Business Search Trends & Strategies: Content Creation Vs Sponsored Ads

When The Top Spot, Isn't

Any realtor will tell you that location matters more than anything, and it matters for more than just housing. When planning the marketing for a small or local business, where that budget ends up can make all the difference. The answer used to be simple, just put it into advertising, but do traditional ad spots still work as effectively as they used to?

Today, ads are everywhere and most consumers actively ignore them, says Jerry Vaiana, founder of Leaf World Media. He has been working on a new strategy that offers buyers an added value, in the form of useful, actionable, shareable information. This content creation strategy uses an approach that's the opposite of traditional advertising, with impressive results.

While any company can buy the top spot in a Google search, with a "Sponsored Ad" banner next to their link, research shows that most people scroll right past those ads. What they're looking for is the real "Top Spot" in the search results, the first links after the ads.

Content Creation For Consumers

The content creation strategy is a radical approach by today's advertising-heavy standards, because it bucks the trend of making marketing ever more intrusive. This is a strategy that doesn't use captive audience tactics, because it doesn't need to.

The primary difference in content creation is that consumers will actively look for this information, instead of trying to ignore it. Instead of being an annoyance they need to get past - or wait out - marketing content is used to answer common questions, provide information about products or services, and showcase helpful details that buyers want to know about, right now.

Content creation also has an added bonus that advertising can never offer - it can help smaller or local businesses rank in the top organic spot. Leaf World Media's new guide explains how this works, by helping smaller brands to build their reputations with the search engine algorithms.

Marketing For Every Niche & Every Buyer

Although the advertising industry has been in a bit of a crisis for a long time, until the internet became a major part of everyday life it was still the best option around. Today, though, it's easy to see that people don't find new products or services the same way they used to. Instead, they just ask Google.

At first, purchasing that top ad spot in a Google search was a guaranteed way to get noticed until it became standard practice to ignore the first few "Sponsored" links. Now, the smart money isn't in the "Sponsored" section, but in the top few organic links, and those can't just be bought.

It can be won, though, says Vaiana.

Content creation services such as Leaf World Media make interesting, unique, and relevant content that gets published on top websites so that brands can build their reputation and dominate the top spots. Except that instead of ads their customers will ignore, they'll use blogs, podcasts, streaming videos, news articles, and other multimedia that people actually enjoy.

Marketing Where The Consumers Are

This new strategy all started from a single question: "Where do interested buyers look for new products?"

The answer isn't in advertisements, it's one of the top organic results from a Google search, that looks interesting and informative.

Whether a customer is searching for the "Best new fridges in 2024" or the "top dentist in Chicago," they're probably not looking to click on an ad. They're actually looking for a blog about new fridges and their features, or a podcast about how to find a good dentist for children's check-ups.

By targeting what customers are actually looking for, and providing the answers, small businesses can compete with even the biggest corporations. They can also avoid sinking all their money into advertisements that are guaranteed to expire without a long-term gain, such as a permanent set of blogs about their brand, and a boost to their overall search ranking.

Right now, many brands are starting to experiment with a mix of content creation and traditional advertising. The real question is, can advertising keep up?

Marketers and small business owners can learn more about this content creation strategy from Leaf World Media's new guide, available at https://leafworldmedia.com/2024/10/20/amplifying-your-digital-footprint

Leaf World Media City: staten island Address: 194 woehrle ave Website: https://leafworldmedia.clientcabin.com/