The possibilities for content marketing are practically endless, from e-books and SEO to white papers, email campaigns and video. It can be difficult to know how to develop a content marketing strategy that really works in terms of growing a loyal following and improving sales. These six actionable tips are designed to help you increase your traffic and impress your target audience with more valuable content marketing.
Create a blog
A blog for your business’ website acts as an SEO machine that can drive more organic traffic to your site. Websites with blogs get an average of 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links than static pages, and this content is crawled and indexed more quickly too. It can also increase lead generation by as much as 126%. Ultimately, the more content you have, and the better quality that content is, the more likely it is that your target audience will be able to find you.
Maintaining a blog that provides you with high-quality leads comes down to providing value to your ideal customers. You want to be seen as the go-to resource for your niche and an expert in your field. Reportedly, 6.7 million people blog on blogging sites now so it’s vital that the content you produce stands out amongst the online chatter.
Expand your reach
Content marketing shouldn’t be limited to one channel, no matter how successful you may be in that area. A diversified strategy is the best approach, a method that the Content Marketing Institute backs – according to a study they conducted, B2B marketers use an average of 13 different content marketing tactics. If you pigeonhole your brand by just producing one type of content, you’re limiting the potential reach of your content.
Making the most of the right channels for your brand is crucial though – business interactions are more effective on Twitter and LinkedIn, while attracting a millennial audience will be more successful when utilising platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. If your content lends itself well to video, then creating great YouTube content will provide you with a better success rate. When it comes to content marketing, think outside the box and don’t create constraints for your brand.
Collaborate with local content creators
Working with local content creators and influencers can be hugely beneficial in strengthening your content marketing efforts and expanding your reach. Influencers have immense power in swaying the decisions of consumers, with 49% of Twitter users claiming they rely on the recommendations from influencers when it comes to their purchasing decisions. So, if you want to improve conversions and lead generation rates, employing content creators that are relevant to your industry could help to positively promote your brand. Just make sure that the content that’s created is honest and high quality, and that the relationship between you and the influencer is nurtured. This mutually beneficial relationship will help both parties to grow a dependable network.
Don’t underestimate the value of offline content
Your content marketing strategy shouldn’t just focus on online content, but also offline initiatives. This includes content such as white papers, media coverage, events, case studies and, of course, traditional advertising. These types of content help you to reach local, more immediate consumers, and to engage with your community in a personal way. Naturally, the scope of reach with offline is much smaller than with online content, but the two used in conjunction helps your brand to cover more bases for better results.
Stay consistent
Consistency is what keeps customers engaged, but consistency in content marketing doesn’t just mean posting regularly. It also means remaining consistent with your brand’s ethos, the tone of voice and quality of the content you’re producing.
An easy way to do this is to develop a content calendar early on in your content marketing process where you can create a clearly defined schedule, keep note of special events throughout the year that you can build content around, and note the distribution process for each content piece. By understanding in advance what needs to be produced, you’re more likely to be able to curate your content in a consistent tone so that your audience knows what to expect.
Make the best use of your email list
The return on investment for Ecommerce email marketing is an estimated £32.28 for every £1 spent, as of 2017. With email, consumers ask to receive content from you, so you’re already reaching out to an engaged audience and the results can be almost instant. With this approach, you’re able to segment your audience into personas and create tailored content that will provide the most value to them. The use of automated workflows makes distributing this type of content easier and less time-consuming, as well as cost-effective compared to some other forms of content.
And while email can be an avenue to develop personalised content, it can also be a platform for distributing curated and repurposed content as well. A key aspect of content marketing is making the best use of popular content and transforming them into valuable assets that your customers can benefit from.
These are just some of the techniques brands can utilise when it comes to developing a content marketing strategy that will attract and retain customers. Whether it’s infographics, video or articles, by creating the right types of content for their audience, brands can streamline their content product and marketing processes to provide real value to their local community and help them grow as a business.