Are you a seasoned blogger withs high traffic or a newbie just stepping into the world of content marketing?
Well,
In order to gain a competitive edge, you need to stay updated with the current trends. But the tremendous amount of information floating on the internet can prove to be overwhelming, right?
As per Hubspot reports, 82% of marketers actively use content marketing. Content marketing helps communicate every aspect of the brand, from value to products and services to prospects and customers, in a more natural and personal way. So, as a business, if you are not leveraging the power of content marketing, you are missing out on 3X faster growth…
This blog post covers 10 actionable content marketing tips that you can apply to your content marketing strategy immediately.
But, first, let’s understand what is content marketing?
Content marketing is a strategic marketing technique that aims to attract and convert customers by creating and sharing relevant, valuable content that solves problems.
In short, content marketing is used as a medium to educate the target audience and convert them into customers. The most popular types of content used by brands are -
- Blog post
- Video
- Infographic
- Online Podcast
- Ebooks
- Social media
So, if you want to build trust, get positive brand recognition, and set up a strong relationship between your brand and its customers – content marketing is the key!
Of course, it requires a lot of upfront work, but it can pay off big time and can prove to be the best investment to scale your business.
Looking to build or revamp your content marketing strategy? Let’s dive deep into the 10 content marketing tips to increase efficiency.
10 content marketing tips for your small business to increase efficiency
Research, research, and research!
If you want to create high-quality content that your audience wants to see and fall in love with, start with research!
Before you dive into creating content for your business, the first content marketing tip is to do proper research and determine what types of content your audience wants to consume. You can try using Google trends or BuzzSumo to understand the type of content trending in your industry. If you have client management software, leverage it to gather insights into your clients' preferences, pain points, and interests. Then, create content that resonates with your target audience.
Check what your competitors are writing on with content gap analysis using Ahrefs. Try a keyword analyzer to discover which keywords you should incorporate into your content strategy. This will help to create a content marketing strategy, which can, in turn, help to achieve marketing goals.
Never underestimate quality content
It’s better to publish one high-quality blog post than five mediocre blog posts, isn’t it? So, after research, the next content marketing tip is creating quality content.
Half of the content marketing efforts depend upon the quality of content you create, so make sure your content is valuable and solves a problem. Creating content that is relevant to your audience and that addresses the needs and pain points is of utmost importance.
So, if your content isn’t adding any value, you’ll lose customers quickly, and your content marketing efforts will fail.
You need to create content that educates, inspires, and entertains your readers.
If you are creating blog posts, creating ad copy, social media content and other types of content Writesonic comes to your aid. With the super fast Article writer you can create premium quality blog posts in seconds. Have a look at how you can create factual and personalized content using Article Writer 5.0.
Unleash the power of different content types
You don’t want your content marketing ideas and efforts to go to waste, right? So, try mixing up things to keep your readers intrigued and coming back for more. Let’s say you can try a mix of blog posts, videos, webinars, podcasts, ebooks and more to keep your audience engaged. This is because focusing on one type of content is often an ineffective way to grow an audience.
Most people are interested in multiple types of content, so focusing on one type is likely to be ineffective. While the brands that do this will likely see an initial dip in their audience growth, they are likely to rebound quickly as they diversify their content mix. This will help them create a more engaging content experience for customers and help them grow their audience size. Start focusing on different types of content if you want to keep your audience engaged.
When thinking about content marketing, Hubspot is the first that comes to mind, isn’t it? It comes up with amazing blog posts and ebooks, creates videos, leverages LinkedIn, and so on… All this contributes to the growth of Hubspot. Remember, content marketing is not just about quick wins but about building lasting ads or campaigns that can help to build interest and generate sustainable revenue.
Another best example is Apple’s shot on an iPhone campaign. The campaign sends a message that everyone with an iPhone can make art just like professionals.
Develop a solid marketing automation strategy
When it comes to implementing content marketing ideas and scale your content marketing efforts, marketing automation can prove to be a powerful tool. Marketing automation in short is the combination of strategy and software to automate the monotonous marketing work like email marketing, social media scheduling, etc. So, you can create automated marketing campaigns to save time and energy, and focus on other aspects of your business.
There are various types of marketing automation tools in the market, so it is important to find one that works best for your business. A great way to find the right marketing automation platform for your small business is to look at other brands in your industry to see which ones they’re using.
You can also look out for CRM with marketing automation that helps you streamline your sales and marketing processes.
Mailshake effectively implemented marketing automation by creating a Cold Email Masterclass, where they teach people how to make better connections with the help of email outreach. In simple terms, they automated educational content to help their audience.
Use artificial intelligence to create content
AI in the content universe wasn’t something like love at first sight, but gradually it is becoming the best friend of writers and marketers. Artificial intelligence will likely be used more widely in content marketing in the coming years. The technology is already being used by brands to create content, and the demand for the same is likely to increase.
AI is used for a wide range of content marketing functions, from lead generation and content creation to customer engagement and customer retention. Writesonic is your AI content generator tool built on GPT-3 that helps to create content in seconds.
AI-generated content is likely to become more sophisticated as technology advances. Plus, businesses can use AI to create personalized and contextual content. It helps marketers to create content based on demographics, behavioral and transactional data, and more. That way, they can create content that resonates more deeply with customers by providing them with a more personalized experience.
Writesonic is an AI writing tool that can generate content in seconds. From blog posts and landing pages to Instagram captions and killer CTAs, Writesonic covers it all. For more details check out our website.
Don’t forget about SEO
Search engine optimization is one of the most important aspects of content marketing. The majority of people who search online are using Google, so if you want to reach the most people possible, you need to optimize your content for Google. Over 50% of marketers say that keyword rankings and organic traffic are the top ways they measure the success of their SEO strategies.
With that being said, SEO will likely change as Google updates its algorithm, which happens frequently. This means that you need to stay up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and what Google wants from its users. In the present scenario, you’ll need to focus on creating long-form content that answers your readers’ questions in-depth. As per the Hubspot report, 71% of marketers say using strategic keywords was their number one strategy for SEO.
For example, the SEO strategy used by Capterra drives $4 million worth of traffic. Apart from product reviews, Capterra also makes sure to fulfill the users’ desire to be heard, and business’ needs to gain prospects. Because of this the platform dominates the SERP with various keywords for more than 800 software categories.
Content distribution
No matter how good your content is, if you don’t distribute it properly, it is of no use.
The next most important content marketing tip is proper content distribution. Based on your audience and resources, you need to decide on the distribution channel to boost the reach of the content piece. You can try ebooks, podcasts, interviews, videos, infographics, PowerPoint slides, webinars, and more, to make sure your content reaches a wider audience.
There are various content distribution tools that can help you get discovered, like Medium, PR Newswire, Zest.is, Growth Hackers and more. Remember, content is of no use if no one is consuming it. So, devise a distribution strategy and put out your content in front of your target audience.
Use video marketing to grow your audience
Video is an incredibly powerful content marketing channel that can help you grow your audience and increase sales. Video is the number one format marketers will use in their content strategy in 2021. In fact, research shows that 87% of video marketers say that video increases traffic to their websites.
Video ads are a great way to capture your audience’s attention and get them excited to buy what you’re selling. There are different options when it comes to video marketing. You could create a series of videos that go behind the scenes at your company or a video library of helpful tips and tricks to solve your customers’ pain points. Say you're managing a restaurant, you can feature your kitchen hustle of meal preparation and implant trust in your viewers. Alternatively, you could create video ads that show up either in your Facebook feed or YouTube video recommendations.
Video content is immensely powerful, and GoPro knows it well. Their marketing strategy is all about quality products and visual content. They have 10.6 million subscribers on Youtube and 19.4 million followers on Instagram. Their content is focused on users and, most importantly, creating a personal touch.
Use data to find the right influencers for your brand
Influencer marketing is growing in popularity these days. If you want to grow your brand, you need to reach new audiences outside of your current customer base. You can do this by collaborating with influencers in your industry.
Start this by finding the right influencers for your brand and make sure that the people you partner with are actually a great fit for the brand, plus they have a sizable audience.
You can use various data-driven influencer marketing platforms like Grin, Creator.co, and more to find the best influencers for your brand. This can help you find relevant influencers based on your brand’s needs and goals. Besides, the built-in influencer analytics also help you create personalized offers for your partners and make sure the contracts are fair for everyone involved.
For example, you can check out 67 shades of Dior’s campaign by the influencer marketing agency, Buttermilk, which was aimed to create global awareness and generate buzz around the new Dior Forever Foundation. The campaign was a Gold winner for the Best Beauty Campaign at the 2020 Influencer Marketing Awards. The agency selected 67 influencers, each matching one of Dior’s 67 shades. The influencers were the key component for the success of the campaign. With smart execution and creative delivery, the campaign was the most inclusive activation till date.
Focus on real-time content
The last and the most important content marketing tip is to focus on real-time content. Real-time content strategies have been around for a few years, but the trend is expected to grow in the coming year. Real-time content refers to content that’s published in response to current events. Typically, this type of content is created to drive engagement and foster stronger relationships with customers. For example, Community Phone, a landline phone service provider generated a content campaign on the recent FCC landline copper wire shutdown that is currently happening throughout the United States. They used this real-time event to generate brand awareness through content, and create new relationships with landline users throughout the country.
Real-time content strategies are typically done on social media, but they can also be applied to email marketing campaigns. After all writing an email really helps in boosting engagements and also customers are likely to want information relevant to current events. What’s more, the audience is also more likely to engage with brands that provide this information. Real-time content can be used to address current events and issues, or it can be used to provide helpful tips and advice that customers can use in their day-to-day lives.
Long story short!
Content marketing is not going away anytime soon and is here to stay! It is an essential practice for marketers in every industry. To succeed with content marketing, you have to have a strong strategy in place. Everything from images, videos, and blog posts matters to your audience.
There are many ways to create content for your company and distribute it to your audience. Whether you’re marketing a product or service or just sharing information, content marketing can be a great way to get your name out to your target audience.
If you are a small business, follow these 10 tips for content marketing and create content that educates and sells while building a relationship with your customers. You are sure to see positive results with your content marketing efforts.
