Content marketing is about helping your customers and prospects find success, and having a marketing strategy in place for that content is the key to gaining leads, building customer loyalty, and becoming a thought leader in your industry. While there's no guaranteed strategy, content marketing campaigns can be accomplished by any team. The tips below can help get you started.
1. Select your field and stick into it
When it comes to content marketing, you want to think of yourself as the go-to resource for information in your industry. This requires you to pick a niche, learn everything you can about the people in that market, and then create helpful, useful, and shareable content specifically for that group of people. Then keep creating more content to keep those people coming back for more, sharing with their co-workers and friends, and talking about your company.
2. Visual content
When you think about content marketing, it's easy to assume that we're just talking about written content, including anything from your blog posts, to emails, or text on your company website. But content can be visual, too. Think of your marketing videos and any infographics you've created. Videos and images are just as important to your viewers as what you write, and taking the time to incorporate all types of media into your content marketing can really pay off in the future.
3. Attract visitors with useful information
No one wants to come to a page with the prospect of getting information they can use only to walk away with fluff. Give your customers and prospects content they can learn from and share with their friends. You'll need to determine their pain points and any problems they're having in their role, and then figure out how your company or product can help. Completing sales is still important, but with content marketing it's more about focusing on the customer's needs before your own and hitting the goals you want your content to accomplish.
4. Determine your end goal
Having an end goal in mind will help everyone on your team stay up-to-date and connected. Think about what you're hoping to accomplish with this content marketing. Is it brand awareness? Is it lead generation? Thought leadership? An increase in sales? A subscription to your company newsletter, webinars, or whitepapers? Whatever it is for your company, setting an agenda for your content will keep everyone on the same page and help you determine whether or not your content marketing efforts have been successful.
5. Understand where social media fits in
While many of the top content marketing examples include social media, it's important to note that social media and content marketing are two very different things. Social media is a great way to build brand awareness and connect with current customers, but content marketing is more about generating leads and moving new customers through the conversion funnel. While the traditional short and quick messages that accompany social media can support your content marketing efforts, social media should not be used to store your content. The content you create should ideally live on your website and be more permanent than a tweet or Facebook post. Once you publish content to your website, then you can use social media to promote that content and attract new customers back to your website where they can learn more.
6. Reuse your existing content
When you create pieces for content marketing purposes it's important to remember that the information will live on. New eyes will see your blog posts, your customer will share your content with their friends, and you can always re-purpose any content to work for you in a different way. A blog post could turn into a video series or a tips-and-tricks video could turn into a step-by-step guide on your website. When you reuse your existing content, it allows you to think about all of the ways one piece of content could be used and re-purposed as an asset for your company.
Sources:
1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/04/16/50-content-marketing-ideas-for-your-website-or-blog/
2. http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/how-to-build-a-content-marketing-machine-part-i-0464602
3. http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2351403/7-outstanding-content-marketing-tips-for-small-businesses
4. http://marketingland.com/7-content-marketing-tips-lack-time-resources-105985
5. http://www.verticalmeasures.com/content-marketing-2/content-marketing-tips-from-our-team-to-yours/
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