We all know that without great content, there is no marketing. You need content for success in social media, SEO, public relations, SEM and inbound marketing. But there’s another valuable use for content in your marketing efforts besides a direct sell. That’s where content marketing comes in.
According to Neil Patel, content marketing is a long-term strategy that focuses on building a strong relationship with your target audience by giving them high-quality content that is relevant to them on a consistent basis.
Content marketing shows that you truly care about your customers and establishes you as a thought leader in your industry. Instead of pitching your products and services, you deliver information that makes your buyer smarter. It’s all about building trust and credibility with your audience. In fact, you may already be utilizing some forms of content marketing without realizing it. Forms of content marketing include:
- Blog posts
- Case studies
- Cheatsheets
- Demos
- ebooks
- Infographics
- Reports
- Slide decks
- Social media
- Video
- Webinars
- Worksheets
Because of content marketing, when buyers decide it’s time to make a purchase decision, their loyalty already lies with you because you consistently delivered valuable information to them. They’ve already put their trust in you… and you delivered!
There’s no doubt that content marketing is an important part of your marketing efforts, but getting started can be daunting. Luckily, you’re not alone. Check out these six tips to get started with content that provides a successful return for your marketing efforts.
1. Develop a high-level strategy.
What is it that you’re trying to achieve? What type of content will be most valuable to your customers? The first step to great content marketing is coming up with a strategy around what you’d like to achieve and the types of content you want to promote.
2. Study your competitors.
In order to know what sets you apart, you need to know what else is out there. Plus, researching the content marketing efforts of those in your industry can help spark ideas as your business moves forward. Maybe they disagree with you on an aspect of your industry—write about it! Maybe you have a topic that is valuable to your customer base but you’re not finding content out there—be the first! Studying competitors can be key to your future success.
3. Draw up an editorial calendar.
There’s no such thing as being too prepared. An editorial calendar helps keep your content marketing efforts on track, plan out content in advance and assign an appropriate amount of writers to your content. While it’s true that you’ll need to be fluid because topics and items will change, it’s also true that you have a higher chance of success when the content is planned in advance. You’re more likely to stick to it!
4. Set goals and keep them.
How often do you want to post? What do you want to achieve with your posts? Set a goal and keep working to achieve it. Your goal could be a certain number of article views, leads from the content or even simply sticking to posting a certain amount of articles per month.
5. Publish, promote, repurpose and follow up.
Once you’ve developed the content and it’s out into the world, it’s important to make sure your content goes the furthest possible. Promote that content, repurpose it in the future when it applies and respond to any interactions you may receive either directly on the article or via social media.
6. Keep improving.
Content marketing and strategy takes time. It’s not something that you’ll be able to pick up right away and have a massive following—have patience. Get as much feedback as possible from your audience and truly listen to their content needs to continually improve.
If you’re ready to acquire new customers, elevate your brand and increase awareness—let’s work together to deliver a winning content strategy to achieve your goals. Learn more about how we can help you with your content marketing and start building trust with your audience today!