In a world full of constant social media chatter, content marketing allows businesses to foster an authentic customer experience and connect on a unique level that distinguishes you from your competition. Digital marketing is moving into an era where content reigns supreme above all other efforts to grow and engage an audience so, the strength of your content campaign could make or break your internet presence. Providing pertinent, worthwhile and consistent information is key to any content strategy, but there are several other factors that must be observed to ensure your content marketing is effective and lucrative.
What do you need to say?
Any content you produce should be enhanced with SEO keywords, so your audience is more likely to find your links while using search engines to find information, products, and services. Building a simple list of possible search terms that relates to your business seems like an easy task but deeper thought and research is required to ensure the success of your SEO keyword list.
You can use free SEO keyword search tools like the Google Adwords Keyword Tool to assist you with creating your basic list of search terms and then the real work begins. Your basic list should be continuously growing and changing as your audience develops. You want to expand on each term, seeking out all of the possible related searches and evaluating their relevance to your product or service. Content marketing is most effective when the audience feels like they are getting fresh information. Use this opportunity to target keywords that aren’t so popular that your content is drowned out by the competition and to present information with appealing variations from the crowd.
Which vehicle will you use to deliver your content?
Content should be easily digestible and focused. No matter if you are using videos, infographics, blog posts or emails make sure your information will be effectively received by your audience. You don’t want to spend the effort convincing a potential customer to click a link or open an email only to miss your mark with poorly delivered content.
With written content, the most effective way to provide digestible information is to break up large chunks into small, readable portions. Utilize lists when composing blog posts. Not only do lists make for an easier read, but they also provide you with headlines (“5 Steps to…” “10 Reasons Why…”) users are more likely to click because they know the content will be easy to read and scan for the information they need. Use bolded fonts, highlighted passages and alternating headline formats to grab the attention of your reader and draw their eyes directly to the important facts you’re presenting.
Videos are an opportunity to make a personal connection with your audience so pay close attention to the spacing of your words when switching between topic points and double down on your traffic by adding links to your website and social media. The most effective content marketing videos take viewers on a journey from beginning to end. Utilize a storytelling strategy that starts with a hook, progresses to the most exciting aspect of the information you are providing and finishes with a satisfying conclusion that leaves your audience with something more to think about after the video concludes.
What’s the next step?
Every piece of content you provide should contain ways to engage your audience further. Email captures are the most common calls – to – action on marketing content and the most valuable. By collecting the email addresses of interested customers, you create a new way to deliver content and gain insight into your audience.
While you have your reader engaged, use the opportunity to build your social media audience by welcoming customers to like and follow your pages. You can also include links to previous content and your website to give the highly engaged audience the opportunity to find more information and possibly move to the next stage in the customer journey funnel.