Content marketing is about attracting visitors and converting them to clients. It is about creating compelling content that people want to read and can’t help but share. If you struggle in your quest to create riveting, relative content day after day, week after week, you are not alone. 65% of companies say they find it a challenge to regularly produce engaging content.
Truly, some of the greatest challenges when it comes to content are finding inspirational ideas, creating relevant content and then managing, monitoring and measuring the impact of your content. Write to your target audience’s pain points. Focus on topics that get them psyched and excited. Ask customers and followers which topics they would like to know more about. Whatever it takes, do it because it has been found that businesses that engage in content marketing have conversion rates that are six times higher than the conversion rates of competitors that don’t do content marketing. As an added bonus, content marketing is less expensive than traditional marketing.
Regular (2 to 3 times per week) blog posts are an excellent means of content marketing. Find a strong, consistent voice that is true to your brand. Stay on top of trends in your market. Mix up your content length and format by being informational one post, provide a case study in the next, then an educational post, then a client work example or a holiday connected post and so on. Remember to promote your blog posts on all of your social media accounts.
Here are some other tips to kick-start your content marketing efforts!
Post serialized content like “Pet Training Tip of the Week”.
Publish a long, thought-leadership piece that demonstrates your expertise in your niche.
Create seasonal content to freshen things up like “Getting Your HVAC System Ready for Winter”.
Create an infographic to condense the presentation of data into an entertaining and easy to digest piece of content.
Use a graph or chart to share information or educate your readers about a topic.
Promote a sale and include an amazing graphic that includes the theme of the sale.
Write about an industry event. Include who, what, and where as well as your own impressions about the different sessions and the experience as a whole.
Share your brand’s story. Highlight the challenges you encountered on your road to success and how you overcame them. If your brand has a long enough story, this could be a set of posts.
Feature profiles of your team members and/or departments. Remembering that part of the concept is to humanize them so provide glimpses into who they are as people. You know, have them talk about their favorite dog, cat, iguana… Ask everyone a question like “What is something few people know about you?”
Write about new products or services prior to launch. Provide a sneak peek to your loyal readers and followers. Ask them for feedback.
Feature Q & A posts once a month or so. As much as possible, use actual questions you’ve received from customers. Otherwise, brainstorm what people might want to know or have clarified.
Create a “Top 15 Influencers to Follow” post. Discuss what makes each person worthy of a spot on the list and what they have each taught you. If done well, those folks can’t help but share the post with their followers.
Video is highly engaging. Create video content that taps into viewers’ emotions or provides widely relevant information. Show a customer interacting with a product, receiving a service, or how a product is made.
Product tutorials make for excellent content, especially if there are unique, unobvious uses for the item. (This could be a video post!)
Invite guest bloggers to submit a post. Reach out to people in your network who share your brand’s vibe and will offer relevant, value-added content to your readers.
Share an interview with a loyal customer. Include photos or video showing the customer interacting with their favorite product or service.
Share an interview with an influencer or thought-leader in your area.
Post a “Day-in-the-Life” piece that shadows you are someone else in your organization.
Create a list of conferences or groups that will guide your viewers to professional development opportunities.
Write a niche-based “Did You Know” fun facts or statistics list.
Wherever you can, include images and photos as they have shown, time and again, to drive higher engagement than text alone. Infuse all of your content with compelling calls-to-action so there is no question of what you’d like the reader to do next. And if nothing else, spend some time online to see what others in your market are talking about or if there is new legislation that will impact your niche.
Hopefully, this list has alleviated a bit of your content stress and will increase your productivity level. If the struggle is too real, know that the experts at Strategy Driven Marketing are here to help. Contact us!