Whether you’re a new entrepreneur or a seasoned professional, the need to attract and retain customers is what keeps your business afloat. An obvious statement, but not so easily done. Cue in content marketing. Content marketing is the creation of relevant, consistent and valuable information that is distributed to a specific audience with the purpose of informing, educating and solving issues through useful materials. Implementing a format that resembles a direct sales pitch can turn off a large portion of your audience.People don’t want to be sold to. Forbes reported on a survey by Roper Public Affairs that revealed 80% of business decision-makers said they prefer to get information via articles, not ads. Seventy percent said content makes them feel closer to a company, and 60% said content provided by companies helps them make smarter buying decisions.The idea of content marketing can be overwhelming, especially if you’re a small shop with limited resources. Put a campaign into motion by defining your goals and following a focused strategy. Who do you want to target? What do you want them to do? Before you dive in, consider these tips:
Create quality content to increase engagement.
Gone are the days when a business pitch touting your services is all you needed to seal the deal. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. What are their interests, needs, pain points and concerns? What expertise can you offer to answer their questions and make their lives easier? You might consider creating an eBook on a general theme and blog posts that narrow down the topic even further. Infographics,
videos and podcasts are all content examples that could play an important part in the campaign. Variety is beneficial as it raises your chances of reaching your target in different ways.
Related: Incorporating a Company Blog Into Your Business Strategy Maximize content by repurposing it.
Before you spend all your time creating materials from scratch, evaluate what you have available. If you’ve written a white paper, turn it into an informational guide. If your team worked on a survey, repurpose the results into an infographic.
You may even have a few old blogs that just need a polish and a title change. Do what you can to get the most out of the work you already put in.
All content should have a purpose.
It can be easy to veer off the path, especially when it comes to blogs. Every piece of content should have a reason for existing. Ask yourself how the information will resonate with your customers and prospects and whether the message fits within the campaign.
Distribute your content on the right platform.
The company website is chock full of places to showcase your content. Utilize forms on landing pages so people input their contact information in order to download a piece of content. Promote the landing page on social media as well as in email campaigns for even more exposure.
Related: The Invisible Effort Behind Media Opportunities Measure the success of your campaign.
Track how well the campaign is going by measuring downloads, views, clicks, open rates and website traffic data from Google Analytics. Continue to tweak your methods until you’re seeing good results. You may consider A/B testing to see which version of an email or landing page is gaining more traction.Not sure what to do with all your data?
Click here to learn how to take your metrics beyond the report. Avoid potential disappointments by remembering that content marketing isn’t a quick solution. It takes some trial and error before everything starts to fall into place. Create content with a purpose, stay on message and continue to evolve your strategy.
