3 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONTENT MARKETING
“Content marketing is the only marketing left.”
Everything is about content creation these days. We should know — after all, it is what our business is based on. Our lives are flooded with content: newsletters, blogs, banner ads, Facebook, Pinterest, Google search, you name it.
There’s no question that content is key to keep your business relevant in the current environment. Not only does it help your SEO, but it allows you to reach your target audience through the channels they are on today (89% of consumers use search engines for purchase decisions). Most of all, it is a cost-effective way to build your brand and promote your services without bombarding people with traditional ads that they have often learned to tune out.
Done right, content can be the engine that drives a company. It can increase sales, promote brand health, cut expenses, drive innovation, and foster customer relations, according to Wendy Marx’s article in FactCompany, “The Big Problem with your Content Strategy.”
But in a world where everyone is overwhelmed with content, how do you make your own efforts stand out?
“Seventy percent of companies are operating blindly, without a documented content strategy to guide them,” says content marketing expert Rebecca Lieb. “They are throwing stuff on Facebook, creating videos and white papers because all the cool kids are doing it.”
Don’t be that person. Here are 3 tips on how to do it right:
BE AUTHENTIC
People like brands that are true to themselves and stand for something. Transparency may be a buzzword, but it’s been used so much lately for a reason. Consumers are realizing that if a brand is an extension of their identity, they want to promote the ones that are “good.” 87 percent of global consumers say it’s important for brands to “act with integrity at all times” while only 72 percent call innovation essential. That means standing behind your product and representing the lifestyle that comes with it, which happens to be a great basis to build content on.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Content marketing doesn’t work if your audience doesn’t connect to it. If you really want to take advantage of the medium (the coveted shares, likes, “viral” posts, etc.) you’ve got to make things that people want to see and read. That means knowing their lifestyle, interests, likes, dislikes, and training your team on the tone and aesthetic that comes with it.
MAKE IT COUNT
Don’t just create content for the sake of creating content. This is where doing an audit and making a solid, smart strategy and audience analysis comes into play so that everything you’re pushing out to your customers is valuable information rather than adding to the clutter of their day. Moreover, once you make a strategy document doesn’t mean that you’re done: revisit it often to make sure that you’re staying on track, and revise as necessary to keep it relevant to what’s happening today. Mobile is now essential, and it makes things happen in real time, so your content strategy should be able to keep up.
Want to get started on creating great content for your business? Give Lis a holler at lis@listhomas.com
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