How to Improve Your Content Marketing in 2017
Content marketing has become an integral part of organizational success. When done as per the rules, content marketing brings great impact to your business. Therefore, achieving the full benefits of content marketing requires a constant look into the gaps that exist in the industry.
In recent times, the market has become over-saturated, hence the need to stay informed of what is happening in content marketing circles. It is true that there have been great campaigns conducted through content marketing, but new developments are still coming up on how to do this better. Here are useful secrets that you can apply to improve your content marketing program.
Brainstorm Your Content Ideas
Spend time talking to members of your team and your customers as well. Brainstorm extensively prior to writing anything. Don’t get started with content development without thinking through what to write about. You should be objective when writing a new piece and do so from an informed point of view.
The focus should always be on your customer. Does the content suit them? If not, it won’t add any value to your marketing campaign. Every company has its own needs and it would be pointless for you to start up a blog just because others have it. Understand why it is important to have one before you can create it.
Focus on Building a Community
Traditionally, content marketing was entirely focused on making sales. This approach is long gone and you would be making a mistake in 2017 to think that all you need is to drive sales through content marketing. How about using your content as a means of building a loyal community? It is important to note that people are not always buying, but trust me, they are reading through content almost all the time. Therefore, your core responsibility is to keep this audience convinced and engaged. This community will ultimately be the base for making sales because the people in it coincidentally have some buying power.
Today, we are constantly getting content from YouTube videos, our phones and almost from every digital platform. However, that is not a guarantee to make sales. So, what makes you stand out? The secret is in building a loyal community that will respect your brand based on the value in your content. Build relationships through your content and it will be easy for you to make sales from that.
Work with other Experts
At the end of your content development, you would want to reach out to your audience and make it available to them. Well, the work becomes a lot easier when you include other people to be a part of what you are writing. You definitely are not the only expert in this field. Most importantly, make use of people who are influencers in this industry. With their help, your content gets more credibility than if you were to write it all alone. A third-party will be an endorsement of your content which is a very useful aspect of building customer confidence. Again, working with influencers will help you when it comes to sharing your content. There is a high chance that they will post your content in their network hence increasing coverage.
Content with a Call to Action
Your content will generate traffic at some point and you must be ready to turn traffic into potential leads. What you need for this to happen is to have a killer call to action in your content. Every page on your site should be a landing page. Provide a clear and actionable call to action at the beginning and at the end of your content. It could be a sign-up form or a purchase button. Use an arrow pointing to your call to action or a picture of a cat, dog or baby staring at your call to action to enhance click-through rates. These images create a cognitive bias built on the premise that people’s eyes are drawn to what others are looking at.
The idea is to treat each content page as the first and the last that your audience will ever read. Think of it as a single opportunity to make a conversion every time you sit down to write your content. Make it in such a way that visitors won’t leave without taking action.
There are many ways to keep on improving your content marketing. To remain relevant in the market today, a lot of creativity is required to make your content unique and not generic. Additionally, your writing should be informed by your prospects’ needs and tastes.
