17 practices for better content marketing

Content marketing is an essential pillar of a potent marketing strategy. It can be an invaluable asset in facilitating customer loyalty and generating sales; however, it’s not without its pitfalls.

Content marketing takes time and effort to create, so you want to make sure that it offers an ample return on investment. Here are some pointers for ensuring success!

1. Create multiple personas

Regardless of which device you utilize to access content marketing, you must consider various user personas. This consists of individuals who are more likely to visit your site or engage with your content – like potential clients, customers or patrons.

To effectively market your enterprise on the web and harness its potential for success, it’s essential to construct a varied range of user personas. By identifying them, you can provide distinct experiences tailored to their needs and expectations!

Are you striving to communicate with the diverse customer base that comes from social media? Utilize this as an opportunity for some extra consideration: craft messages for a particular audience rather than one-size-fits-all output. Don’t disregard previous conversations either; instead, be mindful of events from last week when crafting new posts’ headlines or making changes in text!

2. Test before you publish

Before you publish a piece of content, test it. This is an essential element for effective and successful marketing!

Don’t be in a hurry to produce content; experiment with various options until you find one that delivers the greatest return on investment (ROI). Along these lines any campaign should be evaluated, regrouped or remade when required if necessary – don’t become complacent!

It’s important to ascertain which form of content provides the most ROI. If you have an established audience who likes your brand then perhaps they’re best served by email updates. But if it’s new visitors to your site then social media is likely to provide more fruitful results.

3. Start with a story map

In an effort to create a captivating narrative, consider employing a tool such as Story Map. This method utilizes a diagram-based illustration to concisely relay your story’s essential components such that it is easy for others to comprehend.

Pro Tip: Start with the goal of achieving knowledge and understanding of the desired outcome. Begin by brainstorming questions you’d like answered or actions that should take place before reaching success. From there, construct an outline consisting of key events that must occur in order for it all to culminate into an ultimate goal!

It requires courage to embark on writing about one’s experiences; however, it can be even more daunting when faced with crafting emotions and sentiments from them. Ensure you’re adequately prepared by intelligently structuring the initial posts – they should be tailored to impart maximum impact while maintaining an accessible tone throughout.

4. Write like a news release not an editorial

While it is true that journalists and writing instructors alike advocate the use of narrative prose, such a style is unsuited for marketing articles.

Don’t let your storytellers’ roots be penning prose, but rather make them fit in perfectly with the ethos of an editorial voice.

To discover which words are most appropriate for your writing, consider the audience’s language. Ensure that every sentence you pen contains just one or two primary nouns and avoid any variation in grammatical structures!

If you want to craft a more concise piece of content based on this practice, consider using Twitter cards for additional branding at a glance.

5. Share research not just your opinion

Share the ins and outs of your product or service rather than just sharing one’s opinions. This approach is much more reliable – and more likely to garner trust with audiences.

Gaurang Shah, CEO at Quidlytics, stresses that it’s vital not only to share research throughout your content, but also to include snippets of data along with quotes from peers and experts who have previously uttered similar sentiments as a means of demonstrating credibility.

By providing actual statistics and ensuring that your arguments are backed up by verifiable data, you are conveying authority and credibility.

6. Start content marketing early and maintain it all year long

The phrase ‘early’ connotes the start of any endeavor, but in this instance it’s referring to when you should begin producing content.

Don’t delay starting your content marketing initiatives! Without a plan or timetable in place, it may be difficult to sustain consistency with regular posting; making such a schedule even more essential.

7. Build your tribe

Your success with content marketing will hinge upon the motivation of your audience.

Amassing a loyal fan base is one thing; creating an affinity with them is something else altogether. When we speak of an affinity, we are taking into consideration that they’ll be intimately acquainted with your brand – they may even become evangelists!

Here are a few things you can do to foster connection with audiences:

Provide rewards for engagement. Incorporate social media Q&As, polls and quizzes in your posts. What could you gain from sharing your thoughts? How can you help others achieve success if you succeed? Giveaways such as freebie codes or exciting opportunities are surefire ways to create an intimate bond between brands and followers.

Create communities around specific topics or themes. If a niche exists where your business thrives, make an effort to establish rapport there – by creating forums or sub-Reddits; creating Facebook Groups; even launching websites dedicated solely to it! It’s essential to forge ties within that niche so that you can interact with other likeminded individuals and further foster community bonds within the online realm.

8. Use Analytics to find your tribe faster

If you’re not acquainted with the concept of a tribe, its definition is quite straightforward: it refers to an affinity group consisting of individuals who share similar interests or ideologies.

The key to creating a successful content strategy is identifying your ideal audience, and making sure that you tailor each piece of content for this group’s individual preferences.

This task may prove to be difficult at first glance; however, leveraging analytics can help you identify your tribe faster than ever before!

With this in mind, take time to analyze your website traffic data and interactions with your brand pages on social media. By examining these metrics regularly – even after publishing new content – it will become easier to discern what works best for the people who visit your website and follow your channels.

9. Embrace the power of video

At a glance, video may not seem as prominent an element of content marketing as it once was; however, its stature is rising rapidly.

Indeed, nearly two-thirds of marketers say that video is an essential component in an effective campaign – and yet they often neglect the medium’s capacity to captivate attention and evoke emotion.

Video is an ideal way to convey credibility, show your personality or simply provide valuable educational advice that cannot be easily conveyed through written text.

Even more than other forms of digital media, video lends itself well to expressing your brand’s values – whether you’re declaring what it stands for or simply expressing gratitude for loyalists’ patronage.

10. Add value in your blog post titles and descriptions

It’s quite common for blog posts to have a title and brief excerpt; however, after analyzing over one million headlines, we found that only 5% of them actually attracted the attention of potential readers.

By engaging in content marketing, you are creating valuable information that people can consume. In turn they will reciprocate by sharing it on social media and other channels – which is where your ultimate objective should be!

Put yourself in the shoes of your audience and consider what could come next with this headline: “Are you fatigued with ad-filled content on blogs? This new approach to blogging will not only help improve visibility but also offer value by offering useful tips.”

11. Give value in your posts too

Beyond simply ‘giving’ value to your community, we must also offer up value in our content. After all, why would anyone want to consume information if there’s nothing in return?

The perfect illustration of this is a recent study conducted by CoreLogic. According to their research, those who provide free content – such as blog posts or infographics – have higher average pageviews than those who don’t!

Gone are the days when you could publish any old post and expect it to result in increased traffic. Today’s audience is savvy; they demand high-quality content that offers real value. If they’re not getting it – or if they’re receiving a substandard offering – then they will likely move on to seek out an alternative source of information.

12. Leverage social media to find new audiences too

Leveraging social media to find new audiences is a golden opportunity! There are infinite possibilities in the world of social media, so don’t forget about it when planning your marketing strategy for 2019.

Searching for someone who uses your product or service on social media? It may be time to update that profile and make it more attractive to potential consumers. Are you utilizing all of the available channels to connect with potential clients? Explore their profiles and utilize those connections to establish relationships and further expand your reach.

Social media can yield rewarding results if utilized effectively, but it’s ultimately up to you where you take your message.

13. Make it easy for people to contact you

It can be difficult for businesses to maintain positive online reputations and retain customers when they have the option of contacting sales personnel directly. It’s okay if people have questions about items they are considering purchasing; as an official representative, it is imperative that you offer assistance whenever possible.

When it comes to generating leads and building relationships with prospective customers, e-mail contact remains a reliable method. Not only does it provide a convenient gateway to initiating communication; it also allows our clients to bypass the arduous task of navigating websites in search of useful content – one of the primary obstacles hampering faster conversion rates!

Conclusion

Are you ready to get started? We certainly are!

Are you ready to elevate your content marketing efforts? If so, we are eager to assist!

Don’t hesitate – contact us today! Our team is ready to help you. Just reach out and we’ll process your request promptly.

Are you devoted to content marketing but find yourself struggling with one aspect? We are confident that our assistance can be of assistance to you!

What practices do you employ for better content marketing? Please share them with the rest of the group! Let’s all make content marketing more gratifying!