An effective content marketing strategy is a constantly moving target. In the early days, shady marketers were stuffing articles with so many keywords the sentences made no sense, while legitimate marketers were churning out dry, informational articles. Useful, but boring. Then blogging and social media came along, and everybody started to relax. Marketers discovered that posts with personality were more popular and Google revamped and refined the algorithm until they developed semantic search.
Websites evolved along with content and search – became more visually attractive and easier to navigate. Inevitably it’s all led to quality content. With long odds and an ever-increasing content, how can you stand out from the crowd and achieve success with your content marketing efforts? You need to evolve and adapt. Your customers adopt new technologies and social media, rediscover old channels and abandon new ones. It’s a constant challenge to keep up with where they are and how they prefer to communicate.
1. Quality over quantity
The flood of content on the web will continue, and there’s no percentage in adding lots of content with low value. To stand out, you need to produce longer, more well-researched content that attracts more eyeballs, more social media shares, and more backlinks. The quality requirement is never going to change when it comes to an effective content marketing strategy.
Plan of action
- Make 1,200 words your minimum standard for blog posts. The longer the better.
- Verify the credibility of your sources. Source credibility guidelines can vary for online sources. Marketing and consumer reports and surveys from trusted, authoritative sources can be invaluable.
- Consider releasing a detailed survey of your customer base.
- Make sure your content is original, interesting, and optimized for SEO.
2. Repurpose your content
Long, authoritative content can be expensive to produce, but creative use of the information you collect can turn it into a bargain. Different formats make information-rich content accessible to different audiences.
Plan of action
- Produce an industry-related marketing report covering topics important to your customer base.
- Require an email address to download your report.
- Write blog posts based on each section of the report.
- Schedule posts on social media channels to promote your report.
- Hire a designer to create an infographic based on bullet points from the results.
- Make a slideshow with pertinent facts.
- Host a podcast or livestream event to talk about your findings.
3. Stay on top of SEO
SEO techniques change every year as new technologies emerge and search engine ranking factors change.
Plan of action
- Make sure your website is mobile friendly and optimized.
- Watch trends: Do you know how your content appears on wearable devices?
- Consider voice-based search phrases. Voice-activated search assistants are here to stay. Keywords will still be important, but marketers need to consider how people ask questions out loud and revamp SEO for voice search.
4. Create videos
Video has expanded exponentially with the launch of livestreaming apps, and marketers are definitely on board. Livestreaming is the next big thing when it comes to your content marketing strategy. But don’t overlook the classics. YouTube is still huge – and don’t forget, owned by Google. It’s no secret that Google gives preference to its own products in the search. Even the big brands are cashing in by hooking up with YouTube influencers.
Plan of action
- Adopt a livestreaming apps into your marketing plan.
- Create video instructables for your YouTube channel, or engage influencers to review your products.
- Consider interactive chats where you can invite your customers to participate.
5. Bring it home
More than half of all searches are now conducted on mobile devices, making mobile important to every business, and critical to brick-and-mortar shops.
Plan of action
- Include local information, including neighborhood mentions, to your copy and blog posts.
- Monitor and update profiles on local directories.
- Build your presence on social media.
6. Create interactive content
Some of the most-shared content on the web is interactive. Quizzes, interactive infographics, polls and other user-participation content is personal, engaging, and fun.
Plan of action
- Create polls and fun quizzes to gather customer input.
- Take infographics and videos one step further with interactive or animated options.
7. Develop a promotion strategy
Without promotion, your content is dead in the water. No matter how good it is, it won’t be discovered without push. If you don’t have a big audience of your own, promotion can be tricky.
Plan of action
- Engage influencers. You may not have a big audience, but you can extend your reach by engaging the audience of your competitors, joining chats and groups, and offering product to social media stars in exchange for (honest) reviews. Bloggers, vloggers, and pinners are usually willing to share topics they find interesting and relevant.
- Schedule regular posts with different teasers to entice readers to click through. Include graphics, ask questions, and quote facts.
Final thoughts
Developing an effective content marketing strategy requires a clear understanding of your target audience, consistent content creation, and thoughtful distribution. By aligning content with customer needs and optimizing for SEO, businesses can increase visibility and engagement. It’s essential to regularly analyze performance metrics to refine your approach and maximize ROI. Leveraging a mix of content types, such as blogs, videos, and social media posts, can enhance reach and foster deeper connections with your audience. Ultimately, a well-executed content marketing strategy drives brand awareness, builds trust, and generates long-term success.
