Content marketing is like using a bullhorn to spread your message. Photo credit: Cluster
How sufficient is your content marketing strategy? Does your organization even have a content marketing strategy? If you’re like many content marketers, chances are that you have room for improvement.
According to a survey by Wyzowl, 53% of content marketers don’t measure ROI, 40% lack a defined content strategy and 80% only publish content on their website.
The survey also underscores content marketing trends and practices: 58% of content marketers believe that video is the most effective marketing medium, 70% said social media is the most effective content marketing tool, and 76% think that content should include actionable information.
Here are some ways to improve your content marketing efforts.
Create a strategy. If you don’t already have a written strategy, create one. Outline your goals, what content you plan to create, and what part of the sales funnel you will target. The type of content you create depends on your goal and where in the purchase process you want to reach customers.
Measure ROI. If you don’t measure outcomes, you don’t know what type of content or what channel is working best and don’ know how the content is affecting website traffic or conversions.
Submit content to others. Contact popular bloggers/influencers in your niche, tell them you like their blogs, and develop a relationship with them. If their content is similar to yours, they’ll probably be willing to consider your guest posts.
Provide actionable information. Tell the customer what to do next. It could be register for an email newsletter, call your organization or share the content. Some marketers believe content should strictly entertain and increase brand reach, but it’s possible to create content that’s entertaining and delivers a call to action.
Link to timely events. For March, consider creating content connected to St. Patrick’s Day. Almost any business can tweak a product to offer a St. Patrick’s Day connection. The possibilities are limited only by imagination. Williams-Sonoma, an online retailer of kitchen supplies, published articles on how to make traditional Irish meals.
Make a how-not-to video. How-to videos are naturally popular. Taking a different tact with a how-not-to video can also generate interest. Demonstrate how not to use your product. For an example, view How (not) to Lube Your Bike by Art’s Cyclery.
Answer questions. Find what questions your prospects and customers are asking in their web searches. Then write blog posts or create other content to answer those questions. The goal is to have customers discover your answer when the search.
Schedule appointments. Instead of inviting people to register for email newsletters or read your blog posts, invite them to sign up for a specific piece of content delivered at a specific time.
Promotion first. Content producers typically create content, then seek a place to publish it. Instead, first find where it can be published. If you can’t find a place for it, don’t bother creating it.
Bottom Line: An effective content market strategy starts with creating a written strategy, measuring results and publishing content on social media and other websites and blogs. Not following those best practices will limit your success in content marketing.
Resources
What is the State of Content Marketing for 2015?
Jeff Bullas
9 Actionable Content Marketing Tips from Top Industry Experts
Forbes
5 Content Marketing Ideas for March 2015
Practical Ecommerce
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
Good Article – along with the valuable information for the Content Marketing. it is very hard to Submit content to others website. This is only possible when the content is good and fully optimized.