10 ways to improve your content marketing
Content marketing includes all the activities you use to engage with your target audience and it is essential for search engines to drive traffic to your website and social media accounts – and having these aspects linked up leads to organic brand presence and growth over time.
According to recent research 70 percent of marketers are actively investing in content marketing and those who prioritise blogging are 13x more likely to see positive ROI. But there is a lot more to content marketing than writing an occasional blog – a successful content marketing strategy requires consistency and a mix of tactics to deliver results. Here are a few ways to consider:
1. Write guest blogs
Expand your reach by guest blogging elsewhere – offer valuable advice that can be published on other sites and benefit from the extended reach that they bring. Research blogs that are reaching the right readership for your business and connect with other bloggers – they can benefit from your expertise, and vice versa you can offer to publish their guest posts on your blog.
2. Send out a press release
Having your name mentioned in relevant media outlets can have a great impact on your business, get you noticed and create a lot of positive buzz around your brand. Issuing a press release is an effective way to get your name out there, if you have relevant news that is interesting to the media.
3. Leverage PR
Engaging with the right media and presenting them with your story through appropriate channels is great for your reputation management as it will give you credibility and help you communicate your messages to your stakeholders. It can help you generate content to use on all your other marketing channels, getting your company seen on different platforms making you look proactive and knowledgeable.
4. Send out a regular e-newsletter
Send out regular newsletters highlighting anything that you want your readers to know about. Include links to your website and your social media accounts, make it pretty and interesting so people would not only want to open and read it, but also forward to others.
5. Host a webinar
Webinars are a great, cost effective way to attract your potential customers through knowledge and experience sharing without any geographic limitations. They are easier to organise than face-to-face events – especially in times of social distancing, yet still can connect with others and help to build your brand.
6. Create downloadable content
Give your audience valuable insights – you can create an e-book, a detailed how-to guide or anything that provides in-depth knowledge that is interesting enough for your visitors to trade their email address in exchange for the download. This works in many ways – building your profile as an expert, building up your mailing list and improving your website traffic.
7. Write engaging headlines
Headlines are one of the most important parts of your content. Without a compelling headline, even the best blogs might go unread. On average, five times as many people read the headlines as the body copy. A recent study shows that 55% of consumers read an article for 15 seconds or less. What's more, eight out of 10 people read an article's headline only.
With so much content to consume and such little time to consume it, writing an effective headline is essential if you want to cut through the noise and grab people's attention.
8. Provide answers to questions
Relate to your potential readers and the way they do their online research and give them useful, practical tips they can learn from and enjoy reading. The internet is built to provide answers to questions. People constantly search for answers and tips on topics they don’t know enough about, so position yourself as an expert by using titles that make your audience quickly understand that they have found their answers.
9. Conduct an online survey
Find out what your visitors think about topics relevant to your business to gain detailed insight that you can use to promote your products and services. Surveys work on so many levels as you can leverage them for marketing from collecting the answers, all the way to sending out the results and getting media coverage – meaning that you are able to be in regular contact with your audience as well as offer value.
10. Write up case studies and testimonials
Write up the success stories to date and use them on your website and social media. Doesn’t matter if you can’t use your client’s name. Everyone loves a good story – so share yours.
Use your happy clients to promote your business by asking them for testimonials. There is nothing better to prove your skills that having a satisfied customer telling everyone else.