Get Better Results with Your Content Marketing
When people think of success with content marketing, it seems they think of big blogs with a lot of subscribers or a large social media following. The thought may be that if you could just hit that level of popularity, your blog will finally make it.
The good news is you don’t need huge popularity. You don’t need to be an elite marketer in order to get plenty of results for your business. If you don’t already have a large following and are looking to get more results, the following techniques will help you. (They may also help if you do have a large following!)
5 Rules of Content Marketing
Being a good writer is only a small piece of the puzzle of content marketing — putting your focus solely on popularity keeps you from your ultimate goal: being profitable.
- Rule 1: Plan your content ahead of time. This ensures you’re productive with a specific purpose for your target market.
- Rule 2: Whether you are trying to build a list or sell a product, the content you produce should have a business building aspect for your brand that you need to know ahead of time before mapping out your calendar.
- Rule 3: There’s so much more to growing a business through content than just writing content. Delegate what need to in order to stay on track with building your business.
- Rule 4: Take steps early on to monetize your content, so it does what you want it to. This could include ads, affiliate links, sponsored posts, etc.
- Rule 5: Have a plan to get your content seen through email and on social media. Use the resources you already have available (or create new resources) to cross-promote and build more visibility.
Why Do I need to Produce Content?
There are 5 reasons we need content to cost-effectively grow our businesses and to generate interest in our brand.
1 – Content attracts new leads
It’s nearly free to publish and reach your niche audience online. People come to the Internet and social networks to solve a problem and or to be entertained. Content is the perfect way to get their attention and convince them that your business has the product or service that they need.
2 – Content creates trust
An article has the power to gain the trust of your prospects. This can include valuable advice, appealing to their emotions, and building a personal connection through live videos or chats on social media. Doing these things consistently will help you create loyal brand ambassadors for the longer term.
3 – Content educates
Today’s consumers are savvy — they know exactly where to find information. Topic and product research online is helping people make better buying decisions. The more your prospects know about your business, the more likely they’re going to know they need your product and how to use it.
4 – Content creates referrals
Quality content gets spread through word of mouth. These referrals are one of the easiest ways to grow, even if you start with a few shares. It’s all part of a growth process that builds if you continue to consistently offer great information for your audience.
5 – Content sells
Content by itself doesn’t sell anything. If you don’t have a plan for your content and you don’t implement that plan, content isn’t going to do much to build your business. Many people understand that they need content to reach prospects and gain trust, but they think if they do that, people will automatically buy their products. It doesn’t really work that way. If you want your prospects to buy your products, you have to tell them about your products. And you have to ASK them to buy them.
Increase Your Profitability
Planning your topics ahead of time makes it easier to get your content done and be productive. It also ensures that the topics you choose are in line with the products you’re promoting. A solid content plan is always shaped around what you want to sell through the eyes of the consumer.
Look at your topics from different angles, and if you have a larger readership consider bringing in guest contributors. Use a mix of content that includes podcasts, infographics, videos, etc. in order to keep your blog fresh.
As you’re laying out your schedule, make room for adjustments to include any current trends or news in your industry that you could incorporate into your plan as you go along.
Content can include many different incentives to attract more subscribers. Consider an exclusive webinar, free eBook, or free report. Many people miss the opportunity to grow their mailing list with their content. A subscription box to the side of your content is not enough. Make relevant and free offers in the body of your content readily.
Product mentions can be subtle and included in articles that are relevant. You can combine this mention with a special offer. People are more likely to act on a limited special offer. For instance, if it’s an offer you only make on YouTube or to your mailing list there is exclusivity to it.
How you define the purpose of your content is up to you and will require some testing to see what works best for which types of content. The key is to learn how your audience responds and improve your purpose over time.
Spread the Word
You can’t simply expect to put up your content and have thousands flock to it, especially if you don’t have that built-in audience to start with. A few ways to get your content seen include:
- Tell your mailing list about it
- Social media – tell them on Twitter, Facebook and wherever you happen to hang out.
- Make friends – The most important thing is getting to know people in your niche. Get to know people with influence who will happily share your content.
The important thing is to work toward content that serves a purpose and is seen by your growing audience. Don’t assume all your audience has seen all your content — some loyal followers may have, but most haven’t. You can add updates to old content to make it fresher and give you an excuse to reintroduce it as well.
Featured image: Copyright: ‘https://www.123rf.com/profile_nexusplexus‘ / 123RF Stock Photo
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Susan Gilbert
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