In a saturated marketplace, traditional marketing efforts are beginning to render themselves useless. Mixing up your marketing strategy is essential to make it in today’s world. Enter, content marketing, an innovative way to tell the world about your product.
What’s great about content marketing is that it can be perfectly tailored to your unique brand. It can also be created with your specific target audience in mind. Being true to your voice, you’ll develop some awesome content that not only increases brand awareness, it will drive loyalty and sales.
Content marketing can seem like an overwhelming concept. However, you don’t have to be a marketing guru to develop a pretty solid plan. Here’s everything you need to know to get started.
Who Are You Trying to Reach?
Before you even decide on how you’re going to use and craft your content, you need to narrow your focus. A clearly defined target audience will be the driving force of your strategy. Sit back and ask yourself who exactly you are trying to reach.
Not only will this help you decide on the type of content to use, but it will also help dictate the subject matter you cover. This is not to say that your audience has to be the same throughout your campaign. What’s great about content marketing is that you can create different content for different target audiences. This flexibility allows you to expand your reach and customer base.
For example, if you are selling power tools, your target audience could be professional contractors. Email blasts or webinars aimed at this profession could be super effective. However, that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the do it yourself crowd. A separate blog or how-to guide focused on this group can earn you a whole new audience.
Keep your audience in mind when creating the voice of these campaigns. This is one of the most important parts of content marketing. Speak to your audience in a way that’s relatable and engaging and they are more likely to stick around for what you have to say.
Make it Relevant and Unique
The internet is bursting at the seams with articles, blogs, and videos. Your task is to make your content stand out. It needs to not only be relevant to your brand, but also to your audience and the billions of users surfing the web.
It’s important that you don’t create more white noise just for the sake of creating content. Think of a unique take on a subject and roll with it. Your content needs to say something special and useful to get the attention you desire.
Look for ways to make your product stand out while providing helpful information. Maybe a podcast on healthy lifestyles could highlight the nutritional value of your food items. An infographic on a great skin care regimen can help create a need for your facial product line. A print newsletter full of recipes and coupons is an awesome way to promote your grocery store.
The most important thing about developing your content is that it is useful to your audience. They want to feel like you are providing them valuable information, not that they are simply being marketed to. Make it feel natural and beneficial to them and you’ll win big.
Create an Authentic and Consistent Voice
Your content is your way to speak to the world as a brand. Don’t ruin this chance by coming off phony or inconsistent. By being authentic and cohesive, you can earn the valuable trust of consumers.
Customers want to trust the brands they purchase from. Being authentic lets them know that you truly care about them. Personifying your brand with a strong voice can lead to more meaningful relationships with your audience.
Be transparent about your company and the values behind your brand. Let customers know that you are firm in your promise to provide a great product and even better service. Then, follow it up by coming through on that promise.
Your content is an awesome way to communicate that. Relatable videos of your company’s leaders can do a lot to enhance your brand’s voice. A press release with glowing testimonials is a perfect what to showcase your product. Meaningful social media covers, posts, and interactive comments that engage with your audience are a fantastic way to create an authentic voice.
Familiarize Yourself With SEO
You could work your tail off to create the most amazing content in the world. However, none of that is going to matter if no one can find it. Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a super important tool to add to your arsenal of marketing knowledge. This strategy helps your content rank higher in search results so it’s more likely to be discovered.
You don’t need to be an expert to effectively optimize your content. A few tips and tricks can give your content a big boost. The most important thing is to monitor how effective your strategy is and adjust as necessary.
Whether you are creating blogs or videos, make sure your website is up to par. It should be well organized and load quickly. Your site performance is a big part of where it will rank in the results.
Make sure your content is top-notch quality. This may mean that you need to outsource some to an expert writer or experienced graphic designer. Either way, it’s essential that your content is useful, meaningful, and long enough to rank higher.
Create a catchy title and description tag. You also want to have some awesome headers. Bullet points, numbered lists, charts, and graphics are all big pluses.
Keyword research is also super important. Find out which trending keywords are relevant to your brand. Add them to your tags, backlinks, and headings to optimize your content to the fullest.
Content Marketing for Success
Getting started with content marketing can seem overwhelming. However, these simple strategies can provide a good jumping-off point. As you learn and create your content, your comfort level and knowledge will grow.
From blogs to videos, there’s a ton of great ways to get the word out about your brand. Useful infographics and helpful how-to guides provide a benefit to your customer and increase brand awareness. Through your content, you’ll personify your brand and create its unique voice.
Adding content marketing to your game plan can help you win big. Remember to be authentic, cohesive, and relevant. You’ll boost your brand and continually adjust your content marketing plan as it grows into the future.
