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Although consistency is not strictly necessary, it is extremely recommended.
It’s difficult to maintain credibility when your content marketing practices change from article to article.
If you tell one story in your opening headline and then mention something contradictory in the text, readers will be aware that you are trying to persuade them of a particular point of view.
And if they find that you have been misleading them about what you really believe or want them to think, they may stop listening to you altogether.
Content marketing requires its own unique set of skills and strategies, but having a constant framework helps ensure quality work.
Having integrity while communicating with others is very important. If someone can trust you, why wouldn’t you? You should always strive to earn trust.
Consistency is key to achieving success as a content marketer.
Even if you are using marketing to promote your product, it is important to start with good content that will help people learn about your product or service and perhaps feel compelled to find out more about you.
People want to consume valuable content. You need to provide substantial value in your content such that people ask for more.
Your content should teach someone something, present an interesting perspective, or otherwise motivate people to take action. Value is key! And we'll be talking about it next.
Even when content is free, you should still consider it valuable. People are more likely to trust an offer if they feel their time was worth it.
You can give people something for nothing by being genuine and saying what you want from them in your content. For example, let’s say you work at a nonprofit and you write about donating money to help animals. You tell readers that you’ll donate $100 to the zoo if they’re not sure whether they’d like to make a donation.
Then everyone who reads the article knows that there’s a limit to how much you will donate, and they know where you stand on the issue. It’s direct and transparent, which makes it easy to evaluate.
This kind of transparency only occurs when we put our intentions out into the world for others to see -- which is why some of the best bloggers earn their keep with suggestions that cost money.
It also means that people won’t get tricked or cheated, as individuals cannot be expected to protect themselves. Let other people do what they can to protect their interests.
That way nobody goes away feeling upset or cheated, because each person knew exactly what he or she was getting into.
One of the greatest things about content is that it’s unique. Your customers, readers, or users are willing to take time out of their day to read/see your content.
If they don’t feel compelled to click through to your product page or register for an account, they won’t be very motivated users.
Content marketing works thanks to good storytelling and useful information. If you tell a story using pictures and videos as well, that can make matters even better.
Users want to know that what they’re reading or seeing makes sense from a narrative perspective. A picture may not necessarily add much to the story, but if the image enhances the plot, then go for it.
It should enhance the story being told in some way (not just there’s this thing called “content”). Narrative content helps them get rid of the confusion of everything else happening at once.
Confusing characters, events, and issues happen all at once, so having clear narratives is important. This will also help keep people engaged with the book, movie, event, or whatever.
The better the writing and more interesting the stories, the more likely people will read/watch/listen. People love getting into a story and solving its problems.
They want to know how the story ends, but they also have to understand what's going on along the
Even if you are referring to something, make it sound like you wrote this article yourself. You want your readers to feel involved in the content of what they are reading? Try giving them pointers about how you managed to overcome obstacles that are similar to their own.
It makes them feel more connected to you and the information that you have provided them with, which in turn may encourage them to read more content from you or another company they think is trustworthy.
Give people tips for success stories related to the topic of the article, whether that be business-related or personal. People love hearing other people’s stories and having tools to help them face challenges such as overcoming addiction or anxiety.
Content marketing provides companies with an opportunity to tell their story in their voice and in their words. Creating content takes work, so unless you’re going to do it personally, probably someone else will take care of that task for you.
What you should strive to create when writing a content piece is the feeling that you put yourself into the reader’s shoes before diving into the content.
You want people to say “I know who she is now”, not “I know what her website looks like”. A good writer can make even the most boring subject fun.
Calls to actions tell users what to do next. They are very common in advertising, but can be useful when used intelligently in marketing materials related to your product or service.
Consider how you want people to react to your content. If your message is focused on education, then use questions. If you want to encourage sharing, use badges. Make it easy for readers to click away from where they were to go to share what they just read.
Colorful calls to actions may attract more attention than plain text links. However, if you want to educate someone, providing additional information in a simple link is better than using color1ed text with a bold font.
Educational texts should provide learners with enough educational material to enable them to complete a given task. Don’t assume that everyone reading your document has as much knowledge about the topic as you do.
Customers are at the center of every business’s agenda. If you want to be successful, you need to focus on your customers’ needs as well as your own.
To understand what your potential clients want, you have to know who your target market is. Who are your buyers? What issues or problems do they have that can be solved by buying your product? Find out where your potential clients live, work, play, and worship.
Content marketing helps you find and connect with these people through online channels, but also through in-person events such as conferences and workshops. You can learn more about how to build trust among your audience members by reading our article on content marketing.
Not all email marketers are good at promoting their products and services. It is just as important to test the aesthetics, legibility, and functionality of your emails.
There are many tools that can be used for this purpose. One popular tool is Mail Chimp; it has its own format that makes designing emails easyer.
It is also very affordable if you’re looking to send lots of emails.
You can find these tools by clicking on “design” then “email design” in the menu area above. This will bring you to the Email Design Tool section. Next, I would recommend that you type in the keywords into the search engine that Google gives you and read through how they designed those emails.
From here, you can see what changes you might need to make to improve them. Keep testing!
Another great thing about content marketing is that it is more likely to engage your audience than traditional advertising. People like feeling they have discovered something new or being part of a community.
That is why straight-forward communication is so critical. Bad communication skills could cost you customers or followers. It depends on the situation.
There are a couple of things that you can do with content copyrighted by others. Generally, you can use it in marketing materials if you provide a link to the original page or copy the information verbatim.
You can also distribute extra content outside of corporate boundaries via social media, for example.
Getting permission to use other people’s content is not required, although we have come to expect it from larger companies. People may still ask how you plan to use someone else's content, what standard of quality you will maintain, or whether you have deleted any copyright notices you've found online.
Prioritize relevant permissions requests over irrelevant features. For instance, if you're submitting a content request through an RSS feed, make sure you mention the license within the metadata or body of your article before adding it to your feed.
If citing a source is helpful, note it here. If naming another site in your reference list, note it there. Few readers will ever reach into your bibliography file to look up more details.
