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In this era of digital readability, people are being asked to consume more content. Add in the abundance of information available online, and it is not surprising that time spent reading documents has decreased.
People want and expect quality content!
They do not have the time or inclination to spend hours trying to get value from bad writing or thinking. Producing good content takes work, but there are tools that can help.
There are many ways to provide your audience with content worth paying for. You can put up videos or offer special deals to encourage visitors to buy. Or you can write articles that can be sold over and over again.
All of these strategies require different skills and business models. But perhaps the most important strategy in using content marketing to grow your business is having one clear message.
What I mean by this is – all your messages should be coming from one place, which is your brand. If your messaging is consistent, then your readers will be much happier with what they find.
It also helps your employees communicate together as well; when everyone is buying into the same message, it’s easy for conversations to extend beyond office walls.
While much of what is called “content marketing” is actually advertising, there are some distinct differences between ads and editorial marketing. An important way to distinguish them is by asking yourself if you were encouraged to click through the page and buy something.
If you didn't feel inspired to take action, then the message was an ad.
However, if you felt motivated to keep reading because the article or section was interesting or had a specific goal, it wasn't an ad. There may have been a compelling caption or subtitle that explains why the topic is relevant now and how it can help you.
Our job as writers is to always give a new perspective so people don't need to think about things too often. When we write articles with a clear focus, they will engage more readers and inspire them to share, comment or link to the piece.
Content marketers use unique, original content to attract followers and promote brands. It can be anything from short stories written by individual authors to full-length books.
The reason these products work so well is because they provide insights that haven’t been said before and motivate people to act and talk about it.
Content marketing focuses on creating quality resources rather than using advertisements. This becomes our core value when competing with other businesses who also offer similar services.
Competition helps us improve our game, increases our motivation and gives us another chance to win over customers with better content.
More often than not, brands are put into a box by companies that sell advertising. “Give me data so I can promote you!”
But what if we told you that quality was more important that quantity?
Yes, it’s true that brand awareness starts with high quality content marketing. But that doesn’t mean it stops there.
Content is used to educate consumers and customers about your business and its products. If done right, people will start talking about your brand because they want to.
And that means buyers love your product even more. It also means that those buyers will continue to buy from you over time. Here’s how content helps sales…
Given that search engines typically rank higher the sites containing popular searches, publishing interesting, well-written original content files is an excellent way to gain traffic to your site. Plus, these articles make for good reads.
Your own personal writing style offers another advantage:
You become someone others can trust. Because you're consistently producing content, viewers know where each new piece comes from.
They may still need to rely on you to be their go-to source when they have a question, but otherwise they'll turn to you as their authority in order to provide insight.
Although content marketing is typically thought of as using written communications, it can also include audio and video messages. By creating unique assets that are relevant to your brand or subject matter, you can start branding yourself in your audience’s minds.
These assets may be related to your business or personal life, or they may be fun distractions such as funny images or videos. However, make sure any asset you create stands out from the crowd.
You want people to remember your message, so help them build a mental picture to accompany your content. This means having something about your topic that is distinct and interesting.
It also means not wasting space with nonsense info that their brain will just skip. The best examples are infographics, animated maps, and other visual representations that share information quickly and efficiently.
People love stories and pictures for an easy reason; we think in symbols and understand things more easily this way. That is why illustrations and comics do so well as content formats.
To get ideas flowing, take a look at what you’re already doing being done by you or others. Chances are there are some trends that have started. You don’t need to go back to the beginning, but get ideas brewing so you know what to shoot for.
Email marketing has been around for years, but it’s still one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience and promote awareness and trust. The secret is in the personalized messages.
By creating emails that are tailored to each recipient, you can help them feel more confident about making a purchase or seeking out information from you.
You can do this by using customer analytics software to track previous purchases and define messaging that resonates with them. By incorporating personal anecdotes into your email communications, you can develop a sense of intimacy in your interactions.
All of these things combine to make your customers feel much better about buying from you, and thus they will share their contact information with you so you can continue to send similar messages in the future.
The key is to measure the results of your emails to see which ones work and what responses you get. Then try to create new emails that have the same effects as those that have already worked.
There are many different tools you can use to test email campaigns including Open Rate, Click Through Rates, Conversions, and Cost Per Conversion. I recommend checking out Campaign Monitor’s free tool to start with.
They even have tutorials on their website showing others how to perform basic testing steps such as opening emails, clicking links, and adding comments. With just those basics, you can begin to understand whether an email campaign is working for you.
Being different is always a good thing, but it’s especially important for small businesses that are competing with global giants.
Competition can be fierce, which makes it even more important to stand out from the crowd.
How do you define your product or service as unique? How do people recognize that you are better than your competition?
These are all questions that need to be answered. In order to do so, you have to study what works and doesn’t work for your competitors as well as the customers you want to target.
By taking action by creating content or running an event, you can show your audience that you are doing something differently than your competition. At the very least, they will see you as more willing to try new things.
Your audience (and every business owner) wants to feel like their needs are being met. If you give them value, they will return again and again. Content marketing helps your business find new ways to provide value to its audiences.
Now, let’s talk about how to establish authority. Again, you need to be careful that when you say something is “easy,” it doesn’t mean that what you’re saying isn’t hard or right. You can definitely create content that people will pay for, and as a consumer, I want to know that there’s a good chance someone else out there believes in what I’m paying for.
You have to understand your audience and what they value. For example, most consumers care very much about quality and consistency. How do they feel about pricing? They want to believe that whatever you're offering is worth what you paid for it.
At the same time, they also want to believe that other people trust the products/services you are selling them. If they cannot find evidence others respect what you offer, then they will not buy it.
Using the above tips, you can promote your content effectively without focusing too much on marketing. That is because the key to good promotion is well-written articles.
Your most important article should be something that provides helpful information to people who are reading it. Whether you call this an ebook, a guide or whatever else - the core concept is that someone will come away with more practical knowledge after reading it.
That could be because they realized they were doing something incorrectly or not doing anything at all, which is always nice. It could be because there’s a unique solution to a problem that everyone faces at some time.
Whatever the case may be, let the potential reader know they’re getting value beyond just “hello” into their acquaintance with you.
This is an old one, but it’s still very effective. In their rush to compete, retail stores have been offering increasing amounts of stuff in return for money. It started with extra products, then came coupons, now you can buy groceries online and get free items in the mail.
Content marketers need to remember that not everyone searches for best deal anymore. People search for deals online, but they don’t want to spend much time searching for them.
Offer things people are looking for without forcing your brand onto them. Search for what consumers are asking for and offer solutions. For example, if shoppers are looking for good recipes, include tips for healthy eating.
They will be more likely to use or share these recipes than ones where sugar/fat content or quality of ingredients was the main focus.
