13 Mar 5 Ways to Improve Your Content Marketing Strategy
Be Bold! One of the best ways to increase your sales and bottom line is through a strong content marketing strategy.
Written by Daniela Cavalletti
8 min read
Do you ever feel like your business is fading into the background online? Are you beating your head against a brick wall when it comes to your content marketing strategy? You wouldn’t be the first or last person in business to do so. And for a reason: it’s tough out there. The competition is fierce.
Even when you’re ticking all the right boxes by writing regular blogs, dutifully tweeting, and updating your website, you might be faced with not much happening. Tumbleweeds blowing through … Website visits are sporadic and comments sparse. It almost seems like you are bobbing along solo in a content bubble; nothing is converting to leads or sales.
To stand out, you need to be bold, be different, be thoughtful.
How to Back the Right Horse with Your Content Marketing Strategy
Arrrrgghh! … It can be so frustrating, right? I’ve been there myself in the early days of creating content for my own, brand-new business. I was so tangled up in what we can offer – how we can help. But when we’re so close to the business, it’s sometimes hard to look in from the outside. For that initial time, I forgot that my business is not about me, and what we can do.
It’s all about our clients and customers. And what they do and need.
At its heart, content marketing is about building an audience to achieve increased sales, and more loyal customers. The problem is that everyone else around you wants that, too. Telling people how fabulous and helpful you are, that alone won’t cut the mustard any longer. Your clients need to feel understood, engaged, and wooed. Grabbing your time-poor potential customers’ attention is becoming more and more difficult … but not impossible.
Could it be time to revisit your content marketing strategy? A review never hurts, I think. Have a look at some core tips for boosting the content marketing for your business. Where are you on to a winner? And where could you be missing out on potential sales?
#1. It’s Not Me, It’s You
This is the big one. If you remember nothing else but one thing from this post, let it be this point.
Everything you do around your content marketing strategy must be about your audience. Who they are; why they need help and what you as a business can do to make their lives easier. It’s not about listing the functions of your product, or the steps of your process alone. It’s about how this benefits your reader (and hopefully future client). When it comes to your content marketing strategy, the focus should be on them, your readers, never on how much you can push your products or services.
You need to know your audience – inside, outside and backwards. What they like and hate; their needs and wants; which social media they prefer; and what makes them happy or annoyed. Knowing who you are trying to convert will make formulating your content a whole whopping lot easier.
So how do you find out more about your ideal clients and what makes them worried, looked after, and understood? Try this:
- Do some formal market research – research companies can set-up up client panels or send out surveys. They deliver a wealth of information.
- Send out a survey to your existing database.
- Search under your keywords in Quora and on social media – what are people asking about that you can answer?
- Read blogs and publications relevant to your industry and business.
- Go to a conference or networking event – and meet your ideal clients in person.
- Chat to some of your most loyal, happy customers.
- Interview your sales team or customer service about what they learned.
Once you have gathered that key information, create a profile of your ideal client or clients. What would their LinkedIn profile or company bio look like? What kind of person are they besides their qualifications and position?
#2. How Do You Talk to Your Readers?
Now that you are intimate with your audience (so to speak), create content that will be interesting, entertaining and informative to them. If what you write helps your readers in even a small way, they will be more engaged. And, over time, they’ll come to trust you. Try to write about specific topics that you’re passionate about and good at. Don’t follow the herd and create too much general content. Mix it up, show some personality. You’ll create real engagement that leads to trust and conversions into client when you think through and carefully plan your content marketing strategy.
Always ensure each piece of your written content does the following for your customers:
- Solve a problem
- Give useful and practical advice
- Fill in an information gap
- Address concerns
- Educate them
- Offer an (and occasional controversial) opinion
Writing authoritative content that is well researched and expresses informed opinions? It positions you as someone experienced who knows their craft and industry well. Your business blog, LinkedIn Pulse articles, white papers, lead magnets, ebooks, and other online marketing content will work together to create an interested and loyal following over time.
Original, fresh content is of course also favourably gobbled up by Google’s search engine ranking algorithms. So write quality (absolutely no crap content!), write more than 500 words and, ideally, write at least once a week. Do ditch any unnecessary jargon and write in easy-to-understand language – you want to engage not bamboozle your readers.
#3. Define Your Content Marketing Goals
Start at the end – what should your regular content writing produce? Make sure you know what you want to achieve with your content marketing strategy. Smaller but more plentiful projects; or a couple of gigantic projects a year? Sell more of widget A, or of widget B? More hits to your website or a better conversion rate? All this is of course driven by the current state, type and size of your business. And by your business plan, advertising strategy and wider marketing aim.
In your content marketing strategy, cover your main goals, but also be aware of any obstacles or opportunities you may encounter along the way. What ideas and messages do you want to communicate? What’s your unique selling point? What are your competitors doing (and should you rather do something different to stand out)? Once you know your goal, the different pieces of content – their topics, timings and mediums – can be planned. Once this plan is in place, you need to creatively package it up into something your particular audience craves, needs … and will look forward to reading.
#4. Show Them Some Love + Variety
Once you have an audience that is engaged with your content marketing, make sure you take the time to deepen the connection with them. When your posts attract comments on social media, for example, always reply. It’s not only the polite thing to do; and it’s the clever way to ensure your content-creation work pays off. Your aim is a close connection and conversations forge that bond.
In your content marketing strategy plan for this part. Whether it’s you, someone on your team, or an external company who replies to readers’ comments or requests – you need to plan for the resource (time and/or money) and also know how to respond.
As for your loyal audience? Keep rewarding them in some way, whether it be by discounts, competitions or valuable content freebies (like white papers, ebooks, handy checklists and templates, etc.).
Mix up the formats of your content delivery when you plan your content marketing strategy. Keep it interesting for your followers (and yourself!) by working with a variety of media; such as images, videos, infographics, ebooks, checklists and podcasts. Try Q&As, ‘Behind the scenes’, interviews, and customer profiles along with straight blogs and articles: it will all help keep your readers hooked, engaged – and coming back for more.
#5. Give A Lot Before You Ask to Get
Now, a good content marketing strategy makes your client or reader the centre of attention. But their engagement with your written content also needs to work for you and your business. Once you’ve forged the connection with your followers and readers through offering your expertise and thoughts – and you have created trust – it’s time to assess who might become a good sales lead or customer.
As a first step, you can include calls to action in your blog to sign up to your weekly newsletter, or offer a free ebook. Give your online followers a closer connection to you by landing in their inbox; right where they are every day. Once you have moved from them having to find you online to coming to them, you can create a more direct dialogue. Ask for feedback by reply email, offer a free trial session or discount code. Make your communications friendly, accessible and open.
Whatever suits your business, the idea is to create an ever-closer understanding and bond with your audience through your content marketing strategy. Earn trust, forge strong connections, and then – when your reader is ready to become your client –, only then, talk about what you can offer. But remember, keep the focus on them, not you.
A Great Content Marketing Strategy? It’s A Win, Win Situation
To make your business flourish, you need to first help others. And to truly help others – meaningfully assist your potential clients – you need to carefully think about their needs and your content marketing strategy. Understand your audience
- Attract their attention
- Engage them
- Earn their trust
- Build a deeper connection
Be generous and bold in what you give away for free. Don’t be afraid to give too much. You won’t. Instead you’ll get ample amount of exposure and goodwill, build new meaningful connections, and find the right clients, ready to buy from you,
Then you can make an offer that works for them – and for you.
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