There are millions of customers online today, providing small businesses with many opportunities to connect, interact, and win them over. But considering that almost every business is going digital, you may face some competition to reach your target audience. Although SEO measures can help, recent research suggests that content marketing can be an excellent way to get noticed and boost your brand awareness, leading to increased conversion rates. So, whether you’re new to content marketing or an expert, you will find the tips below useful for improving your content marketing strategy.
1. Get to know your audience
Before you start typing away or planning your content master plan, it’s essential to know your audience. You can start by doing a bit of research work to determine who your target audience is and what they want. Take a virtual stroll through the whole buyer’s journey by creating some buyer personas. Getting to know and understand your target audience will make it easy to develop relatable content they can easily engage with.
2. Develop long-form, evergreen content
When it comes to content marketing, quality always takes precedence over quantity. Forget the idea that more is always better, especially in the online content strategy. For top-notch results, lean into the long-form, evergreen stuff and dial back on the short-lived trends. Longer content is suitable for search engine algorithms and boosts your SEO efforts. It also attracts and sustains a solid audience. Creating evergreen content is a smart move for making the most of your time and marketing budget.
3. Tune-up your website
While developing your content marketing strategy, it’s vital to pay attention to the technical side of your SEO strategy. It’s like the fixer-upper that sorts out broken images, patches up those missing links, and turbocharges your loading speed. Also, strategic internal linking can boost your site performance. Think of it as the key to keeping your website in tip-top shape. Also, remember to keep an eye on those backlinks as they add credibility to your website. It can be useful to learn how to analyze your backlinks to stay on top of your SEO effort.
4. Stay consistent
You want your brand to be that friend everyone spots in a crowd. Therefore, keep your brand voice rock-solid across all your marketing spots. Get your messaging on the same wavelength and make sure every piece of content communicates that same vibe. If you want to make it foolproof, establish some brand guidelines and editorial standards. These can serve as your brand’s playbook. Share the message with your whole team – writers, editors, animators, graphic gurus, and the big bosses. You can also go the extra mile to create a content governance plan, which is an excellent way to keep track and improve your content game.
5. Vary your content types
Today’s audience wants a bit of everything, and with the various tools available, it’s easy to come up with different, interesting content types. You get to choose between short and long videos, infographics, podcasts, and interactive content like eBooks and quizzes. Also, don’t forget the classics, such as webinars, case studies, and white papers. It’s like having a content buffet, and you get to choose what suits your audience and marketing strategy. Don’t hesitate to mix it up; try a bit of this and that, and see what clicks with your audience. After all, variety is the spice of life, and you can also apply this to your content strategy.
6. Prioritize content readability
Readability is a big deal these days, and for good reason. It is all about how easily your audience can wrap their heads around your content. The best plan is to ditch the complicated words, steer clear of never-ending sentences, and break up those lengthy paragraphs. Please keep it simple and clear, and pay some attention to how you format things. This step matters because not only does readability keep your readers glued to your page, but in the age of voice search, it also helps make it easier for Google to find you effortlessly. Readability can also do terrific for your rankings, and if you need a helping hand, online tools like Yoast SEO, SEMrush, and Grammarly can improve your text readability.
7. Develop a content calendar
It would help if you had a plan to keep your marketing team on the ball, and that’s where a content calendar comes in handy. It’s a smart way to keep everyone in the loop and make sure your content strategy is on point. How detailed or fancy you want it is all down to you and your team. However, a few gems like project timelines, keywords, due dates, and distribution channels can be vital. And for an extra spark, think about spicing up a content matrix to keep your content from getting boring. So, grab that calendar, get plotting, and your content marketing will be a winner.
8. Give your content a makeover
Not every piece of content you drop has to be spanking new. You can also get savvy and give your content a fresh new look or perspective. To do this, you have to get your creative juices flowing and think about transforming a popular blog post into an infographic, a downloadable piece (maybe a guide or checklist), or spice it up with a quick webinar. If you’ve got a killer podcast, you can turn an episode into a blog post or an interesting infographic. Grab some quotes from the episode, and you have a social media gem that will attract your audience. Repurposing your content isn’t just about spreading your message in cool new ways but also a shortcut to saving yourself significant time and effort.
9. Write for people
In order to rank your content on search engines, it is tempting to write in a way that’s suitable for the algorithms. However, your content is for real-life readers, so you want to keep it as such. When you’re building a killer content marketing strategy, keep the human touch at the forefront. Although you’ve got SEO to think about and those business goals to reach, never forget who’s on the other side of the screen. Make your content user-friendly by envisioning your reader as an actual person.
10. Partner and collaborate with the right teams
Depending on how your team is set up, you might already have your hands full regarding social media, webinars, and email. Now, before you dive into creating that amazing content, you need to get everyone on board to avoid wasting your time on top-notch content that your audience might never stumble upon. Teamwork makes the dream work, but it might need a bit of negotiation to ensure everyone is on the same page and your goals align. So, when you’re sitting at the table with your fellow teams, bring some win-win solutions to the mix. It’s a bit of give and take, but when you find that sweet spot of collaboration, it’s golden.
11. Use multiple distribution methods
After creating the content, you have to figure out how to get it out there. There is no one-size-fits-all approach here, so try a mix of distribution methods. First, take a look at your channels, such as a website, email list, and all your social media platforms. You can also include some guest blogging or team up with influencers for that extra boost. And there’s also the option of paid channels to give your content the boost it deserves.
The above tips will help ensure you develop and implement a successful content marketing strategy that will yield tangible results.