7 Habits for Effective Content Marketing
By Eliza Medley and Janice Wald
Everybody seems to be doing content marketing nowadays. The thing is, quite a few people agree that itâs not actually that effective for them. There are many reasons for that, but one of the biggest ones has to be that many people donât actually know how to run an effective content marketing campaign.
If thatâs the case for you, then Iâm here to help you figure out what you can do better and what behaviors you can pick up to make sure that your content marketing becomes a more honed marketing machine that gets people clicking through to your product and converting visitors into buyers.
That sounds good? Letâs get on with it, shall we?
They look at the data
The first step to an effective marketing strategy is to make sure that youâve actually got data on which to make your decision. After all, one of the greatest advantages of the online marketplace is that information doesnât just go from you to your customers but the other ways as well. To not take advantage of that would be like deciding to run a race with a blindfold on. You donât know where youâre going and you donât know when youâll get there.
To get at the data youâve got to have some sort of data analysis software installed. You could use Google Analytics, for example, though thatâs only one of many.
If youâve got it installed, make sure you donât just look at the vanity numbers (e.g. how many visitors you get), either. Youâve got to make sure youâre aware of whatâs going on. That means tracking how well your posts do, what your landing pages are and from what pages people are bouncing.
In this way, youâll know what is going on, what kind of content your audience likes and what you really shouldnât produce any more of. That alone will make it far easier to adjust your strategy so that it becomes ever more effective.
Spread out the content production
A lot of bloggers leave content creation to their virtual assistants. Thatâs a mistake. Your assistants might be good at putting your product in the best light, but that doesnât mean they know the ins and outs of every aspect of your website.
Content marketing is all about finding insights that are new and original. Thatâs going to be far easier to do if youâve got a lot of different people involved. Your assistants can come up with insights and ideas for your content marketing campaign that will make your strategy far more effective. However, you should have the final word on content creation.
Give them their due
Even better, let other people offer content suggestions.Â
These could include other bloggers that ask questions in your comment section. Â You might vary your formatting by having a Q & A post. You could answer bloggersâ questions in subsequent posts. Make sure you link to all bloggers who help you with content ideas.
They will appreciate the gesture. Links improve SEO. Who knows, they may retweet your article and your exposure to new readers will grow!
Ideally, you are reading blogs of influencers in your niche. If you link to them, let them know. If they share on their social media, your exposure to potential customers could grow by tens of thousands!
And that will make it far easier to content market your product.
Focus on quality over quantity
You donât actually have to post that much content for your content marketing strategy to be effective. Of course, you want to publish at least something a week, otherwise, you might find your audience drifting away, but you certainly donât need to put something out there every day.
Instead, focus on making your content as good as it can be. After all, itâs going to be out there for a long time and can potentially still influence people six months or a year down the line â particularly if itâs evergreen.
So, make sure that your writing about things that are interesting and make sure that youâre writing about it in the most interesting way you can. For example, read up on what the best writing practices are, follow a writing workshop, and in other ways make the best of your content production.
Remarket and repackage
If youâve got a piece of content thatâs doing especially well, donât just sit there and go âoh, thatâs niceâ. Instead, give it an extra push. When you find that content is getting a lot of attention, spend some money on getting it in front of more people.
And donât just do that today, but in a month from now, hit that same piece of content again, as unless itâs a time sensitive piece, people will no doubt still be interested at that time as well.
Donât just stop there, either. Instead, when youâve got something thatâs really working, consider repackaging it into different formats. Was it originally a blog post? Then turn it into an infographic. Did you do an interview on a podcast? Then turn it into a video.
In this way, as most people prefer to consume media in different forms, thereâs a good chance that youâll be able to reach different people with the same piece of content.
Remember that itâs about stories
We love stories. For that reason, make sure that your content marketing isnât just about facts, but about human interests as well. Talk about clients that are happy. Offer testimonials.
In this way, youâll draw people in by telling them things they really want to know and youâll keep them interested by creating a connection between yourself and them.
Create editorial guidelines
If youâve got a lot of people involved in your content creation like guest authors, then youâre going to need editorial guidelines. The reason you need these is to create cohesion. In this way, people will know your central message that youâre all working towards, rather than individuals who canât agree on anything, including the style of your publications.
Editorial guidelines help in another way and that is to make it easier for you to take the content that youâre given by your guest author and fit it to your website. In this way, rather than needing to spend hours editing every post so that it fits your style, youâll be able to get on with other things like planning next weekâs content.
Last words
It takes time, patience and persistence to get a new habit learned. For that reason, donât try to do everything on this list. Instead, take the habit that you think would be the most effective for you and your website and internalize that first. Only when it has become automatic, should you move on to the next one.
In this way, you wonât be overwhelmed by trying to do too many new things. Youâll make it far more likely that you acquire one or two new habits instead of trying your hand at all of these and ending up with none of them.
Readers, please share, so other content creators know about these tips for monetization.
Guest author Eliza ended the article by suggesting you try one tip at a time. Have you tried any of them yet? Which tip would you recommend to people wanting to market their content?
I look forward to your views in the comment section.
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