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Content marketing is one of the most effective strategies for your business to reach your target audience and grow your business. But coming up with the ideas behind that content can be a challenge for any brand.
The tips in this blog are written to make this process easier and to help you improve the effectiveness of your content strategy.
These tips are broken down into 6 subcategories to cover the different types of content that you should have in your content marketing strategy.
These 6 subcategories cover content marketing tips for Social Media, Blogs, Websites, Videos, YouTube and SEO. So let’s dive in!
Social Media Content
Experiment with different types of posts
It is easy to fall into a rut with social media, posting the same types of content week-to-week is far easier to do than coming up with new and different ideas.
But in order to grow your social media presence and build an engaged and loyal audience, then you have to try something new.
That can be trying a new format like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts or experimenting with new content styles like fun facts about your industry, “This or That” posts and many more.
Post like a person
Too often social media for businesses turns into self-promotion on steroids. Of course, promoting one’s products or services is essential and social media is a great place to do it.
However, to grow online and truly connect with individuals on social media, brands need to start acting less like a company sharing another commercial and more like a person posting to social media to share a slice of their life.
This can mean occasionally dropping the brand guidelines or making a piece of social media content that is outside your typical posts purely for the fun of it…as people tend to do.
Take advantage of trending topics
Every day there are new things trending. Obviously, you can’t predict every one of these trending topics before they happen but there are ways to predict what will be trending on certain days, weeks or months.
Of course, Christmas-related topics will be trending in December and Halloween-related ones in October.
But on a more specific level things like movie premieres, IPOs, sporting events and more all have the date they will be premiering/launching/playing set months in advance.
These types of topics regularly become trending topics on the day they launch which gives you the opportunity to plan social media content around it.
That can be as simple as a tweet celebrating the win of your local sports or your reaction to the newest Hollywood blockbuster.
Post frequently, engage even more
Many business owners know that posting regularly to their social media accounts is important for brand development and engagement.
However, so many brands put social media on autopilot then wonder why they don’t see more results. When brands only post but never engage their followers they forget about the social part of social media.
Building an engaged following is as much about engaging with your audience on social media as it is about what you post.
Engaging with your audience means more than just replying to their comments, it means proactively interacting with them such as answering questions in the comments of trending posts, sending personalized DMs or sharing posts of accounts that don’t follow you.
Don’t overuse hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to find new content, connect with people and expand your reach on social media. But, too many brands overuse hashtags when they post updates to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
When too many hashtags are used, it can get annoying for followers to see. It also becomes very difficult for people to scan the updates quickly.
So, in order to make sure that your followers aren’t annoyed by your hashtag spamming, try limiting yourself to no more than two hashtags per update.
Try not to use more than two hashtags in one post and don’t use more than three per day. Using too many hashtags looks spammy, and that’s exactly what you don’t want.
Think of your posts as Show and Tell
Show something interesting, and tell the class about it…or in this case, your social media following.
This idea of thinking of your posts as show and tell is to get you in the mindset of focusing on impressing your audience with what you brought to show and tell(your social media posts) instead of thinking of social media solely as a way to promote your brand.
Blog Content
Become the go-to resource/expert for your niche
One of the best ways to grow online traffic is to become the go-to resource or expert for your niche.
If you’re the first brand that people think of when they need help with a specific(niche) problem, you’re going to be the one they turn to. And it all starts with having a great resource on your site.
Your resource should include an FAQ that addresses common questions, along with a list of topics that people need answers for.
It’s also helpful to have a list of tools and resources for your readers to use, as well as a list of recommended books that will help them in the problems they need to be solved.
Next, you will want to create content focused on your target audience and the problems they face.
Build up your brand by connecting with influencers in your field, being active on social media, collaborating with other social media accounts, and getting interviewed or appearing on podcasts.
Remember Quality over Quantity
It can be very easy to get caught up in putting out lots of content as quickly as possible.
But when you start to publish posts without much thought to the quality of the content or whether or not it’s even adding value to your audiences’ lives, that effort can be wasted.
When you focus on producing quality content, it not only adds value to your audiences’ lives but also gives them a reason to come back to your site in the future.
This type of activity is also what Google values most in search rankings.
Use More Related Keywords in Blog Posts
The standard best practice of including your keyword in your title, URL, alt-text images and meta descriptions is important to basic SEO.
But you should also be optimizing your blog content itself to use more related keywords in the wording of your blog.
This helps reduce the chance of being flagged by Google for keyword stuffing and also broadens the search terms your blog can rank for.
A basic example of this would be if your main keyword is “how to bake bread” then some related keywords to include in the blog content would be “bread recipe” or “DIY bread making”.
This also presents an opportunity to use keywords you were considering as the main keyword throughout your blog as well.
Website Content
Optimize for the Right Keywords
Obviously, optimizing your website content for the best keywords is essential but I’m also talking about optimizing for the right keywords, meaning the keywords that actually speak to the solutions your customers are searching for.
It’s not enough to just add the basic top searched keywords in your niche to your website, you must also add long-tail keywords that answer specific questions or problems your customers are facing.
I had a boss once put it like this, “If a person is searching for “Free Beer” and a website advises “free beer” but doesn’t actually offer free beer then no amount of ad spend or killer copy will ever convert that person”.
Use visuals to your advantage
From images to diagrams, motion graphics to videos there are countless ways to use visuals on your website to enhance the visitor experience and communicate the benefits and features of your brand’s product or service.
A picture speaks 1000 words so use visuals to add more information to your site without adding a huge block of text.
Use visuals to help your customers imagine how your solutions will work for them.
Format for easy navigation & readability
Help your website visitors find what they are looking for as quickly as possible.
Setup your website content using subheadings, bullet points, lists, bold or highlighted text and other formatting styles to help break up and organize web page content.
Strategically use website content to direct visitors to the information or solution they are looking for.
No extra fluff, make it as easy as possible for them to find what they’re looking for.
Empower CTAs with social proof
We all know the power of the right call to action but CTAs with social proof have even more power to convert visitors into leads or customers.
Social proof can be any form of evidence that shows the results of an action taken by customers.
Such as customer testimonials or reviews, number of products sold or anything that demonstrates the value behind the CTAs for your product or service.
Properly using social proof in your call to action is essential to increasing conversions and hence sales.
Video Content
Don’t just share facts, tell a story
Plan your video as a story first then incorporate the facts that support the story.
By telling a story instead of simply sharing facts, viewers become more engaged in your video content and thus spend more time consuming it.
Start by outlining the video’s beginning, middle and end to help you determine the flow and structure of the story.
Write your script with the mindset of giving your viewers an experience that engages them, captures their attention and provides only the most relevant information.
Be educational and entertaining
Of course, this is obvious and easier said than done. However, it is possible with a little creativity and outside of the box thinking.
The first step is learning what entertains your target audience.
Do they prefer Top 10 Lists videos or Tips & Advice vlogs?
Do they like a person on screen or narration or prefer text only?
These are the types of questions to ask yourself before planning your video to ensure you create a video your audience will want to watch and engage with.
Not all audiences enjoy the same thing, so your video content has to be created around your specific target audience.
Format and design videos for individual platforms
Every platform is different and you must treat the video content you upload to each platform as such to match not only their formatting specifications but also to match the type of audience on that platform.
Every platform has different audiences who engage with the video content on the platform differently.
A Facebook video viewer is different than a YouTube video viewer, so create your videos for the platform they will live on and the audience that will watch them.
YouTube Content
Use repeatable video formats (lists, how-to, etc.)
Creating unique and attention grabbing videos for YouTube can be a challenge and doing it on an ongoing and consistent basis is even more challenging.
Which is why when you discover a video format that engages your audience and is easily repeatable you should stick with it.
Not to say you shouldn’t continue to experiment but having a go-to video format that you can easily inject any topic or keyword relating to your business into makes staying consistent and maintaining your production calendar easier.
It also makes its easier to engage your audience in the future because they know what to expect from your video content.
Plan YouTube titles and descriptions around target keyword first
Look another tip about using keywords! It may seem repetitive but the importance of planning your content around a specific keyword can not be expressed enough. And YouTube video titles and descriptions are no exception.
When you start by planning your video around a specific keyword your chances of connecting with your audience increase as well as your chances of ranking in search for a given keyword.
This increases your video’s visibility to not only your existing audience but potential viewers who haven’t discovered your brand yet.
Collaborate with experts in your industry
Another tip that’s easier said than done. However the benefits of collaborating with experts in your industry outweigh brushing it off as impossible.
Not only does collaborating help increase your reach but it also can add authority to your brand with the association to those experts.
Make sure any experts you approach are a good fit for your brand and that you offer them value for collaborating together.
This can be as simple as offering to create a video for them or promoting a project of theirs on your brand’s social media (only if it’s the right fit of course).
SEO Content
Use phrase match/related keywords within the content
During keyword research, there’s always related keywords you come against that seem like they might fit but another option just beats them out.
Those related keywords are great additions to your content because they help you avoid overusing your main keyword while also expanding the search terms your piece of content can rank for.
This technique can border on keyword stuffing if done incorrectly, so be sure to only use related keywords that not only make sense but aren’t too close to the main keyword (EX. car dealerships and car dealers).
Create content for people but use SEO for machines
When creating a piece of content, your hope is its going to organically reach your target audiences.
Which is why we use SEO but when creating you have to remember that it’s real people who are your target audiences not only search algorithms.
Create the content with the purpose of engaging and providing value to your target audience than optimize it for search with your usual SEO checklist.
This shift in mindset from content for people instead for just machines will help you to authentically connect and engage more of your target audience through your content.
Experiment with high competition keywords on occasion
Common advise when attempting to rank for search is to target low competition keywords. This makes it easier for your content to get discovered.
However, on occasion it is beneficial to try targeting high competition keywords because similar to a lottery ticket, your odds are against you but the payout is worth the minimal investment.
The same goes for targeting high competition keywords, you’ll likely not outrank the top performers for that keyword but there’s always a chance you could and ripe the the extension benefits with doing so.
For the best results, you should implement one of these tips with each new piece of content you create. Slowly adopt these tips to get a full understanding of the benefits to your content marketing and your overall business.
If you’re looking for more marketing tips or need help creating an effective content marketing strategy, contact me at ScottCarterMarketing@gmail.com and I’d be happy to help!
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