Content Marketing is becoming a bit of a buzz word and for good reason too. Content is king. If you want your website to be seen and visited frequently, you better jump on board. I’ve listed a few tips on where to start with content marketing.
Pick your destination
The first step in content marketing is to look at your business goals that are linked to your website objectives and other online channels. If you have a marketing plan, this is a great place to start. You can use it to write what you want to say to your audience, form a strategy and then follow that plan. It’s important to have goals because a scattered approach is a waste of time – you need to know whom you are speaking to, when you are speaking to them and plan your time to speak to them effectively.
Know who you’re talking to
Firstly you want to find out where your audience ‘hangs out’ online. Are they on forums, online communities, blogs or other websites that link to your industry? Reading blog posts, comments and social media chatter will be a good indication of what your audience wants to read about and how they speak online. It’s important that your content isn’t a one-way stream, it’s all about participating in the conversation. Social media facilitates two way communication, use it! Take the time to ‘listen’ to what your customers and competitors are saying and use that information to develop your own messages.
Find out what to write
Search keywords, new content and being aware of industry trends will help people discover your content. Learn how to use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) on your website and other online content so that you’re getting the best ranking that you can in search results. Optimizing your online content will make it more likely that your content will be discovered and read. Utilise the many free tools that help you manage and schedule Tweets, Facebook posts and other social media status updates. Most social media management tools will link to your blog, which is to be the main driver of search engine rankings by writing keyword rich content. Another way to promote your content is to find other websites or people who might find your content interesting and share it with them.
Tell your stories
When you start gathering loyal followers, it’s important to keep active online and post regularly. Most of us can’t wait to see what’s new in the world of our favourite brands and we come to expect a regular update. You will retain more loyal readers with regular weekly/monthly articles than spoiling them with daily posts for a first week and then disappointing them with a few weeks of nothing.
Measure what you’ve done
Tracking and analytics should be part of your plan. Social media insights and web statistics help your business redirect its campaign when certain elements aren’t working. It also gives you insights into what IS working so that you can do more of what works.
Google Analytics can help provide insight on customers and audience search habits, the way they use your sites, where they come from, whether your advertising is working. It works on both PCs, Macs and mobile devices. Hootsuite and Sprout Social provide social media analytics with customised reporting functionalities.
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