While individual bloggers, and owners and managers of large blogs, are in the business of content creation, many aren't actually up to date on some of the best tactics that are needed these days to operate a blog as a successful business. As well, when it comes to marketing a blog, lots of people don't spend much time on this aspect of business, and/or don't know the right way to go about it.
No matter the niche you're in though, in this day and age proper content marketing is necessary if you really want to build your brand, attract more readers, get people coming back time and again, boost the number of referrals you receive, reduce your marketing spend, and increase revenue.
If you're keen to get the focus back on your business and its short-term and long-term growth over the coming months, you need to know how to do content marketing well. Read on for three key tips you should follow today.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons
Know Your Goals and Target Audience
First up, if you want to create content that is effective and achieves the results you really want, it is imperative that you know the goals you're actually aiming for, as well as the target audience you are creating the content for.
For example, when it comes to your business goals, you might want to generate more leads; connect emotionally with your customers; boost the number of referrals or repeat orders you receive from clients; or market a new product, service or brand to a new group of potential shoppers. Once you're clear about what you're after, this will help you to create content that works, and will ensure you don't waste time, money, or your energy on putting together campaigns which simply aren't suitable.
As for who it is that you're targeting, it is important to understand the ideal customer you have in mind for each piece of content. Knowing this information will enable you to best create the pieces according to the location, age, socio-economic status, interests, shopping preferences, lifestyles, and more of consumers.
It will also help you to know what kind of details to include in content, the best tone and style to use, where the best spots may be to put the content so that it reaches your target audience, and the ideal format to use.
Add Variety to Your Content
Next, keep in mind as you create content that variety works well. It pays to experiment with the different types of content you use, rather than always just opting for the same format. For example, you could create a mixture of written blogs, e-books, white papers, articles, and newsletters; put together infographics, videos, cartoons, images, and other graphics; post regularly on social media sites; run webinars, courses, workshops, and talks; and produce online and offline advertisements.
Furthermore, on top of working on different types of content, you should also look at varying the lengths of what you create. These days, lots of people are time-poor and therefore only want to check out short-form content, such as brief videos and blog posts, or short social media updates. These short-form pieces work well to generate interest and then funnel prospects and current customers through to the longer content you publish. They also help to boost engagement.
Always Provide Some Sort of Value
Lastly, before you ever post or publish a piece of content, you should stop and ensure that it provides value in some way to potential readers/listeners/watchers. If your content doesn't present value, people not only won't be interested enough to take a look or check out the whole thing, but also won't be keen to share your creations or to return for more content at a later date.
Everything you produce needs to be easy to understand; personable; and motivational, funny, inspiring, or educational. Try to find ways to make people feel something when they examine your content, so that it has an impact. You should avoid being overly technical or filling your content with "business speak," and steer clear of potentially offensive material too.
Your content also needs to be presented well if you want it to be effective. It should be professional, clear, and well branded and, when it comes to written pieces, be free of typos and other errors, and in a font that is easy to read.
Leave plenty of white space on a page too, so that text isn't overwhelming; and break written content up so that it is scannable for readers. Use short paragraphs, bullet points, subheadings, and graphics to make your blog more palatable.
