You are missing out if you are a marketer and not using content marketing to generate demand and leads. Content marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies there is.
According to a report by the Content Marketing Institute, 67% of marketers say that content marketing generates demand and leads.
And 71% of users said they viewed a blog post during their buying journey (Source: 2018 Content Preferences Survey Report). That is a lot of potential customers you could be reaching with your content.
On the flip side, there are currently more than 600 million blogs as of 2021, so there’s a lot of competition out there.
The only way out is to have great content. And marketers agree. 83% say it’s better to focus on quality rather than quantity of content, even if it means posting less often (Hubspot).
That’s why you need to create unique, quality content that stands out from the rest. But how do you do that?
Read on to find out how to create an effective content marketing strategy to attract and convert your readers into leads or customers.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
And the content we are talking about includes blog posts, pages, ebooks, infographics, videos, and more (we will cover each in a minute).
It is an ongoing process that helps you market your products or services in a way that’s both helpful to your customers and good for your business.
The Benefits of Content Marketing
Now that you know what content marketing entails, it’s time to look at the benefits it can have for your business.
a). Boost conversions
Content marketing can help you boost conversions by providing visitors with the information they need to purchase.
As you create helpful and engaging content, you can encourage prospects to take action on your website.
b). Enhance SEO efforts
For your website to rank highly in search engines, your content must be optimized with keywords. Content marketing can help you enhance your SEO efforts by providing high-quality, keyword-rich content.
c). Generate leads
You can generate leads for your business by creating helpful and informative content. And you can easily nurture these prospects with targeted content and convert them into customers.
d). Increase brand awareness
Content marketing is a great way to increase brand awareness for your business. Creating compelling and shareable content allows you to reach a wider audience and build trust with potential customers.
e). Show your audience how your products and services solve their challenges
With content marketing, you can show your audience how your products and services solve their challenges.
You can educate prospects about the benefits of using your business.
f). Build a community around your brand
By creating and sharing relevant content with your target audience, you can encourage them to engage with your brand and connect with other like-minded individuals. This can lead to loyalty and advocacy for your business, ultimately resulting in more customers and sales.
Read also: 7 Undeniable Benefits of Blogging for Business.
Different Types of Content Marketing
When you hear content marketing, most people immediately think you are talking about websites.
The truth is there are different types of content.
a). Blog Content Marketing
This is the most popular form of content marketing.
Most companies have a blog on their website where they share helpful articles, tips, and advice related to their industry or product.
This is a great way to attract new customers and build trust with existing ones.
b). Social Media Content Marketing
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram are all excellent ways to share content with your audience.
You can post links to your blog articles, share photos and videos, or even just create simple status updates.
c). Online Content Marketing
This includes anything that you post on the internet.
For example, if you write an article for another website or blog, this would be considered online content marketing.
d). Infographic Content Marketing
Infographic is one of the types of content marketing that helps to deliver complex information in an easy-to-understand visual format. It is a powerful way to engage your audience and communicate your message quickly and effectively.
They work well when trying to distill a lot of data into a small space or when you want to show relationships between different elements.
Infographics can be used for various purposes, such as:
- To explain a complex concept
- To compare and contrast two ideas
- To visualize data
- To tell a story
- To provide step-by-step instructions
- To highlight key takeaways from research or a report
e). Video Content Marketing
Video content is one of the most popular and effective types of content marketing. It allows you to connect with your audience on a personal level and share your message in a way that is easy to consume.
Video content can be used for various purposes, such as:
- To show how to use your product or service
- To give a behind-the-scenes look at your business
- To tell customer stories
- To provide expert tips or advice
- To announce a new product or service
- To generate leads
- To increase website traffic
f). Podcast Content Marketing.
By definition, a podcast is a series of recorded episodes that you can subscribe to and listen to at your convenience.
Podcasts are usually audio files, although some also include video content. They’re easy to consume while commuting, working out, or doing other activities.
You can incorporate podcast content into your strategy in several ways:
- Produce your own podcast series. This involves developing a concept, finding guests (if you’re not going solo), recording and editing the episodes, and promoting them.
- Be a guest on someone else’s podcast. This can help you build relationships, reach new audiences, and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
- Sponsor a popular podcast. This is a form of paid advertising where you pay to have your brand mentioned at the beginning or end of an episode (or both).
How to Create Effective Content
If you are like most people, you probably skim blog posts most of the time. In fact, 73% of people admit to skimming, while only 27% consume them thoroughly.
So how can you make sure your content is effective and gets readers glued?
Define your audience: who are you writing for?
The first step to creating effective content is understanding who your audience is and what their needs are. This means taking the time to get to know your target market and understanding their pain points.
Only then can you create content that will resonate with them and offer them value.
To get started, sit down and create a profile of your ideal reader. What are their demographics? What are their interests? What problems do they need help solving?
Reliable ways to better understand your target audience
1. Conduct market research
One of the best ways to get to know your target audience is to conduct market research. This can be done through surveys, interviews, focus groups, and/or observing customer behavior.
2. Look at your existing customer base
If you already have customers, take a close look at them. Who are they? What do they do? What do they like and dislike? What do they need help with?
3. Check out your competition
See what kind of content your competition is creating. This can give you insight into what content resonates with your target audience.
4. Use social media
Social media is a great way to get to know your target audience. Use it to see what kind of content they’re sharing, what questions they’re asking, and what topics they’re interested in.
Creating content your audience will love
Once you understand your target audience well, it’s time to start creating content they’ll love. Here are a few tips:
Keep it relevant
Make sure your content is relevant to your target audience. This means writing about topics they’re interested in and will help them solve their problems.
Make it engaging
Your content should be engaging and interesting enough to attract your readers. Use strong headlines, storytelling, and/or humor to make your content more engaging.
Make it useful
Your content should be helpful and informative. It should provide value to your readers and help them solve their problems.
Make it shareable
Make sure your content is easy to share. Include share buttons on your blog posts and infographics, and encourage your readers to share your content with their friends and followers.
Developing interesting ideas: what will you write about?
If you want your content to be effective, you need to start with interesting ideas. But where do you get these ideas? And how do you know if they’re good enough to turn into an article or blog post?
Here are a few tips:
1. Keep a running list of ideas.
Keep a list of potential article ideas handy on your computer, in a notebook, or on your phone so you can add to it whenever something occurs. This could be something you read, hear about, or experience yourself.
2. Ask your audience what they want to know.
A great way to develop relevant and interesting ideas is simply asking your target audience what they want to know more about. You can do this through social media, surveys, or casual conversation.
3. See what’s popular in your industry.
Keep an eye on what’s popular in your industry or niche. This could be a topic, trend, or even just a type of content (such as infographics or videos). You can use this information to create similar content that will be popular with your audience.
4. Check out the competition.
See what kind of content your competition is creating. This can give you some ideas for your own content and help you avoid writing about the same things they are.
5. Look for gaps in your industry’s content.
Is there something your audience wants to know that isn’t being talked about enough? This could be a great opportunity to create content that fills this gap.
Have found that the best way to find content ideas is to look at the challenges and pains your target audience is having and then create content that solves those problems.
Structuring your content: how will you organize your thoughts?
If you want your content to be effective, you need to think about how you will organize your thoughts.
One way to do this is to create an outline before producing content. This will help you stay on track and make it easier for your audience to digest your ideas.
Also, have a consistent structure. You can do this by using a template. A template will help you keep your thoughts organized and make it easier for your readers to follow. It will also make it easier for you to produce content regularly.
For example, if you are creating blog posts, here is a simple outline you can use:
- Introduction: This is where you will introduce your topic and give an overview of what the reader can expect.
- Main body: This is where you will expand on your ideas and provide supporting evidence.
- Conclusion: This is where you will summarize your thoughts and leave the reader with something to think about.
Be sure to use subheadings to break up your content and make it easy to scan. Also, use images, infographics, and videos to break up your text and add visual interest.
The bottom line is that if you want your content to be effective, you need to think about how you will structure it.
Using an outline and template, you can ensure that your content is well-organized and easy to follow.
Writing with style: make your content readable and enjoyable
When you develop your own content voice, you make your writing more personal and relatable. This allows readers to connect with you deeper, making them more likely to keep reading.
Using a conversational tone makes your writing more enjoyable to read. It also helps you come across as more approachable and trustworthy.
Readers are likelier to stick with you if they feel they’re having a conversation with a friend rather than being lectured by an expert.
Besides that, here are other ways to make your content fun to read:
- Inject humor: A little humor can go a long way in making your content more enjoyable. Just be careful not to overdo it.
- Use strong verbs: Verbs are the action words in a sentence. Using strong, active verbs makes your writing more dynamic and exciting.
- Be concise: No one wants to read a wall of text. Make your point and move on.
- Use images: A picture is worth a thousand words. Adding an image or two can break up the monotony of a long article and make it more visually appealing.
- Make it about the reader: Write your content with the reader in mind. Address their pain points and offer solutions to their problems.
Your readers/viewers don’t just want to be bombarded with data and information. They want to have fun while learning.
Now, you can choose to ignore this, but remember, your competition is already doing it!
Editing and proofreading: ensuring quality
Editing and proofreading are important steps when creating content. Taking the time to edit and proofread your work helps produce content of the highest quality.
While at it, there are a few things to keep in mind when editing and proofreading your work.
First, pay attention to spelling and grammar mistakes. These can be easily fixed with a spell checker or by reading over your work carefully. Second, make sure that your sentences are clear and concise. If they are not, they may be confusing for readers. Finally, check for any typos or errors in punctuation.
Here are some tips I always adhere to:
- Read your work aloud. This will help you catch errors that you might otherwise miss.
- Use a spell checker. This can help you identify any spelling mistakes in your text.
- Get someone else to read your work. Another set of eyes can often spot errors that you’ve missed.
- Take your time. Don’t rush the editing and proofreading process – it’s important to take your time to produce quality content.
How to Distribute Your Content
If you’ve produced content, congratulations! The hard work isn’t over though; now you need to think about ways to get people to consume it.
Content distribution is key to getting your content seen by as many people as possible. Here are a few ways the pros use to get their content noticed online.
1. Social Media
This is an obvious one, but it’s worth mentioning. Posting your content on social media is a great way to get it in front of potential customers and clients.
Make sure to post your business content on all relevant social media platforms. For example, if you’re a B2B company, LinkedIn would be a great platform to share your content on.
2. Email Marketing
Another great way to get your content in front of people is to send it out in an email newsletter. If you have a database of email addresses, you can reach many people with your content this way.
Just be sure not to spam people with too many emails, or they’ll start to tune you out.
3. Paid Advertising
You can always try paid advertising if you want to reach a larger audience with your content. This can be done through Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, or other platforms.
Paid advertising can be expensive, so be sure to research and test it out on a small scale before investing a lot of money into it.
4. Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is a great way to get your content in front of a new audience. If you can write a guest post for a popular blog in your industry, you’ll be able to reach a whole new group of people.
Just be sure to only guest blog on reputable sites, or you could damage your reputation.
Read also: 10 Ways Blogging Can Hurt Your Business (And What You Can Do About It)
5. Content Syndication.
Content syndication is the process of republishing your content on other websites. This is a great way to get your content in front of a larger audience and build links to your own site.
Just be sure only to syndicate your best content, as lower-quality content could reflect poorly on your business.
Your content is useless if no one can read, listen to, or watch them! That’s why content distribution is an important part of any content marketing strategy.
By using the methods above, you can get your content seen by more people and generate more leads for your business.
Measuring the Success of Your Content Marketing Campaigns
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. This is especially true when it comes to your content marketing campaigns. By measuring your campaigns’ success, you can make changes and tweaks that will lead to even more successful campaigns in the future.
But how?
Here are a few ways to measure the success of your content marketing campaigns:
1. Set clear goals and objectives before you start.
This will give you a baseline to measure against. If you didn’t set any goals or objectives, how will you know if your campaign was successful?
2. Track your traffic and engagement metrics.
You can use Google Analytics or another analytics tool to track how much traffic your campaign is driving to your website or blog. You can also track engagement metrics like time on site, pages per visit, and bounce rate.
3. Look at your conversion rates.
Track how many people are converting if you’re driving traffic to a landing page or other conversion-focused page. This will give you a good idea of how effectively your campaign achieves its goals.
4. Ask your customers and prospects for feedback.
One of the best ways to measure the success of your content marketing campaigns is to simply ask your customers and prospects how they found your content and what they thought of it. This feedback can be invaluable in helping you improve your campaigns.
5. Conduct A/B tests.
If you’re unsure which element of your campaign is most effective, try conducting A/B tests. This involves changing one element of your campaign (like the headline or call to action) and seeing how it affects your results.
You can make sure that you are using your time and resources effectively by measuring the effectiveness of your content marketing campaigns.
From what you get, constantly strive to improve your campaigns, and you’ll be able to drive better results for your business.
Final Thoughts: The Power of Content Marketing
Content marketing is a powerful tool that can help businesses achieve their goals. By creating and distributing high-quality content, businesses can attract and engage customers.
Content marketing can lead to increased sales, brand awareness, and customer loyalty when done correctly.
To be successful with content marketing, businesses need to understand their audience and create content that appeals to them. They also need to ensure that their content is easy to find and share.
Additionally, businesses must be consistent with their content marketing efforts to see results.