Content marketing is all about getting out there, getting found and building a reputation for expertise in your field.
But simply churning out articles and blogs isn’t good enough. You have to concentrate on generating quality content if you want your hard work to pay off.
There are three elements that go together to help you excel at content marketing:
- Create content that sells you
- Content that is optimised for the search engines to increase its longevity
- Repurpose your content and spread the word
Many people don’t get the idea of content marketing—it’s hard work—I don’t have time for it—no one reads it anyway…
Think like that and you’ll never get anywhere. But think of content marketing as a dirty great big megaphone that ensures your message reaches the parts other marketing can’t reach and you begin to understand its potential.
If your readers see your content all over the internet they will believe your company is providing great content, your giving valuable information, you are a market leader which means they’ll be more inclined to pick you over and above your competitors.
Content generation means you’ll get found
So what is content?
We are not just talking about white papers and reports, your content can be in the form of articles, blogs, videos, FAQs, audio.
Offering a variety of styles will appeal to different audiences therefore ensuring your message will be heard loud and clear. Not everyone likes to read long reports, not everyone likes to watch video, not everyone likes to listen to audio but by offering all forms of media you will provide something for everyone.
How to make your content great
1. Don’t be over promotional
The first thing to remember when creating your content is for it not to be constantly promotional. Yes you are producing content to promote your company but it can be done in subtle ways.
By giving information to help your readers, you will be showing yourself as an expert that is open and approachable. That alone will promote you without you blatantly pushing your products and services.
2. Be relevant
For your information to resonate with your reader it has to be relevant to them. You have to understand what your reader wants and generate it for them.
3. Well-written
You may not be writing a novel but your content must till be written like a best-seller. It has to be engaging, it has to be in good English, grammatically correct—you can’t afford to put out information that is sloppy and not thought through.
4. Relevant to your company
As your readership begins to grow, you must ensure you produce content that is relevant to your marketplace and your company.
If you are a copywriter and suddenly start writing about shoes (OK daft example but you get my drift), you audience is going to be left wandering what on earth’s going on. So make sure you keep on subject.
For example on this blog I talk about copywriting, social media marketing, search engine optimisation, online marketing, off line marketing—basically all aspects of sales and marketing. So as you can see it doesn’t have to narrow, you can widen your scope of encompass all elements of your chosen field.
5. Promote it
If you’re going to write it, promote it—otherwise what’s the point?
Use all the tools available to you—social media, PR, search engine optimisation—make it stand out and get it in front of your audience.
So if you want to excel at content marketing, write regularly, write well, write relevant material and promote it.
