5 ways to make your content marketing harder, better, faster, stronger... - 2020 update
Our content marketing provision has been expanding for several years, and now, in 2020, our work is dedicated to helping clients (a) actually invest in content marketing and (b) make it work harder, better, faster, stronger…
We’re sharing our knowledge of how to make sure your content marketing goes from strength to strength, with 5 things to ask yourself or check you’re delivering.
Without further ado: 5 ways to make your content marketing work harder, better, faster and stronger so you can publish and promote with a plan and a purpose.
#1 Is your marketing strategy sitting in a Word doc, not getting done?
Content should have a purpose. That means no filler - only worthwhile, relevant 'stuff' your audience is interested in.
Research and identify your audience to figure out exactly what it is they want. Have you been struggling to turn casual 'likers' into spend-happy super fans? Nail down exactly who they are and you'll learn how to speak to them and seduce them.
Are you accidentally wasting time on the wrong social media platform? Figure out where your 'digital home' is online and own that space, whether it's Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or somewhere else.
#2 Missing all the fun and sizzly content your competitors seem to have?
Fresh, relevant and real content anchored by marketing strategy - this is how we do it!
Don't know how to make all the stuff you need? A one-off or regular production session at our studio can produce...
Video blogs to introduce a service, staff member, series of promotions...
Hero imagery / video to add value to your digital home
Staff interviews and Q&As to humanise your brand
Newsletters to put yourself right in front of your audience
Social media sizzle for weeks to months of fresh updates
We finish the session with oodles of new, relevant content to populate the strategy and bring your unique offering to your audience online - all in a day's work.
#3 Tell your audience about all the great stuff you do (and keep doing it!)
Three things that content marketing is all about...
Getting the content to your audience in a regular, sustained, all-throughout-the-month strategy.
Getting connected - making ‘friends’ with your audience and potential customers, to build your network online. People buy from people, after all!
Getting more bang for your buck, with well-thought-through and researched social advertising to reach out to potential new customers.
#4 What gets reported on gets done, but don’t just leave it there. Learn from it and do it better.
It ain't over 'til the Google Analytics come in...
At the end of the month, make a report on all your activity for the past 30 days. Look at what worked, and what didn't.
For marketing managers who need to turn results into easy, tangible reports to show the boss, tools like Moz will show how you're ranking in Google after a month of regular marketing.
#5 Proactive, reactive, radioactive - use results to make a new plan of attack
Use what you've learned to move forwards in a new direction
For all our clients, we remain flexible and adaptable - a bad few weeks doesn't have to last forever.
If something you've tried isn't working, there's no shame in turning things around and trying something new.
Change your strategy and mix up your marketing to stop your outputs going stale and your audience getting bored.
“The more you adapt, the more interesting you are.”
— MARTHA STEWART (FORMER CONVICT)
Listen to Martha. Now's the perfect time to plan your content marketing shake-up...
#6 Bonus point - Match marketing spend with digital spend, or at least put something behind your digital advertising
Organic reach is a dream we all long for, but the reality now is that you need to ‘buy your audience’ - especially true for Google, Facebook and Instagram.
So, if you are creating great content, pushing updates out on to social media, then make sure you are ‘boosting posts’ and paying for digital advertising to get your lovingly crafted content in front of the right audience. The best results we’ve ever seen from content is where something (a little video in this instance) has been created quickly on an iphone and then uploaded and boosted on facebook. Lots more views, lots more exposure, lots more reach … for as little as £20.
At the end of the day - you WANT people to see your great stuff. Failing to jump this final hurdle can leave your efforts feeling like you’re just trotting down the track.