One of the biggest truths about any kind of marketing is that you have to see results. Content marketing results are not always easy to quantify; however, they are just as real as the results from any other marketing effort. And, there are ways to get even more out of your business' content strategy.
Here are seven content marketing tips to boost your bottom line and get the results you've been looking for:
Have a Plan Going In
Your internet marketing is your lifeline. So, have a plan going into it. A good content plan puts you in control and gives you a road map to your marketing goals. Be sure to include a variety of content vehicles in your plan. Videos, articles, blogs and social media are all excellent ways to use quality content that targets your market. Publish regularly and on a schedule for best results.
Peg your Audience
Ideally we would like our audience to be everyone; call it the Zuckerberg fantasy. Unfortunately this is neither realistic nor necesssarilty a good thing. Targeting your audience is a much better strategy. Once your audience is pegged, you'll be able to create content that speaks to them directly. Addressing the needs of these people will build your credibility with them and streamline your marketing efforts. Research your audience by age, location, gender, education and interests. Create a buyer persona to pinpoint your ideal customer.
Overall Strategy
You need to decide what your marketing strategy is going to be. When you’re dealing with online marketing it’s generally broken down three ways; long-form, short-form, and conversations.
Long form is blog postings, articles, and press releases. If you’re dealing with outside content writers for your long form pieces you should be as specific as possible. There is nothing worse than hiring someone to do something and them not giving you anything close to what you’re looking for because you weren’t clear with your direction.
Short-form includes Twitter posts, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the like.
Conversations include social media, chat rooms, forums and discussion boards. Here is an opportunity to have one-on-one interaction with your buyers.
Create a Calendar
You should have a calendar that dictates when you’re going to take certain actions and then you need to stick to this calendar. If you’re having regular interaction with your visitors, you want them to be able to count on you to post information regularly. Miss enough posts, and they will quickly lose interest.
Measure
Content marketing is a competitive business. In order to maximize your marketing efforts you should make sure you know the level response you’re getting from your online marketing. Google Analytics is a must-have for any online content marketing scheme. You should download and be very familiar with this free tool. It can bring you closer to your audience and get you the results you’ve been looking for.