A business is good as long as it has its customers, and without the implementation of effective marketing strategies, the existence of one unimaginable in the present times. The changing consumer behaviour, market saturation level, and lower data rates have fuelled the need to have a powerful marketing tool, such as content marketing, up your sleeve to keep engaging the consumers at all costs with your brand and product/service.
A recent study by Aberdeen revealed that the conversion rates are nearly 6x higher for brands that adopt content marketing than those who do not. (Reported by Neil Patel)
To be able to leverage the content marketing strategy, the brand must venture into finding the answers to the following questions-
- Who is my target audience? Where can I best find them?
- How should I interact with them?
- What should I say? How should I say it?
Content marketing is arguably the only tool that does not contain an overt sales message and is simply informative, engaging, and targeted. However, where to begin is the question. From Infographics to Blogs, from Videos to Case Studies or White Papers, from Social Media to Influencer marketing, everything is about content marketing, and the brand must tap into the types that best suit their needs and help explain and market the product more effectively.
Here are 6 tips to help you get started in creating a content marketing strategy:
- Segment Audience to improve User Engagement: Every piece of content produced for a brand will not necessarily generate a lead, as not every reader is a buyer, and usually, every potential buyer is at a different phase of the buying cycle. So, the content curated to create awareness about your product/service will go waste on a loyal customer, whereas the same will convert a random visitor. Hence, the brands must develop a content strategy that speaks to each segment of the target audience differently to draw effective returns.
- Give your audience what they are looking for: Getting to know your audience is very crucial to offer them what they want. As you learn about your TG, employ in-depth keyword research, and discover what your ideal customers are looking for to create successful, engaging, and overall great content. Generate content that speaks with them, is sharable, and answers any query that they may have with the changing environment.
- Use Emotional Keywords to Curate Headlines: The best way to attract readers is by creating magnetic headlines, and to do that, the brand must target emotional keywords. Doing so will not only enhance the readability but will also inspire the reader to share it across their communication channels – social media and beyond. Potential or loyal customers will convert to clicks, visits, or sales if they find content that triggers their thinking process, offers answers to immediacy or mirrors what they deeply desire.
- Leverage Your Content and draw maximum Mileage: A majority of blogs posted by a brand do not see more than bare minimum visitors. So, how can a brand get more referral traffic to their blogs and leverage the content? Sure, inbound marketing works, but the brand needs to expand its horizon and diversify their efforts. How? The brand needs to be everywhere their audience is – Slideshare, YouTube, HubSpot, Medium, everywhere. A brand can take old pieces of content and put them to new use by effectively repurposing their content to meet the current needs.
- Be Ready to Change with the Latest Trends: Today, to survive or thrive, a brand must be willing to evolve and adapt to the latest developments in their industry. Like a business model or a product has to evolve to keep up with the changing customer needs, content marketing is no different. Content marketing is all about being topical and creating something that is catchy or never seen before. So, the key is to be flexible and adjust continually.
- Curate Content based on Your Core Values: A brand’s personal choices and core values give a direction to an individual’s behaviour and choices. It establishes credibility and also gives potential customers to look forward to. Content that originates with the idea of benefitting your target audience will eventually have an extensive reach, and so sticking to your brand values will help you create the best content possible.
Conclusion:
Having a strong content marketing strategy has the potential to actively reach potential customers, answer their questions, and convert them into leads, and provide you with much more than just the bare minimum. The demand for content is enormous, and according to a study by HubSpot in 2020, 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing.
So, if the brands are looking to tap their potential customers effectively, they must follow every tactic in the book and strategize a content marketing plan that caters to their target audiences’ needs.
Authored Article By Divanshi Gupta, Director, The Marcom Avenue
