Content marketing can make your brand top-of-mind, but only if it is done correctly. Remember, you are competing against a multitude of information which is probably saying the same things. Information, however, can be presented differently. The key is to make yours the most interesting choice there is.
In this article, you’ll discover 8 things to consider for effective content marketing:
1. Cut to the chase.
Those who read or watch anything online don’t have a lot of time. The faster you are at making your point, the more effective your content is. Can you say something unique and useful in 500 words? That’s great, but someone who can present the hook in 200 to 300 words is doing a better job. Don’t be long-winded.
Making a video? Challenge yourself. Compress the whole presentation in three minutes or less without sacrificing quality. Brevity is always good practice.
2. Be unique.
If you aim for attention-grabbing content, you better be. You don’t actually need original ideas. Some might even go as far as to say that no such thing exists. Every idea has been said a thousand times over. But is your delivery unique? Will it grab the readers by the collar and say: listen to me! Look at me!
We’re not saying you should be loud. We’re just saying it’s not enough to just say something these days. You need to perform. If you want to learn more about this, sign up for our sister company MoxieDot’s newsletter to get a free Impact Blueprint guide that can help you with this.
3. Define your voice.
The “voice” is something that is very important to any written work. It is what transforms a simple text into an actual message. It is the soul of the structure. It is your thoughts, yourself, your opinion and how you present it coming through what you write. Good content has a strong voice, so alive that the readers can imagine an actual person speaking to them.
Memorable content is mostly delivered by a strong and effective voice. It just makes absorbing information easier. If you have ever had a really good speaker as a professor, then you would know how a good voice affects content.
4. Appeal to the senses.
Never forget that no matter what type of content you are making, the space you are working on is always highly visual. When writing blog content, be careful not to commit typographical errors as these are off-putting. Play around with white spaces, type fonts and sizes to make reading a more pleasurable experience. Appeal to the senses and the imagination whenever you can.
Do you have space for images? Choose them well. Make sure they are attractive. Do not be afraid to be descriptive if you have a knack for it. If you don’t, use visual aids. Go for mixed media content. Combine videos and short articles to better communicate. Remember, in Content marketing, you are not just there to educate your readers. You are also there to entertain.
5. Be accessible.
Take a complex idea and simplify it in a creative way. Voila! You have good content. Your idea might not be original in content marketing but people always appreciate a good teacher. Good teachers make even the hardest of ideas seem so easy to understand. You don’t need a long article for these types of content. We find that the best educational channels are actually visual content.
Take the time to design an appealing diagram. Make a short video to demonstrate your point. Are you good in math? Give “magic” shortcuts. Good at cooking? An edited one-minute cooking demo with a lot of colors will be watched by plenty of people and even shared on social media. As a bait, offer the complete recipe on your blog and watch the numbers grow as you monitor your organic traffic
You’ve heard it before – without an effective content marketing strategy, your business will find it hard to reach out to your ideal audience. If you don’t provide content that informs, educates, or entertains then you might just be losing the race.
6. Have a funnel structure.
Content marketing recognizes that to effectively communicate with your audience, you need to understand exactly where they are in your business structure first. This structure is similar to a funnel in the mouth of a bottle.
Stage 1: Discovery
This is the largest opening of the funnel but it is also the farthest from the mouth of your bottle. This means you should be giving content valuable to your audience without any sales pitch, as this will turn them off.
Stage 2: Immersion
Here, the funnel gets narrower so your audience decreases in number. However, you also manage to filter passive visitors from likely clients. You continue to hook them with your content with only subtle suggestions of buying into the type of product you are selling.
Stage 3: The Sale
This is the narrowest point of your funnel but it is also the point where you have most likely succeeded in attracting likely customers. Now it’s time to make that sale. Make them decide to buy your product with powerful descriptions and attractive graphics for promos.
Stage 4: Retention
At this stage, your audience is already considered your client. The trick is to keep on producing content that would make your client purchase again.
7. Don’t forget about the soft sell.
Whenever you are at a loss about what type of content to publish, just remember that content marketing has to be slyer than traditional advertising. A lot goes into making a strong hook – or several strong hooks. What you are pining for is the attention of the clients. Once you have their attention, you need to gain their trust. For content marketing newbies, it might look like a long and painful road to finally making an actual sale. We won’t lie. Sometimes it is.
However, unlike hard selling traditional ads, valuable content tends to last for years. It continues to attract your potential audience who, later on, could be clients. Generally, it is more cost effective. A bad advertisement can be a nuisance, driving potential clients away. Valuable content, on the other hand, creates a culture wherein your brand reigns supreme.
8. It’s not about you.
Content does not have to be just about blogging. It encompasses a lot of things: from shared images or visual narratives on social media to Youtube videos showing product reviews or demos.
Here’s a hard & fast rule: Whatever medium you may choose, content marketing newbies must remember one thing: it cannot be about you. You need to think about your audience and give them what they want. You need to provide high-quality information if you want to gain their trust.
Could you pitch your product? That depends on where in the funnel your audience is. But if you must make a pitch, do so subtly, and only occasionally. Never pitch too soon.
Need help with your content marketing campaigns? Book a discovery call with us to discuss your requirements.