Much like many other skills, content marketing is made out to be far simpler in online guides than it often is in practice. There are some basic rules of content marketing that we may understand, but in reality the practice of content marketing is prone to many mistakes.
There are many tips and tricks designed to help us master content marketing, and yet each of us continues to make mistakes that could be easily avoided.
If these mistakes were to be fixed, we as entrepreneurs could vastly improve the performance of our content marketing strategies, and luckily most of our misunderstandings can be fixed with just a few tweaks in how we create and market our content.
It’s important to remember the point behind content marketing. Think about the feelings you are trying to instill in your customer when they read the content you produce. In general, the idea is to establish your brand as the best choice in the mind of the customer. When your prospective customers read your content, they should walk away feeling like they’ve found a company and a brand they can trust to fill their needs.
This principle should be included in all content marketing strategies, however a surprising number of us lose sight of this very direct objective when we begin creating our content. In general, we make these mistakes in two ways: in the way the content is written, and the way the content is marketed.
It does not matter how well-marketed content is if it does not contain relevant information to the reader. The audience should be first and foremost in your mind when creating content for your marketing strategy, as writing to the wrong audience is a vital mistake. Once you’ve identified your target audience, there are a number of ways you can improve your content to more clearly establish your brand as the perfect choice in the mind of your readers:
- Create long-form content. The days of 400 word blog posts are over, as more and more statistics show an increasing popularity in long-form content among readers online. Instead, posts averaging between 1500-2000 words see the most readers.
- Create content that will matter over time. It’s okay to use new trends as a means of boosting your search rankings and traffic numbers, but the bulk of your content should remain relevant for at least a year after its been written. Many of your readers may find the content long after it was first published, making it crucial that you avoid writing solely about trends and news.
- Create a publishing schedule, and stick to it. Posting consistently continually proves to be the key behind establishing an audience. When readers notice that your website is uploaded regularly, they will immediately know that your business is current and ready to take orders.
- Focus on the reader. As mentioned above, focus on the interests of the reader. There are certain goals most of us wish to achieve with our content, however these goals should take a backseat to the reader’s interests. Write content that will not only establish referral traffic and leads, but that will resonate well with your reader.
Of course, content is only half the battle with content marketing. Well-written content means little when there’s no audience to read it, and establishing that audience can only be done with effective marketing. Prior to writing any content, it’s an absolute must that you establish a marketing strategy. Take the time to understand your reader, and to understand what they want out of your business and your product. Use this information to develop a marketing strategy, one that effective targets and intrigues the right audience.
There are some marketing tips you may want to keep in mind when outlining your content marketing strategy:
- Choose marketing platforms that provide engagement. Engaging with your customers is one of the most effective ways of earning their trust, as well as their next order. For example, post content on social media platforms, and take the time to reply to any questions or concerns left in the comments section. Creating a personal connection with your readers will show them you care, giving them incentive to work with your company instead of your competitors.
- Try new promotional methods. Branch out from your usual platforms in order to reach new audiences. Take advantage of some of the free and paid promotional tools available for content marketing, as these are a surefire way to increase your readership.
When developing your content marketing strategy, it’s important to understand your customer. Understand why they should buy from you, and what they expect from you. Take this information, and use it to create content that directly pertains to the interests of your readers. When your readers are interested in your content, they’ll be more likely to buy from your company rather than a competitor, and engaging content may be enough to convert them into a loyal and repeat customer.
