The old maxim of ‘Content is king’ has probably never been truer than it is now. The Internet, once seen as the cynosure of every marketer’s eyes, has rapidly snowballed into what can be termed a ‘mess’ in colloquial terms. There are more sites, better services, bigger companies and a lot more sellers all hogging for eyeballs. Granted, there have never been so many readers online earlier as there are now.
However, with diminishing attention spans and more options to choose from, even established websites feel threatened. That is an indication that they lack a proper digital marketing plan.
That is where content enters the picture. Good content is the basic recipe for great content marketing. When done right, good content can drive a lot of organic traffic to your website. It is a slippery slope, however, for bad content can ruin your website’s reputation, rankings and recall value.
To ensure better digital marketing, a proper strategy has to be chalked out, if necessary from scratch. Without much ado, here are 5 ways you can work wonders with content.
- Position yourself carefully: To stand out in the crowd, you must first understand the composition of the crowd. What do your competitors provide? How do they provide it? What is it that they have which your service lacks, if anything? Most importantly, do they have a better brand strategy?
When it comes to strategizing, the old aphorism of ‘beg, borrow or steal’ does not stand, however. You have to create your own space. To do that, you need to hit the ‘sweet spot’ that fabled delta where the three tributaries – company offerings, customer needs and marketing dynamics meet. Think of it as a Venn diagram: the sweet spot is where the triad meets. Enthuse your readers with fresh content regularly. Never focus on the same topic or subject in a short period.
You also need to position yourself as a trustworthy and reliable brand, one that resonates with the customers’ needs. To do that, seek your own unique identity and establish that as the nucleus of your content. Ideally, some elementary research on your competitors will elicit their USPs, and you can tweak yours’ accordingly. Your content must focus on positioning your brand as the one that stands out from the maddening crowd.
Also, to ensure your content has recall value, ensure it is free from grammatical or spelling errors. Syntax is a valuable weapon to have in your arsenal. When you post error-free content regularly, your readers know you pay attention to details.
- Ask questions regularly: The tastes of the audience are dynamic. Does your reader demand the same thing he or she did 2 years ago? Probably no; they need fresh content, served with efficacy and flair now.
That is where your content strategy must incorporate the Call to Action or CTA tone. It usually comes at the end of an article or any content you post. When you give your audience a voice, they respond with equanimity. It has worked wonders for many established brands. In 2015, Twitter users trended the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance that seemingly chided the lopsided gender portrayal of the WWE, or World Wrestling Entertainment. It was a public outpouring of popular sentiment over a sensitive issue.
And it all started when WWE itself gave a CTA to its loyalists looking for suggestions and tips to improve.
In the end, Vince McMahon, WWE boss, and the other top brass members took cognisance of the trend and brought in more female wrestlers. The term ‘diva’ was scrapped; instead, the unisex term ‘performers’ was bought in.
The result? WWE’s ratings improved, and so did their bottom-line. The takeaway is a simple one: listening to your consumers is of grave importance in your business strategy.
- Use engaging content: Content is more than a series of words. It combines infographics, case studies, blog polls, FAQ and AMA sessions, photos, guides, Q&As, webinars and a lot more. Only when you master the entire spectrum of these factors do you eventually scratch the surface of digital marketing.
Your content should appeal to your readers. It must make them feel empowered and featured. Moreover, it should also reflect your working strategy in a way where you do not showcase all your cards at once; you always keep an ace up your sleeve. To engage more readers, you need to keep a careful eye on which posts are read most widely. Accordingly, frame your content strategy.
Also, noteworthy is the fact that you must reduce your site’s bounce rate, an SEO term which reflects how long a user stays on your website before jumping ship. Keeping all these metrics at your fingertips is necessary.
- Invest more in digital marketing: Content marketing is just one aspect of your overall marketing plan. An example will suffice here: if you own a healthcare website that provides news and updates on medicines and general health, you have to invest to retain greater patient engagement. Studies show how most people look for updated and current information.
To create a working digital marketing strategy, you must pay attention to all manners of updates in your field; healthcare and medicine in this case. Never inundate the reader with out-dated information and articles, and overuse of jargon is a strict no-no. To that end, use fresh content regularly with the most trending topics. Try and connect with your audience on a B2B level as well as on a personal level. It is tough, but not impossible. Once you optimise your site for more mobile-friendly usage, your readers will keep coming back. The takeaway: keep things simple but customer-centric!
- Weave a yarn: Post content that tells a story. Make your readers feel wanted, and always give them extra. Spin a tale to attract and retain their attention. Your brand strategy should focus on keeping your readers hooked till the last sentence, reading along till they finally yield to your argument and nod their heads in agreement.
It does not mean that you need to post literary masterpieces, of course. Research, polished language, a gift of the gab, a grasp of modern lingo and a firm pen are all it takes. It has always been that way. For example, Coca Cola which, cynics say, basically sells sweet and fizzy water, has been in existence for so many years now without once getting stale.
How do they manage it? Their brand strategy is reinvention. If you go through Coca Cola’s numerous advertising campaigns over the years, you will see how they have evolved and managed to remain ‘cool’ and in vogue.
A stylistic upper hand always helps in creating marketable content. To further your digital marketing strategy, you can always choose a professional content writing agency.
All of these might seem a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get off the blocks, you will see, it gets easier with time. Practice is a great teacher and patience a great friend. Unleash your creativity in your content marketing strategy. Then, watch your fruits of labour sprout.