Among the top challenges marketers face, creating cohesive journeys, innovating, and engaging customers in real-time are at the top. Over 60% of marketers also say lead generation is their number one challenge. Without a strong content marketing strategy, you could struggle as well.
Here are a few easy, effective content marketing strategies you can use to engage customers online. With these content ideas, you can generate website traffic, interest, and sales.
Start developing your content marketing plan with these tips today.
Personalization
Your customers don’t all have the same wants, needs, or concerns. Before developing your content, take the time to learn who your customers are and what they care about. Segment your broader target audience into smaller buyer personas based on:
- Age
- Gender
- Marital status
- Location
- Language
- Buying behaviors
- Education
- Hobbies
- Career
- Interests
- Pain points
- Online behaviors
Grouping your customers into smaller buyer personas will allow you to personalize your content. Personalization allows you to speak to your customers by empathizing with their needs. A broad approach, however, might make it difficult for you to emotionally connect with customers.
They might think you don’t care about them as individuals. Instead of trusting your brand, they’ll turn to your competitors.
Once you build smaller buyer personas, gather keyword research for each group. Keyword research indicates what terms they search for regarding your product, services, or industry. Use tools like SEMRush, Keyword Planner, Answer the Public, and Google Trends to build a keyword list.
Prioritize longer search queries or queries phrased as questions.
You can use your audience and keyword research when developing your SEO content.
Establish Goals
Before applying these content marketing tips, take a moment to outline your goals. For example:
- Generating website traffic
- Increasing brand awareness/recognition
- Building brand trust
- Gaining loyal customers
- Increasing form submissions/leads
- Generating email subscribers
- Increasing online sales
- Improving search engine rankings
Write out each goal as a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely. Set a key performance indicator (KPI) to track your progress over time.
Writing out your SMART goals will help you determine how you’ll become successful. For example, you can set a goal to generate 10% more website traffic a month with SEO content.
Audit Existing Content
During this research stage, analyze your historical content performance.
Consider which pieces of content generated the most traffic, engagement, or leads. Make a note of the format (blog post, eBooks, infographic, etc.). Consider the topic you covered in that post as well.
Make a list of your lowest-performing posts and determine how you can improve them.
Auditing your existing content can help you determine which tactics worked (and which didn’t). You can use this data to make more informed decisions in the future.
Audit your competition’s content, too. Reviewing their content can help you avoid their mistakes and learn from their successes.
Diversification
When developing your content, try diversifying with:
- Blog posts/articles
- Thought leadership posts
- Testimonials
- Polls
- Quizzes
- Infographics
- eBooks
- Videos
Diversifying your contents can help you appeal to consumers at different points in the buyer’s journey. It also helps you appeal to consumers with different preferences.
For example, one buyer persona might prefer to watch videos over reading blog posts.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization can help your website content rank higher for relevant searches. You can use your keyword research to create content your customers want to read.
Choose a keyword from your list before writing a blog post. Then, include the primary keyword in the:
- Page title
- URL
- Opening and closing paragraphs
- Body text
- An H1 header
- Image file name and alt text
- SEO title and meta description
Use similar, secondary keywords and synonyms to avoid keyword stuffing (which could get your content penalized).
Optimizing your images can help you appear for more image searches.
The SEO title and meta description will appear on search engine result pages. Make sure they’re engaging and relevant to the reader’s needs.
Guest Blogging
Consider guest blogging on other websites. Then, add a link to your website within the post. These backlinks can boost your search engine rankings.
They’ll also help you generate referral traffic.
Write guest blog posts for websites that already reach your target audience.
Develop a Calendar
Once you begin creating content, develop a content calendar. A visual calendar will help you produce content on a schedule. You can recognize where gaps might occur if you’re not creating enough content each month.
Plan where you intend to distribute each piece of content, too. For example, you can share your content on social media or through email marketing.
If you’re struggling to create content on time, consider help from a Freelancer in Digital Marketing Services. Requesting digital marketing services will save you time, money, and effort. They can help you develop an effective strategy to ensure you reach your target audience.
Review Analytics
Once you start posting your content, review the data twice a month. Reviewing analytics can help you learn from your content marketing plan over time.
Determine which posts are helping you accomplish your SMART goals. Consider why those posts are working. For example, maybe you’re targeting the right keywords or using post formats that appeal to your audience.
Continue adjusting your content marketing strategy over time to experience more growth.
Apply These Content Marketing Strategies Today
Don’t miss this opportunity to reach and engage customers. Instead, start using these simple content marketing strategies. Applying these content ideas will help you reach new customers online.
With each customer you reach, you have a new chance at a lead or sale.
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