Winning Tactics for Content Marketing

Building a content marketing strategy is tough. It’s time-consuming, and if not implemented correctly, can ultimately not get you where you want to go - or possibly, anywhere at all! This article offers some content marketing tips you can use to make sure your online content is both consistent and impactful.

Document Your Strategy

According to CMI's research, companies that have a documented content strategy are much more likely to find success. Invest some time in creating a plan. After you’ve put together a plan, execute it!

Your documented strategy must include the following:

• Customer Personas - who are you speaking to?
• Content Goals - what are you trying to accomplish through content?
• Content Plan - what types of content will you create? How often will you publish? Where to publish?
• Who is responsible - make sure to designate who will write, edit, and be in charge of distributing and maintaining your content once it is created.

Speak to Pain Points

As you review your target customer personas, create a list of their “pain points.” These pain points can provide you valuable ideas for your online content. Pain points may include:

• The specific problems your product or service addresses
• Frequently asked customer questions or inquiries
• Common misunderstandings regarding the use of your product or service
• Breakdowns in communication between you and your client 

Distribution

One of the most important content marketing tips to research and absorb is the distribution and promotion of your content. It’s a waste of time creating a huge amount of well-thought-out and targeted content if no one will ever see it. Take these steps as you look for better ways to distribute your work:

• Research where influencers in your industry and your competitors are publishing their content. Check for active blogs, contributed articles in industry publications, and active posting in LinkedIn groups or industry forums.
• Check LinkedIn or community discussion forums to find out what most people are talking about. You might be able to get more ideas for your future content.
• Share your posts, articles, and e-books via social media. Your target customers are always looking for free and informative content. Use your social media channels to announce new or upcoming products, introduce a new blog post highlighting the benefits of using your service, or give away coupons or short how-to e-books that your customers will find valuable.

Reusing Your Best Content

Once you have a large bank of content, you might get a little weary of having to constantly “feed the beast.” A great way to beef up your content feed is to reuse or reframe content you have already created. Take these steps to safely reuse content throughout your distribution channels:

• Keep track of your best online content – the pieces that gain the most interactions or shares.
• Refresh the content – if it’s a listicle, update and present it every year, or target it to a new customer segment you want to reach.
• Brainstorm how to use old content in a different way – you may create a whitepaper or e-book from a well-read article, or utilize a popular guest post to create a SlideShare or quick how-to.

Content for Everyone

Making content relevant to multiple departments in your company is sometimes a lost facet of content marketing. The marketing team has a specific message to convey and goals to reach, which may be entirely different from what the sales or customer care team is trying to achieve. Your content marketing tactics and products should take into account the needs of all:

• Ask your sales team what content would be most useful to them in their interactions on the front line.
• Mine your customer service department’s interactions for pain points to speak to.
• Ask for insights from your executive team on their vision for the company, upcoming speaking events or presentations they’re excited about, or industry trends to watch out for.

Content Curation

Depending on your industry, there is probably a steady stream of content already being developed by influencers and industry publications. Supplement your content with compelling content being developed by others. Make curated content most impactful by abiding by some rules:

• Never claim it as your own in any way
• Include your opinion on the topic when posting
• Curated articles should be unique and relevant
• Make sure any commentary expressed in an article aligns with your branding
• Tag the original creator to forge potential relationship with an industry influencer

Creating content that converts is not easy. Though 88% of companies are actively creating content to meet business goals, just 32% of them would see their strategies as either mature or sophisticated. Following the tips above will set you on a path to understanding your content goals, and reaching them with intentional content development and curation.

At Bright Vessel, we have created a successful process for creating content marketing strategies that lead to better distribution and higher quality interactions. Contact us today to learn more about how an effective content can increase your company's conversion rates.