Top 5 tips for content marketing

Jun 16, 2017

Content Marketing is the new buzzword which unlike most, is likely to stick around. The truth is we have all been doing this but in different ways. We have summarised some of our top tips to make sure your getting relevant content, to the right people at the right time.

  1. Discover

In a nutshell, do your homework:

  • Research competitor’s – Whether you’re launching a blog, website or email campaign; determine what information is already out there and how it’s presented. How can you distinguish yourself?
  • Adjust the ‘tone of voice’ based on the audience and type of content. If you’re providing quick tips for consumers, your tone of voice will be more conversational. If you are offering an in-depth, research-driven article for a B2B audience then your tone of voice should be reflect this and be professional.
  • Define the clear goals and message of your content. By failing to do so, you’ll have a difficult time building a solid readership. You also risk confusing the readers you do attract.
  1. Planning

Step 2 is all about planning

  • Determine responsibilities. Before deploying a content marketing plan, ensure that you’ve outlined who will be the keeper of the content. If you aren’t able to hire a dedicated resource, it’s essential to appoint someone to incorporate content maintenance into their current responsibilities. Content maintenance could also entail tasking each employee to contribute one piece of content per month.
  • Organise content. Is your content logically located on your site in a central place? Is it easy to search for a particular topic? If your readers have a difficult time navigating through your site to find useful content, they’re not likely to stick around for very long.
  1. BuildWith Steps 1 and 2 complete, you’re ready to start putting the wheels in motion:
  • Plan a style guide. Include as much information as possible regarding everything from tone and voice to target word count. Provide best practices for optimising content and write a checklist for doing so.
  • Create a copy deck. A copy deck is essentially a roadmap for your content pages, including text, graphics, advertising and links. It can be developed in stages, starting with writing a few paragraphs to describe the content.
  1. DeployWith the first 3 steps in place, a content marketing strategy is finally ready for deployment:
  • It’s crucial to have a plan in place to continuously update content. Out of date content will quickly turn readers away. Plus, a stagnant site won’t do you any favours when it comes to search engines.
  • Leverage analytics tools to gauge your KPIs, what worked best and what failed. Look for patterns in the most popular types of content—i.e. checklists, charts, case studies. You can analyse virtually any variable, from optimal article length to most popular type of headline.
  1. AdjustThe final step to creating an effective content marketing strategy is ongoing:
  • No content marketing strategy is perfect. Based on analytics reports, continuously tweak your content efforts to maximise results.

Good luck and get your content out there today!

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