Content marketing is used to get more traffic, generate leads, and make more sales – but the likelihood of converting casual browsers into paying customers is pretty low if you’re randomly posting content online.
To make your online marketing successful, you need a solid, well-researched strategy guiding you.
Your marketing efforts can only help your business if you know what you’re doing, when you’re doing it, and what you want to gain from it.
To create great, effective content marketing you’ll need to know what makes content marketing effective.
So, in this article, we’re going to show you how to implement the fundamentals of content marketing in six different ways to drive sales for your business.
Build strong relationships with your online visitors
Good content marketing is based on building a strong, positive relationship with your audience. It’s building trusting relationships with your ideal client type and nurturing them until they become loyal, paying clients.
The question is though, how do you build a strong, trusting relationship with your audience?
There are a few different aspects involved in building strong relationships with your customers via online content, but one of the most important is consistency.
Your content (whether that’s what you put on your website or what you post on your social media profiles) should have a consistent tone in everything you post.
Not only do you want a consistent tone, you also need a consistent schedule of updating your online content. There’s no point in posting three blogs in a year – at the very least, you want to aim for once a month. Your followers will soon learn your schedule and look forward to viewing your latest news and insights.
Create content that sells – but isn’t pushy
Having content aimed at selling isn’t a bad thing – it’s pretty much the ultimate goal, right?
Many companies are stuck putting their content into two categories: content that brings value and content that sells. They get this thought that having content that is valuable is good, but content that sells is bad or pushy.
The thing about good content that is well researched and planned out properly is both valuable and helps sell your products or services!
Effective content marketing is all about creating valuable content for your audience, showing them how your products or services can improve their lives.
The more you show your audience that you can help them achieve their goals, the more sales you’ll make – and the more effective your marketing strategy will be.
Turn your readers into brand advocates
How do you evaluate what good content is?
The easiest way is to ask yourself ‘If I was a reader, would I share this with a friend?’
The best way to improve your content marketing’s effectiveness is by creating content that succeeds in fulfilling your readers’ goals. The more you give them what they want to hear the more they’ll share your content and become advocates for your company.
We’re not talking sales pitches here, we’re talking content that genuinely helps answer their questions, inspires them, and makes your product/service an absolute must-have.
When your reader finds your content interesting, entertaining, or valuable they’ll let other people around them know all about it.
How do you make your content this shareable?
Make your content incredibly in-depth
If there is one thing you can do to make your content go from good to fantastic, it’s by adding more detail.
The more information and value you put into your content the more your audience is going to want to share it. Provide them with proof points such as stats and figures to back up what you’re saying.
If you give your clients valuable, in-depth content, they’ll want to share that knowledge far and wide.
Be honest with your audience
Revealing what’s going on behind the scenes of your business is great for building trust with your audience and it can add a lot to your content marketing campaign.
Transparency on how your company runs, like everything, should be strategic. The effectiveness of transparency depends on how much value is being added to a post or a blog. If people relate to the things you reveal, or find it interesting and compelling, then you’re going to have no problem building trust.
What do we mean by transparency and honesty in content marketing? It usually includes personal stories, or photos/videos of you and your team hard at work or relaxing on a day off.
Honesty and behind the scenes insights gives you more of a human connection with your audience, which fosters customer loyalty – they consider you more than just a business.
Tell them a story
People love stories and there are two great ways stories can help improve your content marketing strategy and make it more effective:
- Stories are entertaining: Keep your audience entertained and they won’t be able to get enough of you.
- Stories help with clarity: Using stories to help paint a picture of a scenario will help your reader imagine the situation a lot clearer. They’ll be able to understand what you’re trying to say a lot easier.
If you’re trying to explain a complex concept to your audience then try to use a story to illustrate what you’re saying – it’ll help make it easier for them.
Make your content look good
Design matters.
An attractive design makes content more readable and it gives the reader a feeling that they’re reading a premium piece of work. If your content is organised and clearly laid out it looks more professional.
If you have an ugly piece of content, your readers will make a negative connection between your brand and your content.
Make your content look great on the page and readers will associate your brand and content with premium quality. This will also make you the go-to over your competitors.
Want some help with your content marketing strategy? Get in touch with our team of Waterford content strategists today.
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