Some content marketers create content first, and then go looking for places to distribute it. That’s backwards. Instead, what you want to do is figure out where your target market is already congregating online, and then create content for these specific channels.
For best results, you’ll want to create custom content for specific channels. For example, a “how to” article you post as a guest blogger is going to be a bit different than content you’re using to create a viral effect on social media.
Of course understanding your audience comes into play here again. You need to understand:
- How your audience uses content. Is it for entertainment? For research?
- What format your audience prefers. Text? Video? Audio? Live events?
- The length of the content. Do they prefer short snippets of information, or long tomes where they can get everything they need in one place?
So, in sum: figure out where your audience is, determine what kind of content would work best for those specific channels, and then create and distribute this content.
Next step…
Step 1: Create Content Around Your Business Goals
Now that you know what your audience wants, your next step is to consider what you’re hoping to accomplish with your content. For example, is the goal of a particular piece of content to:
- Bring people into your sales funnel?
- Build value for your offer?
- Get others to spread your marketing message?
- Build relationships?
Those are just a few reasons to distribute content. You’ll need to choose your own reasons, and then tailor the content to meet your goals.
To meet your goals and keep your readers interested, you can create a variety of content. This may include:
- Short yet impactful tips, quotes or other snippets for social media (especially Twitter).
- “How to” content.
- FAQs.
- Evergreen content (for blogs and autoresponders).
- Industry news.
- Opinions and commentaries.
- Trending (“hot”) topics.
- List articles (e.g, “Top 10 Ways to” article).
- Resource and gear lists.
- Tips articles.
If you’re not sure what to write about, just take a sneak peek at what’s trending in your niche right now. You can check relevant hash tags on Twitter and Facebook. You can also visit the top blogs in your niche to see which topics are getting a lot of comments, likes and shares. Then create content around trending hot topics as well as those topics that are enduringly popular (i.e., evergreen topics).
Step 2: Create High-Value Content
You can’t ask for the sale (or even necessarily get someone into the entry point of your funnel) until you demonstrate value. That’s what your content should do. It should solve your prospects’ problems while also showcasing your expertise.
Point is, you can’t ever create content that offers too much value. The more value you provide, the more effective your calls to action will be. So focus on providing value first, and it will be much easier to get your readers to take action later.
And finally…
Step 3: Promote Your Content
Yes, your content may be designed to bring in traffic and promote your business. To really maximize these benefits, you need to actively promote your content. This means you must distribute it in multiple formats (such as text, video and perhaps even audio), as well as across multiple channels. Some of your content promotion strategies might include:
- SEO (search engine optimization).
- Guest blogging.
- Social media marketing.
- Video marketing.
- Viral marketing.
- Paid marketing (such as pay per click advertising).
A good overall promotional strategy will include multiple methods of getting your content in front of a targeted audience.
Conclusion
As you can see, content marketing isn’t simply about whipping up an article and posting it on your blog. It starts with planning your content in reference to your sales funnel, understanding what your audience wants, determining your own goals, and then writing and distributing content that connects with your audience while achieving your goals.
Sound complicated? It’s not necessarily complicated, but it can be time-consuming to walk through all these steps. That’s why so many people choose to have the content marketing team at Hire a Wiz to plan and implement their content strategy. To find out how our talented team can help you grow your business too, get in touch today at www.hireawiz.com – and don’t forget to request your free consultation.