The right content marketing strategies can bring in exponential results for your business. If you’re ready
to build relationships, increase your authority, and educate customers with
awesome content, incorporate a little marketing into your business model.

Of
course, it’s not enough to just say that content marketing is a necessity. Why
is it so important? How can you get the most value from your marketing efforts?
These three simple tips will help you keep on top of your game and guarantee
that your business doesn’t fall victim to the changing industry.
1. Focus on More Than Content
Content alone will only get you
so far. Filling your blog with a variety of material is what helps increase
authority and welcome engagement from your readers. Content means a lot of
different things, such as white papers, research, gated content, and guest
posts.
For
example, take a look at white papers. If you include white papers on your blog
or offer exclusive access to one for email subscribers, you may see a
significant jump in views. Research shows that 61% of business owners share
white papers with their colleagues. Additionally, in 2018, consumers trust blog
posts and podcasts as their go-to methods for educational purposes. So,
articles aren’t the only way to go anymore.

Business
owners recognize this shift in consumer attention as well. Helen Croydon, the
founder of Thought Leadership PR, doesn’t think that creating content alone
will lead to any business. She does, however, think content creation brings an
increase in your authority and brand. “Anyone can churn out a blog for their
website in order to alert Google their site is active. But very few people
understand the principles of storytelling enough to make their content useful
to those who come across it,” she said.
In
order to make your content useful, you should recruit writers who understand
the material. As we just learned, consumers still prefer blog posts as one of
their top methods for learning new skills. So, an unhelpful blog post could
lead to a loss in sales and viewership. According to Croydon, blogs that don’t
get to the heart of the issue or listicles are telltale signs that blog content
has been churned out by a non-professional writer.
Since
she used to be a journalist, Croydon also believes that business owners need to
create thought leadership rather than content. “The first is a product, that
can be easily ignored. The latter is a strategy” she said. “Thought leadership
articles aren’t promotional but informative and add genuine value to the reader.
But they’re way more effective because the reader will remember you, and even
better, trust you.”
2. Adapt With the Industry
That said, content marketing
has evolved. Oftentimes, business owners wonder whether content marketing is
even worth it anymore. Some even argue that the entire practice is dead and
shifting towards different strategies, like influencer marketing.
But,
content marketing isn’t dead, it’s merely changing. The old ways of doing
content marketing may have been retired, but that doesn’t mean your business
can ignore the practice. Rather than giving up on marketing altogether, reflect
on your strategies and see if you can make improvements. If you discover
roadblocks in your traffic or lead generation, ask yourself:
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·
Is my content really as valuable to my target audience as it can be?
·
What is my competition offering that I’m not?
·
Am I attracting the right people on social media or with my content?
Even with talk of the
industry’s death, Content Marketing Institute’s 2017 research revealed its
importance for businesses. They discovered that 88% of B2B marketers consider
content marketing an important component of their organization’s marketing
strategy.
With
all of this in mind, some business owners prefer to shift their focus to other
methods. Take Alexander Porter, the head of content marketing at Search it
Local. Porter says that it’s still possible to achieve brand recognition and
traffic, but it’s “increasingly time-consuming and challenging in
content-saturated space.”
Instead,
he focusses on upgrading his content and thinks others should follow suit in
2020. “By that I mean, take your old content, find out what was having minor
ranking success, and upgrade it. Look to add layers of value,” he said. “Since
you published your content, what has changed in your industry? What experts can
you speak to with inclusions of their commentary? What stats are now out of
date? Consider contacting prominent micro-experts in a roundup and add their
input.”
Porter
believes these two have a dual effect on improving your previous content and
allowing you to rank for keywords you already target. “But it will also create
valuable relationships with industry experts who may share your content,” he
said. “By including their opinions and encouraging them to share your upgraded
content, you’ll benefit from a hit in traffic. The positive user signals
on-site all contribute to better SEO rankings.”
3. Remember Progress Takes Time
With content marketing
undergoing significant changes, it’s tough to keep up with the industry.
Marketers with years of experience still spend good chunks of their time
monitoring current trends.
Regardless
of which marketing strategy you decide to deploy, remember that progress takes
time. Neil Patel’s research shows that businesses should expect to see results
after 6-12 months. This isn’t to say that your marketing efforts will increase
traffic by triple digits. But, solid tactics should bring in some traction
after about six months.
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