10 Tips for a More Effective Content Marketing Campaign

Simply creating content for your blog is no longer the answer to attracting visitors to your website. Without great content that educates, is consistent, and is based on a clear strategy, your brand could get lost in the noise.

There are so many factors to consider when starting a content marketing campaign that it can often seem like an impossible feat. However, according to the Content Marketing Institute, 70% of marketers say that they are producing more content than last year. But where to start? How do you build the strategy? What is the proper strategy for the modern age? It can seem very overwhelming.

But you’re not alone in this.

We’ve compiled some of the top 10 tips to ensure that your content marketing campaign is effective.

1. Target Your Content

The first step in creating an effective content marketing campaign is to establish the demographic of your target audience. Who are they? What are their business challenges?

Establishing what those in the industry call a Buyer Persona helps you understand who you’re trying to target, and gives you an idea of the kind of content you need to provide. In fact, 70% of people feel closer to a company as a result of custom content.

2. Create a strategy

Why are you writing? Establishing your content marketing goals is incredibly important before you get started. Great goals include brand awareness, lead generation, and to be an authority in your industry.

Once you’ve nailed down your primary content marketing goal, think about who your target is and create content that would provide solutions to their problems.

Have a clear and defined brand voice and brand story. This is who you are, what you sound like, and how your audience perceives you. Generating a loyal following based on the information you provide is inextricably linked to the way you tell that story.

Finally, establishing some goals and outlining your strategy before you start writing will ensure that you get the results you’re looking for.

3. Educate

Based on the fact that three out of four people want to learn online, your content should answer a question or educate your audience.

Long gone are the days that you can use interruptive marketing techniques that aim at interrupting with flashy ads or commercials that focus on self-promotion and chasing down your leads. Now it’s important to create brand awareness and authority by providing value and answering a question.

According to Demand Metric, 70% of people would rather read articles to learn about a company than be advertised to.

As an added bonus, proving your industry knowledge establishes your brand as an authority and creates a loyal following of brand ambassadors.

4. Originality Always Wins

How often have you read the exact same information twice? People always want something new and fresh, so educate by entertaining them in innovative ways.

People always remember something that was done differently.

Also, Google loves original content, which is why you’re considering content marketing in the first place. But Google, and your readers, also love original images and media that not only stand out but is also memorable.

5. Read Constantly

One of the best ways to succeed as a content marketer is to read constantly. News, industry magazines and websites, case studies, white papers, everything that’s related to your industry that you can get your hands on, absorb it and analyze it.

Is it something that can be repurposed? Is it news that can be given a spin to apply to your buyer personas? Regularly watching what your competitors are doing is also important to keep on top of the game.  One best practice includes setting up Google Alerts for your favourite subjects.

6. Structure

Before you start writing, think about the way that blogs and pieces you enjoy reading are written. More often than not, Internet consumers skim for content. Establishing a clear structure that targets readability and ease-of-skimming makes your content easy to absorb.

Include links and images that explain your topics and break up written content. Try to avoid lengthy paragraphs that create a wall of text.

Consider the structure of your content to facilitate the best possible delivery of information. A piece of content that heavily relies on data may best be provided via an infographic, whereas further research into one of your specific service offerings may best be provided in an eBook.

7. Promote and Recycle

Content Marketing doesn’t end when you publish on the blog. You want to continue to promote it everywhere in order to attract visitors. Tailor your messaging on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ to showcase your piece.

One of the mistakes that businesses regularly make is considering old content old. Just because it’s something that you posted six months ago doesn’t mean that you can’t reuse it. Recycling old blogs on social media that did well the first time around is a great way to continuously bring in new website traffic.

The only time this rule doesn’t apply is to timely pieces. We don’t suggest reposting your “Top Trends From 2013” blog today, although that is a great topic to repurpose.

8. Always keep Analyzing

We just mentioned reusing blogs that did well the first time around, but the only way for you to know how well they did would be to consistently monitor and analyze results. Which posts generated more unique visitors, more page visits, and more newsletter sign-ups? Simple analytics programs can gather this data for you, but it’s how you use it that truly matters to your ongoing content strategy.

If a certain topic proves popular, why would you discontinue writing about that topic? Expand your content offerings based on what your audience wants.

9. Provide options to opt-in

Remember when we asked you to establish your goal? If it was to increase leads through your website, it’s incredibly important that you provide a way to collect information from your audience.

Once you’ve established a content consumer base, you want to make sure that you’re delivering fresh content to them on a regular basis. Follow your promotion schedule for newsletter content or ensure that your sales team received those qualified leads.

10. Content isn’t the be-all and end-all of marketing

Content doesn’t standalone; you need a completely integrated campaign that continues to work once the visitor has navigated your site or signed up for your newsletter.

Understanding keywords and SEO helps to establish your website and blogs in search engines to attract those who are searching your key terms. Understanding your buyer’s’ journey and making sure that they’re warmed up, or nurtured into a sale is an entire process that cannot be ignored, but can be achieved through marketing automation.

The factors involved in a fully integrated content marketing campaign can be hard for even a whole marketing team to manage. Which is why we at Pixelcarve can provide our clients with a comprehensive website design and inbound marketing package that ensures business growth.