Content marketing is not something new. It’s always been present in all types of Businesses. If you want to promote a product or service, you have to think of catch phrases and descriptions that will attract more consumers. With the rise of the Internet, however, content marketing received a whole new meaning. It became the most important aspect of everyone’s promotional strategy, only because businesses focus where the entire audience is: Online.
According to research conducted by the Content Marketing Institute, 93% of business-to-business marketers are relying on content marketing when they promote products and services. 42% of these marketers say they are effective at this strategy.
How exactly do you create online content?
- First, you should learn from your competitors. Monitor their success in the online community to see which strategies work and which ones you should avoid. There are available metrics, such as the number of comments and shares their posts get. Once you see what they are writing about, remember one thing: think of something different and better!
- If you are unable to construct excellent online content, you can rely on a rush essay service. Always delegate some tasks to professionals when you know they can handle them better than you.
- Once you get that awesome content, publish it! You thought that was enough? Nope, this is where the real marketing efforts begin: you need influencers to share it! Promote the posts and ads on all social media platforms, ask your employees to share them and engage other users in commenting and promote. Ask what the users thought and communicated with them as much as possible!
So where do you find inspiration to drive your content marketing campaign? That’s not a problem; the web is an endless source of triggers. You’ll find awesome infographics, blog posts, articles, images, memes, videos, and forum threads that will inspire you to create appealing content. Needless to say, motivation is never enough. These tips will help you use its entire potential:
1. Your Posts Are Not Enough. You Need User-Generated Content!
When you recommend your products and services through different campaigns, many people won’t be convinced you’re telling the truth. Take a look at any business and you’ll see the same promise: it’s the best one on the market. You know that’s not always the case. There is one thing that can make a potential customer believe in your awesomeness: Original user-generated content.
Have you explored online forums and aggregator sites like Reddit and Product Hunt? These are the places where people hang out and share their experience with different products and services. Other people take those opinions for granted, or, at least, they consider them when making the purchasing decision. When you serve your customers well, they will recommend your business to all important communities.
Another way to obtain user-generated content is through YouTube videos, podcasts, blog posts, Facebook posts, and tweets. The only challenge is: how do you get the users to share their experience? Show appreciation for their opinion. The Audience Awards is a great example of clever content marketing. This video contest platform recently enabled the audience to watch and vote for the films showed at the LA Shorts Film Festival. Film lovers were motivated to watch and recommend the content they liked, so this was a successful way of attracting tons of shares and opinions.
2. Plan Before You Act!
Since the online community is pretty liberal, you might assume you could say and do anything. That’s not how it works. You need to explore the preferences and expectations of your target audience before you can construct your content marketing campaign. Every word you write can make an influence, so think carefully before posting anything online. Have you noticed that there are always Internet users who get insulted, no matter how innocent the messages seem?
Think about the content you are about to create. Will it present your business as a friendly, approachable, and convenient? Maybe your ideas seem great to you, but your audience will perceive them as a pure desire for profit at their expense. Try to put yourself in their shoes. Think about the marketing campaigns that attracted you and discovered the reasons for that appeal. Be very careful with your calls to action. The Internet community is ruthless, and it can quickly undermine your business if people discover dirt about you and your business. Let’s mention Bill Cosby’s desperate attempt to bring his name back to fame. He faced an angry Twitter community that remembered the old rape allegations more than his success as a comedian.
There is an important lesson we can all learn from that scandal: do not expect people to appreciate you if your past is not clean. Content marketing can hardly take your business out of the dirt; you need to think about every step before you get to the action. The fewer mistakes you make, the happier your customers will be.
3. Never, Ever Copy Someone Else!
Do you know what the Internet audience is mostly attracted to? Originality! If you plan on copying someone else, you might as well give up on your content marketing campaign before you try publishing something online. You shouldn’t assume that paraphrasing and alterations will make your posts and ads seem genuine. Only pure creativity will help you achieve success!
The essence of business blogging is quality. You need to attract consumers with new ideas, and you have to promote awesome content on the web. Yes, the attention span of blog readers is short, but you shouldn’t underestimate their power to recognize something they’ve seen before. Some of them have a very sharp eye for top-quality content and want more than entertainment: they are after solutions!
Remember: Your business is not the only one in your niche. Potential customers are always open for the products and services that attract their attention. What makes you better than the rest? Use the above-listed content marketing strategy to prove you’re the right choice!