What do you think skilled content marketers should know to improve their business productivity in this cutthroat marketplace? By skilled content marketers, I mean someone who holds significant expertise in using the latest resources and tools along with the customary marketing programs to boost their business revenue amidst this tough competition.
Before answering the question, it is important for you to know the content marketing strategies used by other skilled content marketers to see if your tactics are effective enough to drive sales to your business.
Here is a pie chart showing the change in B2B content creation in the past 12 months i.e. 2014:
As per the data collected on the strategies used by content marketers in 2014, you will be surprised to knowthat more than 70{6fac3e6a3582a964f494389deded51e5db8d7156c3a7415ff659d1ae7a1be33e} of content marketers created more content in 2014 than in 2013. 42{6fac3e6a3582a964f494389deded51e5db8d7156c3a7415ff659d1ae7a1be33e} of marketers publish new content several times a week or even multiple times per day.
Although great content marketers know different essential content marketing ideas for taking their businesses to new high levels, the most important thing is to steal from them only those effectual ideas that are required for replicating their successes in your own business.
After going through vast research on different successful content marketing ideas used by reputed and established online businesses, I have selected the best 10 content marketing ideas. You can see right now to improve your business presence on the internet.
1) Use Social Media Content (Excluding Blogs)
Social media has become the key consideration when devising content marketing strategies for an online business. With the expansion of social media popularity in the past few years, using these platforms for the correct execution of content marketing strategies will definitely ensure success with better outcomes.
For reaching your target audience, it is necessary to post your content at the place where they spend most of their time. Social media platforms are the best mediums to use for promoting your content effectively.
The pie chart below shows the average time spent by US adults per day in 2014 on different social platforms via varied devices. (eMarketer)
You can see that in a duration of 67 total minutes online (1 hour 7 minutes), US adults spent a total of 35 minutes on social media platforms using mobile devices. This gives you an idea how much time is spent by internet users on social platforms while remaining online through their mobile devices.
Hence, it is necessary to devise your content marketing strategy for all social media platforms and devices individually to improve the effectiveness of your content marketing.
2) Use of Email Newsletters
Sending newsletters with important information on a regular schedule is one of the best content marketing strategies to implement in any business. You can make your target audience aware of your newly launched products, services, offers, and discounts through email newsletters.
With the increase in the use of Smartphone and tablets for using the internet, it is important to customize your newsletters so that they are viewable on all different sized screens.
Research shows poorly formatted email is immediately deleted by users. They do NOT open email messages again when they return to their desktops or laptops.
If your email is not correctly formatted, you loose the chance to help audiences know your offers and services clearly. Protein One has amazing email newsletter designs that are customized for different screen sizes:
You can also start email campaigns to make your content reachable to your target audiences. For example, if you have 1K subscribers to your newsletters, you can drive these 1K subscribers to your website by emailing them your latest published articles and offers.
3) Use of Quality Content to Rank in Search Engines
The most accepted content marketing strategy by all great content marketers is to place high quality content on their websites so that they rank higher in search engines.
As a content marketer, you should focus on the quality of content posted on your website. Enhance readability through the use of white space and altering the size of the paragraphs used in the content. Use keywords in sub-headings correctly for better readability.
Always make sure to use bullet points to mention some important information in your content to make it noticeable by the visitors. If you pay proper attention to these things while posting content on your website, you will surely increase the ranking of your website on popular search engines.
4) Use of Videos for Greater Impact
High values videos can be used for creating engaging content without the friction some consumers of your content feel about the written word.
Post videos on your website related to the use of your products and services along with feedback and testimonials by your previous customers. This will increase the impact on the purchasing decisions of your target audience.
Using videos to represent content instead of writing is a helpful content marketing strategy for ensuring success.
This graph shows that 87{6fac3e6a3582a964f494389deded51e5db8d7156c3a7415ff659d1ae7a1be33e} of marketers use video for content marketing:
5) Use of Infographics for Better Content Comprehension
Infographics have increased in popularity owing to their interesting way of representing factual information in a short, precise visual way. The use of infographics is an effective content marketing strategy.
Distribution can be tailored to significantly increase visibility, guaranteeing the success of your business. You can use influencer outreach to enhance the reach of your infographics among your target audience.
Click this image to see the entire infographic at UnBounce.
6) Use of Photos and Graphics
People are more interested in pictures and graphics – and they absorb the information more readily than in the textual form. Use graphics and photos more in your content to make it appealing and interesting for the visitors to read.
If you use photos intelligently in your content, you will definitely improve user engagement which is necessary for generating conversions and leads.
7) Use of Webinars and Webcasts
Webinars or Webcasts are epic pieces of content that you can use for maximizing revenue through your online business. You can conduct webinars by inviting important influencers across the globe to share their valuable information within the webinar, which in turn will help you in promoting your business on an expanded horizon.
You can also design targeted post-webinar emails to reach your target audiences based on the valuable information acquired through the webinar.
The only difference between webinars and webcasts is that webinar are typically held for only 100 people whereas webcasts will focus on thousands of groups to reach a maximum targeted audience.
8) Use of ebooks
As a genuine content marketing tactic, ebooks suit the requirements of all types of businesses that have to communicate their information in a digestible way to the reader.
Presentation of content in the form of ebooks offers a comprehensive way of preparing a business case and also provides an opening pad for marketing content.
9) Use of Storytelling Tactics
Have you noticed that the bigger brands create stories? The effectiveness of storytelling will work as a magical content marketing strategy for your business.
Not intended as a selling tool, storytelling helps in developing stronger bonds with customers. Business storytelling is a completely different concept of content marketing that leverages well-designed narratives in a varied range of content types.
It effectively supports businesses by helping them to connect with their listeners and readers, motivating them to come back to their websites, thus enhancing the percentage of conversions.
10) Use of Microsites
As a short term promotional campaign, microsites can be used as a helpful content marketing strategy as it helps in narrowing the focus of your target audiences by offering them a simple and task based user experience.
For example, Quanser has created a microsite with a clean user experience. It has specific sales goals for a limited time period that has a definite goal of motivating professors to buy certain products.
Using a microsite as a content marketing tactic requires the creation of a perfect redirect strategy to implement when the microsite will be taken down.
Quanser Microsite
Now you have ten content marketing strategies for 2015 that you can implement right now. Redesign your company’s content marketing plan to better accomplish your business objectives.
The selection of the strategies you use will depend upon how you wish to reach your target audience. To emerge as the true winner of this competitive environment, integrate these tactics carefully.
SOURCE: Growmap – Read entire story here.
