We live in the age of information. With the invention of the internet, never before has knowledge been more readily available. With a few simple keystrokes, consumers today can access wide swathes of data and material on any topic — including information about you and your industry.
The benefits of the age of information for consumers, clients, and regular-day people are insurmountable. News, recipes, tips and tricks for every industry are now available in many different mediums from video and blogs to whitepapers and more. But, the age of information also provides benefits to the suppliers of the information, namely you and your organization.
When consumers are looking for information, they are looking for reliable, trustworthy sources. This gives your organization the opportunity to build trust and brand loyalty with your audience through content marketing.
Content marketing is essentially the creating and sharing of online material that provides value to consumers without directly promoting a brand. Content marketing provides consumers with information which, in turn, build trust and brand loyalty between an organization providing information and the person on the other end consuming the content whether it's a video, blog, whitepaper, etc.
Effective content marketing has become a staple of effective online marketing as it continues to prove to increase sales, bring on new leads, boost brand recognition, and create a sense of trust and loyalty among readers. When an organization is able to provide value through their content marketing, it aids in SEO, social media marketing, and inbound marketing.
No matter where you are in your content marketing strategy, whether you're just starting out or have a full, robust plan, there is always room to expand and improve. In order to ensure your content marketing is performing as well as it can, be sure to enact the following tips:
Provide Value to Your Readers
This may be perhaps the most helpful, but most obvious tip when it comes to content marketing. Your content needs to say something important, something readers haven't seen anywhere else in order to cut through the noise and resonate. Having a blog post with great keywords is a good start, and may get you listed pretty high on Google, but if you're not providing your readers with value, they're not going to stick around to the end of the content.
In order to give readers real value, it is important that you really go deep on the topic you are talking about and bring important details to the front. This will help you increase the length of your piece and really showcase you as an industry expert.
Link to Other Content
Let's say you're writing a blog to post on your company website. That's a great start towards content marketing and will help consumers learn and find your company online. But, what about that whitepaper your colleague wrote a few weeks ago? Cross-promoting different types of content that are about similar topics is another great way to provide value to your readers and get more eyes on your various content items. Use your content to promote other content and showcase other mediums. If you have a blog, link to your whitepaper. If you have a weekly webinar, record them for later viewing. It's important to leverage your content in multiple ways and through multiple mediums in order to get the most out of it and get it in front of as many people as possible.
Offer Ways to Connect
If you provide consumers with valuable content that really adds something to the conversation, adds to their knowledge base, or is just straight-up interesting, readers will want to connect with you. This is why it's important that you give your readers was to get in touch. Whether it's a "contact us" form, a CTA for a free trial, or promoting your social media channels at the end, you need to give readers more ways to engage at the end of your content or you risk them falling off.
Share Your Content
The problem with simply writing content and posting it to your website is that you really run the risk of limiting your audience. In order to make your content seen, share it on your personal and company social media pages. Facebook and Twitter are two great sites to start with, and sharing content here allows your readers to also share the content to their pages as well. You can also include your new content in your email marketing campaigns, and make it easy for email readers to share by including "share" buttons.
However, it is important when working on your content marketing to focus on writing the content itself. Luckily, SimplyCast is here to help you with distribution. With communication automation tools for email, SMS, Facebook and more, SimplyCast is a great tool to help with sharing your content.
Sign up for a 14-day free trial and see just how SimplyCast can help you.
