When creating a digital marketing plan, it is crucial that you consider what strategies are going to work best for you in 2014 but also into the foreseeable future.
In the ever changing world that is the online market place, there will always be new trends glorified by marketeers as the latest online selling machine.
However updates from Google have proven this to be far from true time and time again.
So why should content marketing any different?
Firstly in all of the recent updates – no website promoting high quality, informative information have been penalised.
Secondly – because all search engine updates have been aimed at improving the quality of content available to users.
The real questions to ask are:
How you can conquer content marketing?
How could content marketing be used as the key to the success of your business?
In all the hustle and bustle of trying to reach the top of search results the impact of content marketing has remained consistent, yet it is quite possibly one of the most avoided solutions. This is mainly due to costing and in-house capabilities.
However content marketing does not need to be a painful time consuming exercise; by following 4 simple steps anyone can become a content master in a matter of weeks.
1. Research
The first step to success is to research. The research process begins with the identification of the different personas that define your target market. What are their needs, wants and brand expectations, this information should be used in order to drive the value of your campaign.
The use of onsite polls or open-ended questions on social platforms can be used to gain true insights. This is a simple strategy – but requires some thought, it is crucial that you are asking the right questions, to gain key information that can be then converted into targeted messages for content marketing purposes.
2. Creative
It is important to create high quality, value-added content that engages with potential leads, however it is equally important to ensure content is easy to read and easy to share. Be sure to always create a PDF and Amazon Kindle version of publications to ensure maximum reach. The Amazon Kindle version is particularly important for large publications as this is presented to the reader in the form of an e-Book, which is accessible for e-readers using tablets or smartphones.
Moreover content should be broken down into a clear format, with a natural flow of information and key points. Each article should contain a “golden nugget” that gives readers an insight and a clear cut strategy that allows them to optimise on this information.
3. Promotion
Driving Traffic through your publications
It is important to optimise on reader experience, particularly when you are encouraging them to click or download your latest publication. You must be able to highlight the true valued of the information you are sharing –without the use of a sales pitch.
Remember the reader wants to know what the article is about and why it is relevant and of value to them. As such you will need an interesting intro and a couple of teasers that will niggle away at them so much that they just have to keep reading.
For offsite publications a similar approach should be taken – however this phase requires you to convince other web administrators / owners to publish your content to their readers.
Although many will do this to have the fresh content, really good websites will take only the best of the best. As such you will need to ensure your own website is fully optimised and relevant to their target audience i.e. their target market and yours should be two of the same but you should not compete in the same space i.e. fashion blogger – designer, car blogger – innovative car re-spray service.
The link building phase requires a little research and a little bit of charm: ask your target publishers if they would read the piece first, and if they like it, to publish it. Remember only one publisher per article – two publications of the same piece will create duplicate which may lead to search engine penalization. Avoid this little hiccup that many first timers encounter and you will be well on your way to becoming a content master.
4. Conversion
Dive your audience to a highly optimised and targeted landing page.
It is important that when a lead clicks on your advert that they are transferred to an optimised web-page containing all the information they would expect and more.
A targeted webpage should contain:
- The keywords used to find the information available on your web-page
- Related keywords and additional information
- Buttons and hyperlinks (call to action)
By creating content that is directed at the needs, expectations and wants of your audience you can create custom marketing funnels via buttons and hyperlinks that nurture your leads through a pre-determined funnel that will ultimately influence a final buying decision and sales / conversion rates.
If you would like to know more about content marketing, and how you could turn your website into the ultimate selling machine, why not contact e-Celtic today for a free web-analysis.
e-Celtic pride ourselves as expert providers of SEO, content marketing and link building specialists. Our landing pages are created with the look and feel of your brand in mind as well as the needs, expectations and objectives of your customers/ clients.
Call now on (01) 6625810.
e-mail: karina@eceltic.ie
