Do you know why content marketing is such a “go-to” strategy for marketing campaigns? You know marketers tell you it’s a big deal and you need to do it, but do you ever wonder why more than half of marketers think personalized content promotes higher engagement rates?
One of the biggest reasons – well, there are several of them – is due to those darling little ad blockers. It’s great going to a site and not having to deal with somebody’s idea of a discreet ad taking up three quarters of the page, isn’t it? -Yet, that makes it extremely hard for the marketers who expect those ads to help sell our brand message.
Here’s another big deal: 62% less costs, 3x the return. That’s right. Content marketing costs significantly less than traditional marketing to implement and yet, it generates about three times as many leads.
Something that costs less, performs better and can be catered to individual buyer personas? I’m there. Sounds good. Let’s add it to the marketing mix!
Make a Plan, Stick to the Plan, Always Deliver
You can learn a little something from everything, and the movie Storks is no exception. “Make a plan, stick to the plan, always deliver,” says the boss, and that’s sound, real-world advice, even in content marketing.
There are two levels of this advice. One, in the content creating. You have to come up with the idea, research the idea, and create the content. Then, at some point, you have to actually implement the content marketing. And it always works best when it’s consistently done. You can’t put out one piece of content, no matter how good it is, and think, “Nailed it. Bring in the sales.”
Content marketing is a matter of creating content over time, and plenty of it. Not only that, but the content needs to be consistent. Decide how much content your budget can afford. Decide how often you can afford to publish, and when (what days/times). Once you’ve made those decisions, stick with them!
As you create more and more useful content, you become the experienced person. In the eyes of your regular readers, you become an expert. They start trusting you to have the answers, and telling others that you have the answers.
The path to making this happen is a long one and it takes patience, but it is possible. The key here – and this is important – the key is quality.
Less is More – Quality Over Quantity
Publishing content a few times a month is fine, you don’t have to flood the Internet highways and byways with all things YOU. There’s a lot of content out there, and adding infinite amounts won’t make a difference.
What does make a difference is standing out from the rest. Rather than working on how much you can put out, focus on creating the highest quality content you can. In all the thousands of articles about your topic, few are really, truly, well-written and easy-to-read.
As well, quality is more important than quantity because of numbers. A lot of content may bring in a lot of visitors. That’s true. However, crap content brings crap visitors. They come, they frown, they leave.
Remember that 3X conversion rate? That’s what we’re looking for, and that’s done with great content. People read it. They talk about it and share it. They become paying customers and advocates. It’s a beautiful thing.
When to Post
If you’re going to have less content offerings and put in a lo9 of effort to get major-league content, it makes sense that you don’t want to waste it on the details. Details such as, “When should I publish?” and “What should I do once I’ve published?”
Take the time to look at your data. Find out when your visitors are the most active. Look at the data for your industry. Most of your target market will, for instance, read their emails at specific times. You want to get your emails out in time to 1) be at the time of the email inbox and 2) be visible at a time that they’re most susceptible and not just clicking emails.
For instance, a lot of emails come out on the weekend, because that’s when people spend the most time just going through their inbox. However, many business-to-business companies send their emails out during the week – because that’s when their demographics are looking at business email.
The takeaway – publish when your audience is reading.
Final Thoughts
Content marketing isn’t just a passing fad. It’s here to stay. Learning how to use it to the most effectiveness should be one of your top – if not the top – priorities. Where else can you get such returns? Granted, there’s a lot that goes into content marketing, such as target audience, tone, personas, targeted content, but the number one rule is always “Make it quality and make it count.”
