6 Components of a successful content marketing strategy
Great content marketing begins with the creation of great content. Regardless of your preferred medium, the content you provide has to be top-notch to gain market share.
Content marketing needs to be a focus of all online publishers. If they do not embrace a content marketing model, they will surely lose audience members to competition that does focus on content marketing.
If you are amongst the many without a suitable content marketing strategy, you can learn from us, as we have been practicing content marketing principles for years.
The basis of our content marketing strategy begins with the creation of content and continues with the distribution and promotion of said content. When properly executed, content marketing and all of its components will lead to bigger communities and more revenue.
Creating Content: The following four suggestions will help you create content and execute on a content marketing strategy.
Be thoughtful – Keep your audience in mind as you are writing for them. Share information that will make their lives easier. If they pose specific questions to your community, be sure to comment. Showing that you genuinely care about your audience will strengthen the customer relationship bond.
Be Succinct – If your content is too long, audience members may get tired of reading it. Get to the information you want to communicate in a timely manner. If you have more to say, you could turn that content into another article if necessary.
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Find Your Voice – Everyone has a unique writing voice. The hardest part is recognizing that voice. In order to do so, present your content as authentically as possible. If you can do this, people will listen.
Furthermore, your voice should align with your company’s tone for the best possible connection with an audience.
Create Accurate and Engaging Content – It’s 100 percent necessary to create accurate content. Inaccurate content will not only scare audience members away, but it will reflect negatively on your reputation.
Accuracy is also about proper spelling and grammar. Even though content management systems allow writers and editors to make edits after publication takes place, it’s always better to present a pristine article from the start.
When it comes to engaging content, you must speak to your audience directly and capture their attention while optimizing your content for search engines. Doing so will help you please your customers while enhancing organic marketing results.
Distributing Content: The blog is a main location to publish written content, but it does not have to be the only place. Other locations like social booking marketing sites Digg or StumbleUpon may be utilized. Blogs that seek guest contributors may also be worth looking into as an additional avenue for your content.
Promoting Content: Social networks are a great place to share your content. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can all be valuable resources. In fact, Tweeting a link to your articles can help boost SEO campaigns. Amanda MacArthur wrote a great article on this subject worth checking out.
For more information on content marketing immediately, download our free Content Marketing Strategy 2011 white paper.
If you want to experience an in-person, hands-on conference about content marketing with other online publishers and content marketers, join us in San Ramon, CA for the Mequoda Summit West 2011.
