But before we dive into that, let us explain exactly what content marketing is.
Content marketing takes time and energy. Most people do not like to write. And those who do like to write, like to know for what purpose and for which target group. So always start with your strategy.
When you use content marketing, it is important to know who your target group is. Define your buyer personas, so you know who you are writing for and what they are looking for exactly. Also map their buyer journey in as much detail as possible. Based on this, you can determine what contact moments there are for each step. You can then create content for these moments.
In this way, you will be able to use your content in a much more targeted way and you will also be able to measure the ROI.
More content is created nowadays than you can ever consume in a lifetime. Unfortunately, there is also a lot that is not worth the effort. We believe that content should add value. Does it teach people something? Does it inspire? Do you entertain your target group with it? Then your content marketing mission is accomplished. This tip may sound very obvious, but we cannot emphasize it enough. Far too many companies are still tempted to produce mediocre or even bad content. It costs money but delivers no ROI.
If you do go for quality, it will also take some more time. A daily or weekly blog post is not feasible for many SMEs. Go for a fortnightly or even monthly, but make sure it is REALLY good. By the way, this principle also applies to your content promotion. Do not be present on all social media with a dormant account. Rather choose only one or two channels where you can be active.
Working out your strategy is one thing. Have you also documented it, for example in a content plan? Because marketers with a documented strategy report 313% more marketing success than those without a documented strategy.
This documentation can be done with a content plan. In it you make your strategic decisions concrete, with information about:
A CTA, or call to action, is an element in your online communication (website, email, social media…) that prompts people to take action. Right, it’s in the name itself. It’s great when people visit your website, but not much happens if you don’t nudge them in the right direction now and then. That is what you do with a call to action.
Note: it is a lot harder than just dumping buttons here and there on your website. Think carefully if the text in your CTA fits the content you are putting it with. Is your CTA in the right place? Don’t hide your CTA in a place where nobody goes, for example. You can check this with heatmap tools like Hotjar. Also make sure your CTA stands out: make it big enough and make sure the colour stands out. Otherwise, the number of clicks will be significantly lower than what you’ve hoped for.
Storytelling works. People have been telling each other stories to inspire, teach, or entertain since time immemorial. Storytelling existed before writing existed. And it works: just think about which keynotes you remember and which you don’t. I bet you only remember those sessions where the speaker told stories. At least, I do.
Start from your own experiences or those of your employees. You have experienced things and can tell interesting things from your unique perspective. Case studies are also good examples of storytelling: you tell how you solved a problem for the customer, whether or not with some figures to back it up.
Check out our blog about the importance of storytelling.
You might be thinking: “Funny, this content plan and storytelling, but should we be blogging? Or should we do videos?” Right questions. On the one hand, different people have different preferences when it comes to content. Some like to read blog posts, while others prefer to watch video content.
So vary your content types. It’s certainly not obvious to alternate blog posts with nice videos, interesting visuals, insightful infographics, and case studies. But one type of content lends itself better to social media, the other more to your website. Case studies are also more interesting at the end of the buyer journey than at the very beginning. But you will notice that the extra effort does pay off.
We marketers call this a fancy term: ‘content repurposing’. But you can also just call it content recycling. In concrete terms, we mean that you can cut a blog post into pieces to post on social media, for example. Or you can use it to make a video that you can attach to your blog post for those people who prefer video. Maybe you can also compile blog posts into a whitepaper, for example.
That way, you don’t have to think up new content every time you want to post something, and you automatically get different content types. A smart way of dealing with content.
Whatever content you create, make sure it is visually appealing. Of course, you post content on your website within your branding guidelines, but make sure you also use graphs, images, or memes that illustrate your content, making it easier to understand or land on your reader.
In infographics or white papers, you can add icons that give your reader a handhold through the whole thing. And in video conten,t you can also add visuals that support your content or just make the whole look better. And don’t be afraid to be creative, as long as you achieve your goal and remain recognizable, you are showing some attitude.
No matter how good your content is, it’s a waste of time if nobody reads it. Creating content and putting it on your website is an important step, anyway. But of course, you create that content to reach as many people as possible.
To achieve that, you will have to promote your content. So find out where exactly your target group is. Is that on Facebook or rather on LinkedIn? Have you also checked groups and forums? There might be some very interesting people from your target group there. So spend enough time there. A good rule of thumb here: spend as much time on promoting your content as on creating it.
Besides social media, there is also such a thing as e-mail marketing. This is often treated with some difficulty or skepticism. But e-mail marketing still works extremely well, and is still very relevant.
Most companies use a CRM system (hopefully you do too), or at least have a list somewhere with existing contacts. These are customers, but also prospects, suppliers, or leads. At some point, they have shown an interest in your products or services, or have entered into a customer-supplier relationship with you. Updates from your side are therefore also relevant for them. And as everyone knows: convincing an existing customer to make a new purchase is much easier than convincing new customers. So don’t forget to send those people an e-mail once in a while. But don’t overdo it either, and make sure your emails are relevant at all times and as personalized as possible.
Do you want to know how to start with e-mail marketing? Then just read this blog post.
Your content marketing efforts are hopefully a great success. But you’ll only know this when you formulate concrete goals AND measure your progress. You put a lot of time and energy into creating blog posts and video content and into your social media channels. You’ve defined the goals you want to achieve. Don’t skip this step and measure your results.
Each of your social media channels has an analytics dashboard with relevant numbers. And your visitors on your website generate data that you can capture with Google Analytics. Your email marketing tool also contains figures on your email campaigns. And if you opt for an all-in-one platform, then your analytics will become even more transparent.
Anyway, with the figures you get from there, you learn what content works and what does not, what the best times are on social media, and so on. You also learn a lot about your buyer personas, which you can further refine with this data. With this data, you can then also use content in a more targeted way. Measuring is therefore a really important step, as boring as it may sound.
Doing all your content marketing alone takes up quite a bit of time, especially if you want to post regularly. Don’t do it alone: get some help. That is perfectly possible within your organization if you have the right people for it who also have time and know-how. Moreover, from their expertise, they can come up with interesting insights that will further enrich your content.
Don’t you have those people or don’t they have the time or knowledge? Then you can also look externally for the right expertise. There are plenty of people available who can help you further and who can also focus 100% on your content. All you have to do is brief those people and follow up a bit. This way, you get the necessary expertise and you can continue working on your core business. On the other hand, of course, you also have to pay the external party.
Every company has a lot of content to share. Even the so-called ‘boring sectors’. Many just don’t realize it themselves. Surf around and you will see what I mean. So: do some work on it anyway, and use content to attract your ideal customers. It will take some time, but once your content is live it will work for you. Hopefully, you got some inspiration and now you can get started with content marketing. Take advantage of our tips. Good luck!