Despite the changes in Google during the last five years, content still drives engagements, consumer interactions, conversions, and experiences. Many marketers are unclear on the specifics of a successful program for content marketing, lack confidence, and waste resources, and effort. There are fourteen ways to win more business with effective marketing.
The Audience
Content must be what the audience wants, based on their intent, preferences, and needs. Full research should include the actions of the audience, where they visit online, the type of searches they conduct, and their brand interests. This information allows a website to be built with smart content.
The Research
The competitive environment must be understood for effective content to be written. The competition includes competitor companies, SERP space, influencers, bloggers, social spaces, relevant searches, and media brands. Evaluating content, and conducting research will engage the audience during the key moments.
Content Formats
One piece of content can include numerous types of media including quick video clips, socially shareable images, and embedded media. This conveys the message in several ways, and allows for an appearance on different search result types, and search platforms. Content marketers measure 72 percent of their marketing ROI, 51 percent use a measurement plan, and 79 percent use analytics tools.
Business Goals
The performance of the content should be measured through the entire process including lead generation, nurturing, audience-building, sales, conversions, post-sales, evangelism, and retention. The top metrics used are social shares, lead quality, conversion rates, and the time spend on site. This determines the success of the content.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO improves engagement, conversions, sharing, and time spend on site. Readability standards must be applied, and title tags, subheadings, meta descriptions, text, and images optimized with SEO standards. Smart internal linking, improves the user experience.
Automation
The automation system should include reporting, and recommendations. Routine tasks can be managed easier, business goals accomplished, and high-impact activities become focused. Actionable content is ready for activation, and user’s questions are answered.
SEO Support
Sites rankings are affected by structure, meta data, hierarchy, internal linking, mobile readiness, site speed, technical SEO factors, and coding errors. Non-technical, and technical SEO is required for success.
Optimization
Content should be pushed on social channels, the audience should be understood on all channels, and platforms, and content must be optimized for each specific channel. Copying and pasting is ineffective.
Early Traction
Experiments should be run on different channels to determine the best audience for the content. This provides authority, appeal, algorithm rankings, and organic research. Measuring, and tracking provides audience engagement, and conversion.
Syndication
This takes previously published content, and makes it available outside the network. This provides organic syndication opportunities.
Consumers appreciate emails. The call to action must be clear, and sales should not be included in every email.
The Results
The content performance can be established by the results in social media, and searches.
The Profit
Profit is established by tracking the conversions, site traffic, and highest quality leads. This will match and guide the CTA selection.
Multiple Business Functions
Content should be multidimensional, build brand authority, provide product education, include testimonials, author personas, executive profiles, and encourage engagement.
ROI Improvement
The catalogue of content should be updates every time an update is released by Google. This can’t be accomplished manually, and will improve ROI performance.
Shelton Frasier 