You can have the best product or service in the world, and it only matters if you’re reaching the audience you need to reach. This is why the key to success often comes down to your marketing.
Many companies have seen themselves soar to success when they come up with a catchy slogan or logo that turns them not into just a business but a brand that becomes synonymous with the field of product or service they’ll go on to dominate.
Mastering the art of content marketing is one of the most important steps any company can take if it wants to boost its brand. Content marketing is not just about the quality of your content; it’s about taking that content and translating it into sales.
It’s about getting the maximum results for the least possible investment or return on investment. Here are five ways to make your money work for you in the content marketing world.
Relevance and Interest for a Target Audience
One of the biggest parts of making your content marketing work is ensuring that your content is geared toward the right audience. You’ll want to do market research before you make investments to find out who’s buying your product and what they’re most interested in.
This also involves knowing what they’re searching for online. Understanding which keywords are most likely to lead them toward your website will make it easier to target your content. Tools like Ahrefs Tool Guide: Keyword Explorer for e-comm can help you explore your own customer base and your competition’s existing audience.
Well-Written and Authoritative
In order to rank highly on Google, you’ll want to ensure your content follows the E-A-T metric. This is how Google determines if the content is credible, using three factors. E stands for Expertise, so you’ll want to ensure your author uses credible and up-to-date information.
A stands for authoritativeness, so ensure you’re upfront with how the material was researched and what sources are used. Finally, T stands for trustworthiness, depending on how the site is organized.
Make sure any visitor can quickly find out who owns the site and who is responsible for the content. These three factors are all necessary to help your content rank high on Google.
Promote Through Social Media and Other Channels
Online advertising can be expensive, but you’ve got the best free marketing service in the world at your disposal. Social media channels have an audience of billions, and they can massively magnify your audience. There are options for paid advertising on these platforms as well, and they often have a great return on investment.
Before launching a social media promotion campaign, make sure you’re crafting a smart campaign that engages your target audience. Look into which platform your audience is most likely to be present on – an older-skewing product is more likely to be successful on Facebook, while a young-skewing fashion brand will have better success on Instagram.
Experiment With Different Content and Strategies
Not all content will be as effective for every business. Some visually-driven content will do better with photo galleries, while medical and health-related content may find better success with articles relating to the customer's health concerns.
It’s important to understand the lifestyle and interests of your buyers. This also means that content that doesn’t hit in one area may find its audience in another. Repurposing content is one of the best ways to troubleshoot your content and see if you can unlock another audience for your most successful brands.
This can be as simple as reposting content on another channel or involve rewriting or changing the format of a piece.
Regularly Analyze and Optimize Your Content
You might have content that has the potential to hit your target audience, but it’s usually out of date or lacking the relevant keywords. It’s important to regularly audit your site and update old content to match your current strategy.
In addition to keywords and fact-checking your content, one major thing to look out for is broken links. You want to make sure everything works. This is also a great opportunity to update your backlinks and form new partnerships with successful businesses in your field.
Make the Most of Your Investment
Are you getting the most out of your marketing money? You might be investing without it hitting the target. Some simple changes can make all the difference.
Is your content relevant and high-quality? Are you promoting it on the most effective channels? Have you experimented with your format and made sure your content is optimized? If the answer is yes, you’re well on your way to getting the best possible return on investment.
