We all know how vital content marketing is for a successful business. But sometimes, it feels like you’re continually working on it and getting a minimal return on investment – both financial and time investment. You don’t want your hard work to go to waste, using up your energy and resources. The key is to see it not just like a box to check but something to be approached strategically with a definite aim in mind.
It’s about creating valuable content that’s right for your business and promoting it to generate leads. Here we have outlined our tried and true recipe for maximizing your content marketing efforts and how you can start creating the right content that will translate into more leads for your business!
Stop Creating Unnecessary Content
Content marketing is not about generating endless content; sometimes, people treat it as a competition – who can post the most? But it’s about quality, not quantity, and content without value never goes beyond surface engagement.
If you flood your platforms with posts, a lot of this content is not just unnecessary, it’s useless. Your readers won’t get beyond the first paragraph before clicking away from the page, and you’ll never establish a loyal audience to reward your content marketing efforts. Also, search engines reward fresh content with value.
Content with value is what leads to reader trust and engagement. So how can you do this? The first step is to determine a cohesive mission for your content. Whether you create content independently or work with a team, it always helps to have a message to guide you toward meaningful or relevant topics. If you know what you stand for, that comes through as new output.
You also need to commit to quality content. They say you’re only as good as your last game – for us, you’re just as good as your last piece of content. So you want that to be great. Consistent quality keeps readers coming back because they know they will gain something from engaging with your content.
Following these steps means your content will have much more substance. The substance leads to more leads for your business; people will interact more with your content and feel more motivated to use your company. It’s about building a relationship.
So step away from the keyboard and the ‘more is better’ myth. Focusing your energy on creating content with value, even if there’s less of it, will maximize your content marketing efforts.
Deciding What Content Works Best For Your Business
You know how hard you work, and the last thing you want is for your efforts to be wasted. So it would be best if you decided what content works best for your business. There’s no point in spending hours creating content only to realize that your target audience isn’t engaging.
The first step is the age-old adage of business: put yourself in your customers’ shoes. You want to create content that appeals to them, so who is your target audience, and how do they think? Refine your buyer persona, so you know accurately what content will draw them in; write down their key features.
Remember that it’s not about you; content only about you, your business, or your interests will not necessarily attract your audience.
You need to find out what they want to know; if you answer people’s specific needs, they are naturally more likely to respond with interest. If your business offers a service, your content might more often take the form of informational blog posts or case studies. If your buyer persona travels a lot for work and is consistently on the go, creating podcasts is a more productive use of your time as your target audience will be able to engage with them more easily.
What you produce or sell also plays a part in your content. A visually beautiful product or brand lends itself well to photographic content; photographs can be shared on Instagram to create an aesthetically pleasing experience for your audience.
Whatever is right for you, creating the right content for your particular business will make the most of your content marketing efforts and result in more leads for your business.
Promoting Your Content to Increase Lead Generation
Of course, you might have the perfect content with tons of value, but unless people interact with it, you won’t generate leads, and your content marketing efforts will be for nothing. This is where content promotion comes in: in short, exposing your content to as many people as possible.
Your social media channels are your first point of call for this. Whatever platforms you use, this is where you build up a community around your business, where you interact with your audience, and where you can find the most immediate response.
Your target audience is also essential when choosing social media platforms for your business to utilize. Learn about the demographics of different platforms to see which reflects your customers best. Giving the research your due diligence now will save you time and money later.
For example, if you are telling a story to a younger audience, then Snapchat or Instagram might be your best platforms. At the same time, for an audience over 24, Facebook is still the most-viewed social media platform. If your field relies more on B2B sharing, LinkedIn is a great place to promote content.
Now we come back to value. Content with value will not only encourage audience loyalty; it is also more likely to be reposted and shared by others, extending your reach. You can also make it easy for people to share with accessible social share links. Of course, if it’s content worth sharing, it will generate trust and more leads.
We hope these simple and practical ideas encourage you to create the best content for your business.