Content Marketing 101

HOW TO CREATE CONTENT THAT DRIVES REVENUE

Welcome to the Information Age! Where almost EVERY piece of information that you could possibly be searching for (aside from the Colonel’s 11 Secret Herbs and Spices) can be found at the click of a button. As such, the importance of having helpful, entertaining and generally awesome content on your website is at an all-time high.

In case you are wondering, ‘content’ in a digital marketing sense can be anything from text or blog posts on your websites, right through to images, audio and video downloads. Here are a few quick tips for making sure the content on your site and social media platforms is driving revenue for your business:

1. VALUE IS EVERYTHING

First and foremost, make sure that whatever content you are creating, in whatever way you are presenting it, makes the audience’s life better. Make them laugh, open their eyes or answer a question they have been yearning to have answered. Put simply, the best content finds a problem that people are having and offers a solution. To create valuable content:

• It’s all about them – creating content about your own business or brand is a sure-fire way to achieving no engagement and boring visitors out of their minds.

• Transparency is key – Remember that if you’re not willing to give information to help people, your competitor probably is and your target audience will be really appreciating it!

• Keep it relaxed and conversational – write as though you are writing to friends.

2. VARY THE PLATFORMS

When given the option, some people choose to read, some to listen and others to watch a video. This can depend on a variety  of different things including how individuals best absorb information and also the situation in which they are digesting it. For example, in front of your boss – reading an article is generally a better look than watching a youtube video (even the article is titled “How to Get that Perfect 6-pack for Summer”)!

This can help you gain leverage off content-creating efforts you make also. For example, if you make an awesome educational video to post on your YouTube channel, you can then easily have that video transcribed and turned into a post for your website’s blog.

3. PROMOTE

There is no greater shame (from a digital marketing point of view) than producing truly great content and having no-one see it, so make sure your content is found! A few things to remember are:

• The title is crucial! Having a title which is attention-grabbing and Search Engine friendly will have a massive impact on the views it receives.

• Create content that people want to share – This ultimately comes back to “Step 1: Value is Everything”. If your content is valuable enough, people love to pass it on to friends and colleagues. Social media sites such as Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter are your best friends when it comes to this! Asking people to share your content has been proven to increase the rate of shares also, so don’t be afraid to do so.

• If you do have great content, we highly recommend you spend a few dollars and promote it through Social Media platforms.

SUMMARY

The importance of content marketing is currently going through the roof! As well as being an incredible way of building trust and relationships with your valued customers and prospects, it is also fast becoming the most important determinant of your website’s search engine rankings, which in itself is reason enough to make an effort.

So why not get to it? Good luck, and drop us a message at [email protected] if you need a hand with anything.

Post By:

Georgia McGillivray is an experienced Social Media and Content Marketing specialist having working with brands across the US, UK and Australasian marketplace.

Working in the creative team at Social Garden, Georgia oversees campaign creation right through to delivery across social platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to grow our clients revenue and market positioning.

Content Marketing 101 is her first post on the Social Garden Blog