Instead of writing something and expecting people to read it, involve your viewers in the material. Success is automatic. You get value before you even publish. That’s why it’s called ‘zero-waste marketing.'” Andy Crestodina, a founding member of Orbit Media, is an excellent example of the power of content marketing. Orbit’s blog posts generate thousands of views. Andy is regularly included in rankings of the best content marketers. He often talks about the subject at seminars and is a guest on shows related to the industry. The best part? Orbit Media is constantly available to those that need it the most – marketers in need of web assistance. Consistent investment from Orbit Media in content marketing keeps their ideal customers informed daily. A recent study showed that the majority of marketers strongly support this methodology. When surveyed, 79% of marketers responded that content marketing, accessed through organic traffic, was the most successful for reaching their desired clientele. Tied for second-most popular at 44% was a combination of email and social media marketing. Coming in third was paid search at 37%. Like most tactics, the devil is in the details. We asked marketers what their most successful method of communicating with their intended audience was. Here’s what we learned.

Find & Understand Customers

Liz Coffman, head of content marketing at Riotly Social Media, underscores the importance of getting to know your customers and understanding what they want. Next, you must decide what kind of bond you will have with the consumer. What objectives are they striving to achieve, and what measures are they willing to take? Customers want to purchase from a company they have confidence in- a product tailored to their unique needs—which will make their everyday lives more convenient, joyous, and rewarding. Coffman shared her three-step process for creating a customer-focused strategy:
  1. Understand your customers. What are they looking for? What are the main challenges standing in their way?
  2. Define your relationship with the customer. You break down the wall for customers so they can reach their goals. Your product or service is the answer to those challenges.
  3. BE your customer. You need to know exactly how your customer thinks. You need to “get it.” Making your customers feel understood and like their problems are your problems. And, most importantly, you can solve them.
You might also engage in some tactical listening. Create a list of influential people, individuals you look up to, and prospects; ask some inquisitive questions without a particular answer; then pay attention to what happens. This advice comes from _______.

Where Do Your Customers Spend Time?

Brittany Hardy, the proprietor of Empty Desk Solutions, states that it is critical to think about where an organization’s patrons are located online because every business’s ideal customer will differ from another’s. Blair McKee, the Constellix marketing manager, suggests keeping an eye on certain words (related to your business and its competition) to discover what kinds of forums, weblogs and comparison sites are popular. Your target audience probably visits these websites while exploring which product to purchase or gathering more information about a potential purchase. Once you have identified your target market and its location, you can begin tailoring your promotional efforts to them.

The Winner: Create Content

Alayna Pehrson, a content management specialist at Best Company, emphasizes the importance of creating content with consumers in mind to foster a trustworthy relationship. I am aiming to serve individuals who are facing difficulties with their credit and who require credit repair. I chose to produce material that consists of financial guidance from multiple experts in the field. It dawned on me that customers appreciate reading articles like this that provide helpful information. I want to be the source that can help people search the internet for answers to their questions, and I want to provide them with additional resources relating to credit.

Be Strategic About Content

Will Craig, the founder of LeaseFetcher, declared that they had developed several extensive sections on their site that went in-depth into a specific theme. They utilized quality material to rank for valuable keywords. Creating the different sections took a long time and demanded substantial effort from our content marketers. Still, they ended up being incredibly helpful in allowing us to reach our targeted keywords that we could not turn up in search engine result pages. Success didn’t happen overnight, but we definitely see results.” Due to the timelessness of the content in the central sections, our resource has become very successful in link-building and is receiving a significant amount of organic shares monthly.

Tailor Content to Your Audience

Every audience appreciates different types of content. One way to engage customers is through user-produced content such as custom hashtags, customer reviews, blog posts, images, and videos – according to Ryne Higgins, the senior manager of eCommerce for Peacock Alley. When customers utilize hashtag tagging, rate items, author posts, and post photos and videos, they employ the most effective marketing type: word of mouth. People do not believe what marketers say, but they have faith in their loved ones and specific people with a high level of power. This approach successfully reaches your intended audience, as the individuals who are dedicated to and appreciate your goods will usually be the ones creating content.

Build a Process

Growth Hackers co-founder Jonathan Aufray shared his process for creating the right content with us:
  1. Type on search engines’ long-tail keywords your target audience might type
  2. Check the “related searches” suggested by search engines
  3. Find in those “related searches” perfect titles for blog posts such as “Why + keywords” or “How to + keywords,” etc.
  4. Write a well-researched, interesting article about it
  5. SEO optimize your article
  6. Distribute and promote your article on social media, forums where your target audience is, and your email list and LinkedIn contacts.

Remember That Quality Matters

Jimmy Chan, a freelance photographer from Pixelicious, states that when he first started as a solopreneur, he was desperate to get his portfolio going. Hence, he published any pictures he could get his hands on. Ultimately, he confesses that this was a mistake since his portfolio was a complete mess. There was a lack of fashion and uniformity, and potential customers were uncertain if I was the optimal choice. People who are strongly drawn to your work will eventually discover you. Take time to carefully choose what you post on the internet, and prioritize quality, not just the quantity, of information.

Become an Authority

Brandon Schroth, digital manager for Gillware Data Recovery, revealed that they also produce thought leadership pieces for other publications besides their blog. Partnering with other influential personalities in the field is extremely useful. Gaining recognition within your profession is critical if one wishes to develop and broaden. Gain the respect and admiration of others by establishing yourself as an authority figure.

Conduct Content Audit

Before doing anything, it’s prudent to look back and assess your most successful and least prosperous content. Analyzing your prior endeavors will aid you in finding out what gets the best response from your audience. This will also allow you to recognize what actions should be taken in the future and which paths should be pursued.

Write Down the Problems You Will Solve for Your Target Audience

Your product or service provides a solution to the difficulties faced by your intended customers. Content plays a mentor and educator role to your potential customers by offering solutions to their problems. The combination of your personas document and business specification will assist you in determining the areas of difficulty. At the conclusion, you will have an inventory of issues that will be tremendously helpful in discovering potential subjects for content.

Choose Preferable Content Types

You may be tempted to start a TikTok profile and post clips, but the people who usually watch them may be in a very different place. Otherwise, you will produce content without an address. If your target demographic has a liking for in-depth written material, you might choose to use Whitepapers. If your primary demographic prefers brief content, you may want to consider posting on LinkedIn. Content on the web that informs viewers comprise such materials as posts, vlogs, and other items which offer facts and understanding of an issue. This content benefits individuals desiring more insight into a topic and unbiased views regarding a subject. People can take a break from the realities of everyday life and destress by watching entertaining stories or videos. This material is perfect for a fun read or viewing experience. Guidance material provides counsel on how to have a better quality of life or choose what to do in certain conditions. People often utilize this material when they are seeking guidance but don’t have an idea of where to begin.

Types of Content Marketing

Video Content

Using video is a fantastic way to stimulate involvement from your spectators. Showing a video of a brand’s product or service can increase brand recognition and generate trust in it. The content should be in line with the company’s identity, offer value and benefit to the user, and provide something new or increase the user’s experience.

Blogs / Articles

Writing online posts can assist in promoting information, circulating material to the public, producing opportunities, and enlarging visitor numbers to your website. A blog with search engine optimization (SEO) will create excellent material that helps users locate your web page and boost your website’s position in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

White Papers

A white paper is a record that gives extensive information on a particular subject. They are often employed to advertise or hawked products or services.

E-Books

Electronic books are great for content marketing as they permit companies to reach more people and give them more details than what is available on the website. They are an excellent source of acquiring prospects and buyers.

Webinars

Webinars are an excellent way to stay connected to your audience and gather insights on the latest trends and advice. Organizing a webinar enables you to contact significantly more people than you would be able to without using digital platforms that allow for efficient communication. Webinars are very affordable and straightforward to promote, requiring only a website and some marketing items.

Social Media Content

These can be in any format, such as a blog post or video. They are an excellent way to tell your company’s narrative, advertise fresh products or services, and maintain active communication with your supporters. Releasing content via social media is essential to any advertising endeavor – it allows you to establish conversations and form bonds. By providing informative and enjoyable material, you can cultivate a devoted fanbase that will help promote your company through word-of-mouth publicity.

Identify Your Content Distribution Channels

Some companies craft material to be distributed over social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. People may compose blog entries that can be posted to their webpage or dispatched to their followers. Others may still create videos to post on YouTube or any other video-sharing platform. Try different distribution routes to find out which ones are most effective for your company and intended audience. Trialing various approaches and setups will aid you in finding out which methods have been successful and have reached the highest number of individuals.

Create a Content Calendar

A content schedule outlines the dates and times your organization intends to release new material. A content calendar can be helpful for several reasons. Making sure that your organization releases new material at the correct time can help you maintain a timeline. Secondly, it can assist you in scheduling your promotional activities around fresh material releases, ensuring that your communications reach the right people at the precise moment. Ultimately, having a specific content calendar can enable you to monitor which matters are most intriguing to your readers and devise even more explicit content suggestions. When coming up with a content calendar, it’s essential to remember a few key points: first, make sure you list both when items are released and when they are supposed to go live. By doing this, you can keep tabs on content that has already been completed and content that is still in the works. Consider plans that last for a short period (no more than a week) or an extended period (at least 6 months) when allotting dates and times. You will have sufficient freedom to modify as necessary while keeping some aspects of predictability for your readers/viewers. Avoid stuffing too much into a given date or time frame – it will be more beneficial to spread out new posts over multiple weeks or even months, ensuring they are more likely to be read and shared.

Promote Your Pieces

Promoting your content is a critical part of SEO. You can generate more visits to your site by composing a blog post, inputting content to other websites, and making announcements in news releases. You can also utilize sponsored advertising to advertise your material and transform users into purchasers.

Track Your Results

Measuring the effectiveness of content is crucial. It’s a waste of time and money to create well-crafted content that does not provoke user interaction or lead to sales. We must avoid repeating our marketing missteps and capitalize on our successes. That’s why content marketing KPIs are so important. We can use them to measure our strategy’s effectiveness and modify our techniques for upcoming campaigns. KPIs, which stand for Key Performance Indicators, is highly recommended for individuals involved in digital marketing, and it’s best for clients with excellent content to make the most of them.

Guest Post Disclaimer
The views expressed in this post do not represent the views of 90-Minute Books. The information has not been verified and should be considered an opinion. You are always advised to do independent research.