According to a Forbes study, 90% of marketers use content in their strategies to attract, engage, and delight customers. This highlights how the art of content marketing has revolutionised the way businesses connect with potential customers, moving beyond traditional methods.
Content marketing has been changing the game for us every year and as the Content Marketing Strategist, I couldn’t be more kicked. I shared some practices from my previous experiences and adopted some of the new ones with the fast-changing requirements of consumers when it comes to content. Either way, it has been exciting.
So, whether you are the “King” or “Queen” (in my case) of content, one thing is certain - with the right content marketing insights, you sure can be the agent of change!
From my own experiences of carving the content-focused path, freshly brewed and strongly fragranced, here are a few lessons that I learned in the art of content marketing:
1. Don’t Offer Just Anything Interesting - It Needs To Add Value
For many people, it might be fascinating to know what the Queen of England is up to each second of her day, but it might not offer them any value. You need to offer what they need, not just something which might interest them.
Let’s face it, with each piece of content you offer, you are trying to achieve one or all the following:
- You are trying to influence a buyer who has no reason to switch
- You are trying to gain the attention of a new prospect who doesn’t know she needs you
- You are trying to turn a competitor’s audience into yours who might or might not be happy with them
No matter what you are trying to achieve, you can distract them by offering something interesting or what exactly they are seeking from you. This will help you turn the readers or audience into paying customers.
2. Have A Documented Content Strategy
I have noticed it slipping away so many times from my own schedule and I can say from experience - it hurts.
But wait, do I mean documented as in writing it all down or is it something else?
No, it is not just writing it all down, a documented content marketing strategy is a bunch of proven and actionable steps which yield predictable results, which are reduced to writing. So, instead of just ‘winging it’ or re-inventing the wheel each day, you basically look at replicating what already gave you great results.
This cannot only reduce the number of coffee takeaways you are probably getting to mitigate the ever-increasing stress of creating new content each day but can also lead to smarter decisions - such as not getting too many coffee takeaways.
Additionally, using the popular HubSpot CRM for content marketing can help you prepare your draft which you can access at any time. Without missing a single piece of information, you can edit the draft and use it to create a compelling and engaging copy which gains user attention.
3. Get Over Your Glossophobia!
Now what is that?
Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking - which explains why not too many marketers are doing much public speaking even though they might know a great deal of content marketing tactics. Because 74% of all people suffer from it!
Wondering why this is important?
Think about it! Speech is also a part of content marketing strategy and some great content at that!
With the right body language, gestures and smile, one can make an irreversibly positive impact on the audience. In fact, public speaking might be the most overlooked type of content that we don’t think we should tap into. The reasons could be many, from the actual fear of public speaking (thank God, stats speak) to not feeling the need to establish an entirely different platform for content delivery. But the result is common - you are missing out on a lot of prospects who are more interested in listening than reading.
4. Literally, Just Let Them Snack on Content
According to LookBookHQ, “Almost 60% of marketers repurpose content 2-5% times. They generate “Snackable” content based on assets.”
The only way you can have your audience snack on your content is by repurposing - it's a part of the content creation strategy. You might not always have the time, budget or resources to keep generating new content and many organisations have already come to terms with it. So, instead of just writing anything (refer to point 1st) which adds no cherry to the top of the creamy content, just make an ice cream out of it or a fudge. How about a double-layered cake?
If you are not bothered about the calories, just take that piece of content your audience engaged with the most and re-make it with some beautiful designs, graphics, images or even quotes.
5. More, And Some More - No, Don’t Do It!
Source: CMI
Looks like you don’t have the luxury to be bothered by the calories after all! According to CMI, 72% of marketers are already producing significantly more content than they did a year ago!
Would you like some more snacks?
Well, you cannot help it. With about 2 million blogs published a day, it’s easy for someone to not go for your snack. It’s both good and bad to stand out.
Good because not everyone might be producing quality content, and bad because what if you are not doing it either!
You need to create more visually appealing and in-depth content if you want your audience to keep asking for more. And when they do that, don’t just literally give them more - in terms of content, give them more - in terms of quality. This is the only thing that adds value to your content and encourages readers to opt for your content marketing strategies or solutions.
Infact, the provider can help you set up your marketing strategy and execute it directly from HubSpot, minimise risks and enhance content quality.
6. It’s All About How You Make Them Feel
Ever wondered why you get so pissed looking at the wrong spelling of your name on your Starbucks coffee mug? You might have a cringe or a gritted smile on top but your insides might as well be screaming at how unfair it is to not have your name spelt correctly! Well, that’s because you feel terrible. And that’s because you associate so closely with your name more than anything else.
It’s the same with your customers too. A little custom content goes a long way.
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Custom content is more like building affinity towards your existing customers, rather than pulling in the new ones. And you’ll know just how important it is when I tell you that about 61% of consumers’ buying decisions are influenced by custom content. I didn’t say that - Dragon search marketing did! Custom content might just be what you need to retain your existing customers if by any chance you are failing to keep them interested in you.
By using HubSpot, you can set up the persona and target audience to understand what your customers are looking for. Once you have the analysis in place, it would be 4X times easier to customise the content as per your audience's needs. This approach proved more helpful when you are crafting a b2b content marketing strategy for medium to large-scale enterprises.
7. Original – Human Generated Content
In the era of artificial intelligence, human-generated content has been somewhat overshadowed. While AI-generated content often achieves high rankings, it can fall short of creating genuine connections with human needs. This is why human-generated content remains essential.
We have heard all sorts of things about how important it is to have authentic content, and we’d all agree that those sorts of things are correct and most of us do focus on that anyway. So, what’s the point here?
According to Social Media Examiner, 58% of marketers said that original “written” content is the most important type of content, outdoing visuals and videos. That’s the point!
Focusing on creating user-generated content is the actual art of content marketing than you think. For small companies with limited resources or those unable to invest in visual content and videos, this approach can be particularly beneficial. By concentrating on blog posts, articles, case studies, and white papers, you can still achieve significant success with original written content.
8. Personas that help everybody
Persona is the ideal representation of your potential customer. Without persona in place, it wouldn't only be challenging but an ineffective approach to target customers. In simple, we can say persona is the initial step for generating compelling copies which is why you should prioritise it before stepping ahead for the content-creating strategy for your client.
According to research, 71% of companies that exceed revenue and lead goals have documented personas.
Some of your audiences organically travel the seamless funnel of Lead, Opportunity and Buyer, while others won’t. But don’t simply shun them because they may provide long-term value even if they can’t turn into customers.
If you keep them engaged, they can serve as the connecting link between you and new customers that you can acquire. They can also be the right influencers, amplifying your reach in the market.
The point is, take the time you need to research, quantify and define your target persona, eventually also including those who were the targeted prospects before, and now are influencers. Share the documented persona with everyone in the team so they know who they are trying to engage.
But remember, personas do need to be updated - thanks to the ever-changing mind of a regular consumer. So, before they lose relevance, re-work on your persona regularly.
Conclusion
How people interact with content today can say a lot about how they consume it. A good marketer is already aware of it and another one is making you aware right now. A lot has changed, moved, evolved day by day and a lot is coming in the year ahead. But the only thing that remains constant is the dynamic buying behaviour, quality content, and how your prospects and clients consume content. Leads are everywhere, from your Facebook friends list to your next-door pub - all you must do is get the right content marketing strategy!
How TransFunnel can help you?
TransFunnel, a HubSpot certified partner, specialises in helping you leverage the content hub to streamline your content planning and develop a compelling strategy with ease. Our experts will assist in setting up buyer personas in HubSpot, ensuring your content effectively targets and resonates with your audience. With a comprehensive content marketing strategy and a dashboard view of your personas, we enable you to accurately identify customer needs and address them with tailored solutions.
Why Choose Us?
Expertise in Content Marketing: Our team has extensive experience in delivering effective content marketing solutions.
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So, what is stopping you from taking your marketing efforts to the next level? With our expertise and the right strategies in place, your goal is not too far.
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