7 helpful tips for content marketers

17

Upload: scott-macfarland

Post on 20-Aug-2015

401 views

Category:

Marketing


2 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers
Page 2: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

This eBook contains several helpful tips that are always on my mind as I prepare and produce content marketing initiatives. I f you’ re new to content marketing, the following pages will probably be an ext remely he lpfu l resource to keep by your side. If you’re a seasoned marketing veteran, this eBook should be a valuable reminder to help you stay sharp. !

INTRODUCTION Use Social Media For the Right Reasons

Expand Your Digital Footprint

Think About Your Customer

! Produce Relevant And Engaging Content Posts The Customer Path

The Value Of Hashtags

Create It Once And Share It Many Times

1

Page 3: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

If you consider yourself to be a content marketer, have you thought about how marketing’s definition of those two words actually change the way you think, plan, create and solve the customer’s problems? I know that sounds silly, but it is worth your time and energy to see what it really means. You should also think about what it means to you and your job as a marketer, and how it will change the way you execute initiatives.

”“

INTRODUCTION

If you are still exclusively publishing content about your products and services, stop. And now the cold, hard truth:

No one cares about your brand. They want answers to their questions and solutions to their problems.

2

Page 4: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

!Content marketing’s purpose is to attract and retain

customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing or enhancing consumer behavior. It is an ongoing process that is best integrated

into your overall marketing strategy, and it focuses on owning media, not renting it.

! ”

3

Page 5: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

Social media is an absolute must for good marketing. However, all social channels are not the same and they all have different strengths. Get to know these strengths and leverage them. Once you know these strengths, you can then flex your content marketing muscle and be more effective in reaching your audience with the right content on the right social media channel. !!!!!!

USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE RIGHT REASONS

YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn ranked as the top three sources for referrals in terms of

time on site, pages per visit, and bounce rate. ”“

of mentions come from people with fewer than 500 followers. !!!of users who tweet at a brand expect a response within the hour. !!!of a Facebook page’s interactions happen on photo posts.

Shareaholic Study

91%

53%

87%

4

Business2Community

#1

Page 6: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

One of the best ways to accomplish digital expansion is to use social media. If you are currently using one social media channel, say Facebook, try expanding your brand to Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest or others. You will find out there is a different age range and type of person on each of them, so take advantage of that. Here are some statistics from the Pew Research Internet Project that will help you understand each social media channel better. You may also want to start a company blog, or even create a digital hub where all your company digital resources can be found on your website in one easy location. This will make it easier for your customer to connect and engage without having to spend precious time digging around.

EXPAND YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

of Internet users use Facebook. !!!!of users on Twitter are 18-29. !!!!of Instagram users are African Americans.

71%

31%

34%of online women are Pinterest users.

of LinkedIn users earn more than $75k.

33%

38%

5

Pew Research Internet Project

#2

Page 7: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

Start creating content based on the audience you want to reach and the topic you think will be most effective in reaching that recipient. Content-to-customer relevance is king. Here’s a social media example. A LinkedIn post will be written differently than a tweet, or a Facebook post. This happens because the users who frequent those channels can be different in age and also their expectations. These are different because each of those social channels delivers different types of information in many ways. Knowing your customer is also knowing what vehicle to use to reach them most effectively.

THINK ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMER

#3

Content marketing is more about giving customers what they need then it is about pushing products.

It’s through engaging content that we build the brand and an emotional connection with customers.

– Jim Joseph ”“

Two eBooks specifically written to help marketers understand their customers better.

6

Page 8: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

Content posts are more about storytelling, not selling your brand like an advertisement. When creating content for a social post, think about what questions your customers have and answer them with your content posts. This will create a higher degree of relevance and increase the engagement. Because of this, the recipient of your post will most likely “like” it and maybe even “share” it with their sphere of influence. That is one way to take advantage of social’s strengths. You can also use social media to create a dialogue with the customer, drive them to a landing page on your website, connect with the brand or create a meaningful dialogue to name a few. !Customers can also be a brand ambassador for your company by sharing their own stories. You just might be surprised how frequently your content gets shared. Typically, engaging content that gets shared is highly relevant to the customer and also has an image attached. !!

PRODUCE RELEVANT AND ENGAGING CONTENT POSTS

#4

Facebook content posts with photos are shared 87% of the time

87%

7

Page 9: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

In marketing, creating relevant experiences for your target audience has always been the best way to capture customers. That means creating compelling

content that speaks directly to your target audience. !

According to a recent study by Junta42 and MarketingProfs.com, Creating relevant content is the No.1 challenge among content marketers by a wide margin.

#4

”“

“”

PRODUCE RELEVANT AND ENGAGING CONTENT POSTS

8

Page 10: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

The customer path is one of those pieces of the content marketing equation that seems to be neglected more often than not. It’s critical to understand where your customer is so you can modify your content based on where they are in the sales funnel. They might be just entering the sales funnel and need to be educated, (this is the top of the funnel), or be deep in the funnel ready to make a purchase (not far from the bottom of the funnel). This matters, and your content should be produced based on where the customer is in the sales funnel.

!!

THE CUSTOMER PATH#5 87%

70%

56%

of B2B content marketing is through social media (other than blogs) CMI

of B2B Marketers do not use print distribution in their content marketing CMI

of B2B marketers don’t have a documented content strategy CMI

300%B2B marketers with a

content marketing strategy are nearly 300% more likely

to be effective CMI !

The #1 metric for content marketing measurement is web traffic CMI NO. 1

9

Page 11: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

Social posts need hashtags to be recognized far beyond the friend or follower receiving it. Use a hashtag if you want to tell the world about your topic and expose it to others who are also using that hashtag. !The is the way to get your content post more targeted visibility. Use a hashtag that is a popular word or make up your own hashtag to add personality and creativity for your brand.

THE VALUE OF HASHTAGS

#6

#

10

Page 12: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

#6

Here are some great hashtag resources that will provide you with some deeper insight and research.

!!How to Use the Power of Hashtags in Your Social Media Marketing (JeffBullas.com) !!How To Properly Use Hashtags In Your Social Media Marketing (Business2Community.com) !5 Brilliant Ways to Use #Hashtags in Social Media Marketing (SearchEngineWatch) Photo Credit: JeffBullas.com

THE VALUE OF HASHTAGS

11

Page 13: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

CREATE IT ONCE - SHARE IT MANY TIMES

#7

This is a phrase you need to keep on your mind 24x7. One of the most important things you can do with all of your content marketing is to create it once and share it as much as possible (without going overboard). !You don’t want your content to be out there by itself – share it with others. If your content is alone and not shared on many other channels, then you need to get that started immediately. Repurposing content is critical to increasing exposure many times over. 

Among the top 10 activities on Facebook for Q2 2013, uploading and sharing photos has been the top activity on

desktop, mobile and tablet (Jeffbullas.com) ”

12

Page 14: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

#7

SHARE 94% 84%

78%

carefully consider how the information they share will be useful to the recipient. (SocialMediaToday)

share because it is a way to support

causes or issues they care about.

(SocialMediaToday)

sha re i n fo rma t i on  on l i ne

because it lets  them stay

connected  to people they

may not otherwise stay in touch

with. (SocialMediaToday)

CREATE IT ONCE - SHARE IT MANY TIMES

13

Page 15: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

RE-CAPThese are just a few tac t ica l ways to propel your content marketing to new levels. It’s not an i n s t a n t a n e o u s process. However, If you can follow these basic guidel ines, y o u r c o n t e n t marketing will be on the road to capturing more qualified leads a n d c o n v e r t i n g those leads into sales sooner than you think. !

Use Social Media For the Right Reasons

Expand Your Digital Footprint

Think About Your Customer

! Produce Relevant And Engaging Content Posts The Customer Path

The Value Of Hashtags

Create It Once And Share It Many Times

14

Page 16: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

HubSpot http://blog.hubspot.com/insiders/content-marketing-in-2014 !CMI http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/ !!Different Strengths http://blog.tailwindapp.com/importance-of-social-media-differences/ !Percentages http://www.business2community.com/brandviews/buffer/10-surprising-important-social-media-stats-need-know-0930686#!60x7c !Shareaholic Study https://blog.shareaholic.com/social-media-traffic-trends-04-2014/ !Pew Research Internet Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/demographics-of-key-social-networking-platforms/ !Content-to-customer relevance is king https://econsultancy.com/blog/63638-content-is-critical-but-relevance-is-king#i.aglf6n1a5xd27q !Anatomy Of A Customer Touch Point http://yourbrandexposed.com/anatomy-of-a-customer-touch-point/ !Are You Thinking About Your Customer Path? http://yourbrandexposed.com/are-you-thinking-about-your-customer-path/ !Jim Joseph http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232294 your content gets shared http://socialmediatoday.com/varuntulsyan/1834911/what-most-popular-content-shared-social-media !!

!87% of the time http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/photos-generate-engagement-research/ !2 Quotes http://www.inboundwriter.com/content-marketing/6-tips-for-creating-more-relevant-content-2/ Customer Path http://www.slideshare.net/encmarketing/are-you-thinking-about-thcustomer-path Sales Funnel http://blog.hubspot.com/insiders/improve-sales-funnel-efficiency !CMI: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/10/2013-b2b-content-marketing-research/ !56%, 70%, 87%, 300% http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/10/8-shocking-content-marketing-research-facts/ !Use a hashtag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag !How to Use the Power of Hashtags in Your Social Media Marketing http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/05/07/how-to-use-the-power-of-hashtags-in-your-social-media-marketing/ !How To Properly Use Hashtags In Your Social Media Marketing http://www.business2community.com/social-media/properly-use-hashtags-social-media-marketing-0860839#!baziWs !5 Brilliant Ways to Use #Hashtags in Social Media Marketing http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2327748/5-Brilliant-Ways-to-Use-Hashtags-in-Social-Media-Marketing !share it as much as possible http://blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-frequency-guide !!!

SOURCES:

15

Page 17: 7 Helpful Tips For Content Marketers

!!5 Brilliant Ways to Use #Hashtags in Social Media Marketing http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2327748/5-Brilliant-Ways-to-Use-Hashtags-in-Social-Media-Marketing !share it as much as possible http://blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-frequency-guide !Is Your Content Alone? https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140527122501-19519738-is-your-content-alone?trk=mp-reader-card !94% | 84% | 78% http://www.socialmediatoday.com/varuntulsyan/1834911/what-most-popular-content-shared-social-media !Jeff Bullas http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/09/20/12-awesome-social-media-facts-and-statistics-for-2013/ !Social Media Today http://www.socialmediatoday.com/varuntulsyan/1834911/what-most-popular-content-shared-social-media !Among the top 10 activities on Facebook for Q2 2013, uploading and sharing photos has been the top activity on desktop, mobile and tablet (Jeffbullas.com)

SOURCES:

YourBrandExposed is designed to look at digital with an eye into the future using a creative, innovative marketing perspective.

We’re a consultative and tactical resource for companies looking to leverage the power of digital, social and content marketing.

!!

Scott MacFarland

Web: www.Yourbrandexposed.com

Twitter: @scmacfarland

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 561.339.2278

Published: LinkedIn | Pulse | Huffington Post

!!

16