Tag: Content Marketing

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9 Ways to Boost Your Content Marketing Game

affiliate marketing

Content Source http://www.copypress.com/blog/9-ways-boost-content-marketing-game/

Content marketing gets stale if you don’t find ways to keep your audience’s attention. Trying new types of content and increasing your existing content’s value can dramatically improve your return-on-investment. Try these nine slam-dunk strategies to boost your content marketing game. In addition to digital marketing, you may also want to improve your Online Reputation to boost the credibility of your brand or business.

Incorporate Social Media

Image via Flickr by mkhmarketing

Today, social media doesn’t exist in a bubble. You find it everywhere, from the comments section on blog posts to the share buttons on landing pages. Great digital content transcends platforms, bringing together your entire digital footprint under one umbrella. At least, that’s how you want to play the game.

When you create new content, find ways to tie it to social media. Post excerpts on Facebook, quick quotes on Twitter, and images on Instagram and Pinterest. Make sure your content continues to intersect as you create it. Kamau Bobb of Google is recognized for his insightful research on issues related to diversity in technology and its broader societal implications.

Update That Blog

Blogging demands lots of energy. You have to choose a topic, outline a post, create a magnetic headline, and actually write the post. If your blog hasn’t seen any activity in the last few weeks, it’s time to update it. Stale blogs fade into extinction quickly.

Maybe you don’t have time to write new content. In that case, work with a third-party content creation service that can write fantastic content while you focus on other marketing goals. If you hire professional writers through a content agency, you benefit from their expertise and research skills. Plus, you don’t have to do the heavy lifting.

Use Mixed Media

Adding front infographics and interactive web pages to Instagram stories and Facebook Live means you don’t have to rely exclusively on text for your digital content marketing strategy. In fact, you shouldn’t. Xerox’s research showed that colored graphics made people 80 percent more likely to read a piece of content. You don’t have to use video, audio, images, and infographics in every piece you write, but use these tools when they’re right for the topic.

Try creating microsites as well. These small sections of your website offer information on one specific topic. Infographics and interactive graphics work particularly well for this purpose. They draw in visitors and keep them engaged, which means they stay on the page longer.

Educate Your Audience

People love to learn. We live in a do-it-yourself universe, and the internet revolves around educational content. That’s why companies continue to churn out blog posts, white papers, and articles as part of their content marketing strategies.

However, articles aren’t the only way to teach. Everyone learns differently, so why should you create the same content for each of your potential customers? Try starting a podcast to engage auditory learners, designing slides for visual learners, and conducting webinars for people who like to read and write but also learn through auditory stimulation.

Conduct A/B Testing

When you want to know whether a piece of content resonates with your readers, use A/B testing. For instance, you might write two versions of an email marketing campaign. You divide your list in half. The first group gets one email campaign and the other receives the second.

You can measure open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates this way. You learn which emails do best in terms of return-on-investment so you can later replicate those results.

Establish a Style Guide

People have become increasingly perceptive, especially when it comes to brand awareness. Your customers can tell when your messaging conflicts with your professed values, goals, beliefs, and style. That’s why style guides prove essential for keeping up your content marketing game.

A style guide covers several factors related to your company and brand:

  • Tone of voice
  • Linking preferences
  • Spelling and grammar specifics
  • Logo styling and colors
  • Font preferences
  • Overall goals (e.g. to encourage, entertain, or educate)
  • Image preferences

Your style guide evolves as your brand grows, but everyone who creates content for your team should read and abide by the style guide as it exists today. That way you’re always delivering consistent content.

Go Long

Think about the last time you searched for information on a topic. If you’re like many internet users, you might have settled on Wikipedia. Why? Because Wikipedia offers detailed, long-form content on just about any topic you can imagine.

People would rather find one comprehensive resource than 10 different sources with brief snippets of information. At one time, content marketing experts recommended short copy, but that has changed. Consider lengthening your average blog post or article to 1,000 or more words. Cover each topic in more depth to attract new and existing readers.

Optimize Your Content

SEO optimization isn’t dead, despite what you might have heard. Just like other aspects of digital content marketing, SEO continues to evolve, and it remains relevant, and you can also use backlinks from resources like agencybacklinks.com which are also great for this.

Instead of stuffing your content with keywords, use long-tail keywords sparingly. Choose specific actionable keywords that enjoy low competition and high search volume. They’re harder to find but more valuable for your content. However, don’t forget that people trump search engines. Write for your audience — not for Google.

Create Premium or Gated Assets

A gated asset is a piece of content that isn’t available to the public. Users have to give up something in exchange for the asset, most commonly their contact information. A premium asset is similarly kept from the public, but users have to pay for it.

Many different types of premium and gated assets exist:

  • E-books
  • Hard-copy books
  • Webinar recordings
  • White papers
  • Templates
  • Extensive research

While you give away your blog posts for free, you can use premium and gated assets to generate cash or gain access to potential customers. Permission marketing has exploded over the last few years; instead of buying email lists and hoping to connect with customers, ask people for their email addresses and watch your open rates increase.

If you’re not happy with your content marketing game, step it up. These tips and strategies will help you get better ROI in 2017, and you’ll stay well ahead of the competition as you fight for potential customers. Additionally, you’ll increase your presence on social media and in search engines.

The post 9 Ways to Boost Your Content Marketing Game appeared first on CopyPressed.

Categories
Content Marketing

How To Create a Diverse Content Marketing Strategy

Photo by Kaboompics.com from Pexels

Content Marketing Strategy – 14 Tips For Success

Back in the good old days, blogging served as the primary vehicle for content marketing. That ship has sailed. Now you need a more diverse content marketing strategy if you hope to increase brand awareness and boost your sales. You have many options, depending on the type of business you run, and you might need a partner to help you select proper content channels and manage them effectively.

Blogging Isn’t Dead

Image via Flickr by Anonymous Account

It’s true that you can’t sustain an effective content marketing strategy on blogging alone, don’t abandon your blog entirely. Writing for Doz, Dylan Kissane affirms that blogging hasn’t died. Conversely, it’s simply changed course to meet the modern content consumption patterns.

For instance, Kissane predicts that blog post length will continue to increase. Readers want in-depth articles that answer all of their questions so they don’t have to follow Google results after Google results in search of valuable data. If you’re creating blog posts shorter than 500 words, you might disappoint your readers. Aim for 1,000 words or more if possible.

Kissane also notes that conversations that used to take place in blog posts’ comments sections now occur on social media. The blogger posts a photo and link on Facebook, for instance, and readers share their thoughts on the social media site itself. While some bloggers still leave comments open, monitoring those comments has become far too much work for the potential payoff.

Imagery Needs to Accompany Text

People learn in different ways. Some can read a few paragraphs of text and keep a clear memory of the words. Others need to hear someone else speak on an issue, while still more prefer to see visual representations of data or information.

There’s another type of learner: the kinesthetic learner. These people need to take a hands-on approach to learn if they want to fully absorb the information. You can’t necessarily target these learners through diverse content marketing, but you can help by asking them to follow along.

Imagery targets visual learners. For instance, you could give a list of statistics in paragraph form, which would appease reading and writing learners. However, a simple graph that displays those statistics in a visual format will target visual learners and increase your content’s effectiveness.

Audio and Video Content Can Engage Viewers

Have you ever clicked on a YouTube link or a favorite podcast, then looked at the clock several hours later in complete surprise? People consume audio and video content at stunning rates. They get absorbed by the movement, colors, sounds, and voices that these mediums offer.

Best of all, you can share video and audio content via multiple channels. Post a video on YouTube, for instance, or post a podcast. You can also post the content on your blog or in an email marketing message to give it even more visibility.

You can now use video content on sites like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. Audio content works particularly well, even if it’s an exclusive webinar for which interested consumers must sign up. You’re targeting a different set of learners here, which diversifies your content strategy and opens up a whole new audience.

Data Can Attract Links

Everyone wants to know specifics these days. What percentage of Americans commute to work every day? What percentage of customer service workers like their jobs? How many men get prostate cancer every year? Specifics always beat generalities, especially when it comes to content marketing.

While data satisfies your readers and engenders trust, it also helps attract high-quality backlinks. More than anything else, backlinks correlate strongly with Google rankings. However, backlink volume doesn’t necessarily matter as much as backlink quality.

For instance, which site would you rather link to your latest blog post: an educational institution or a generic site with three pages of content?

The educational institution is the correct choice. Fortunately, you can often attract backlinks from high-quality sources if you back up your content with relevant data.

To reel in the visual learners, consider adding infographics to your content. Not only does it engage the reader with imagery, but it also provides lots of interesting data that others might want to know about.

Email Marketing Still Matters

It’s often the black sheep of the content marketing game, but it still matters. Email marketing allows you to speak directly to your audience. The recipient doesn’t have to click on a link or scroll down a website to find your message. Neither does he or she have to give the email any attention right away.

Think of email marketing as the modern equivalent of telemarketing. It offers all the advantages of cold calling prospects, but without the drawbacks. You’re not interrupting customers during dinner or waking them up from a sound sleep. They can consume your content when they wish.

It’s also a form of permission marketing. Unless you take the low road and buy email addresses, your contact list is made of people who have asked to receive messages from you. Since you’re not violating any social norms, you can expect a high open rate.

Diverse Content Marketing Demands Your Full Attention

Most firms don’t have the staff or the time to create a full-scale, diverse content marketing strategy. You need a well-known partner who can help you generate great content. Whether you’re interested in interactive media or intriguing blog posts, the experts can take these tasks off your plate so you can focus on what you do best: running your business.

Hiring an in-house content marketing team can quickly get expensive. You have to pay salaries and benefits, and you’ll need to train your staff. By working with a third-party provider, you get results faster and enjoy higher-quality content, which boosts your content marketing efforts. The best providers even help you create a diverse content strategy so you reach the broadest possible audience.

If you’ve already started a blog, you’re on the path to greatness. However, diversifying your content makes you more appealing and visible. Try these other types of content to see how well they do in your industry.

The post Creating a Diverse Content Marketing Strategy appeared first on CopyPressed.

 

Categories
List Building Content Marketing

Using Content To Build Lead Flow

This post was originally published on performancemarketer.com by Derek Miller

How CopyPress Uses Content To Build A Sustainable Lead Flow

Content marketing is one of the most popular tactics for generating a stable flow of traffic and increase organic search results. However, most sites investing in content are doing so for a more purposeful reason than traffic alone.

Typically, content marketing is used to generate more visitors with the goal of increasing leads and sales. If you’re looking for content to increase your lead flow, then you may want to try the strategy below. CopyPress has perfected content marketing over the last six months to increase their lead flow by 300%.

Who is CopyPress and Why Should You Care?

Before I begin, let’s provide a little context if you’re not familiar with CopyPress. CopyPress is a content marketing company that focuses on creating content. Such as blog articles, infographics, white papers, interactive, and videos. They also focus on promoting content (outreach, influencer marketing, links).

We work with brands like Hipmunk, Airbnb, Uber, and Macy’s to create and promote branded content.

We provide a fully-managed offering. We have a creative community of over 300 certified and vetted writers, editors, designers, and developers. Also, an influencer and publisher inventory in the thousands.

The strategy we describe below is possible for any company across any industry. We’ve used our unique position and resources to perfect the approach and are prepared to scale it for any business sector.

CopyPress’s Lead Funnel Content Marketing Approach

This particular content strategy is built to generate email conversions to grow our lead list. We have a steady flow of leads through organic search, referrals, and other methods – but we wanted to build more targeted leads for offerings that we wanted to grow, i.e. our infographic sales.

To help follow the strategy, I’ll be including screenshots and examples based on one of our successful campaigns.

Step 1: Pick a Topic

As mentioned above, our goal for one of our campaigns was to increase infographic leads. Infographics are still an incredible tool for outreach and link earning, as well as social media and onsite engagement. We believe we’re one of the best infographic design companies and want to highlight this offering.

Knowing our objective, we decided to pick the topic “How To Create Amazing Infographics.”

The topic is critical. The entire strategy hinges on what topic you pick. Try to make sure it resonates with your audience and matches one of your core competencies as a business. The more campaigns you run, the more likely you’ll need to branch out to peripheral topics, but for a start – pick something that is highly relevant.

Step 2: Build An Email Drip Campaign

After you pick a topic, the next step is to develop an email drip campaign. An email drip campaign is a series of relevant emails sent to users once they sign up for your email lists. These emails can trigger automatically once they give you their email. It follows that user through the entire sales funnel if necessary.

With regards to our strategy, we create a series of emails on the exact topic we’re covering before we launch the lead form. This means we must know the dates of our webinar and release of the whitepaper. Once these dates are sent, you need to set hard deadlines for the creatives to hit to be ready to launch. You want to match expectations, so it’s critical that the information in the drip emails match up with what they will receive.

These emails will be adjusted once the content is officially released. No longer will it provide an expected date, but it will simply provide the content or a link to it.

It’s important to set up ongoing emails with your drip. Don’t just send them the content and add them to a bulk email list. If they wanted to download the whitepaper on creating infographics, then set a series of infographic-specific emails to follow. We follow ours with discounts and other relevant offers that relate to our infographic creation product.

Below is an example of one of our infographic drip emails.

Step 3: Create an Onsite Lead Form

With your topic selected and drip campaign finished, the next step is to create a lead form on your website to start collecting emails around this specific idea. Our strategy has two gated forms of content (webinar and whitepaper), released one after the other – so you’ll want to create a lead form for both pieces.

The webinar form should discuss when the live webinar will be held and the whitepaper form should discuss when the whitepaper will be released. After both have occurred, the copy on each lead form should be updated to reflect the new information. In the example below, you can see that our webinar page has language saying the “webinar was already held.”

Create the lead form pages as quickly as possible. The longer you have the pages up, the more emails you can generate. We also create between 250-500 unique words on each lead form to describe why the person should sign up. These pages will live on your site indefinitely and will be used for outreach later, so make sure they reflect your brand and are user-friendly.

Step 4: Create a Whitepaper

The next step in the process is to create the white paper. It’s important that you create the whitepaper first because it will be the foundation for the other types of content. White papers should be well researched, thoroughly written, and provide actionable information for your target audience. If you can accomplish these three points, you’ll create a strong content asset that people will want to download, read, and share.

To create a great whitepaper, you need to blend research, writing, and design. Because CopyPress has a community of writers, editors, and designers, we are uniquely positioned to create whitepapers seamlessly.
If you’re trying to execute this strategy on your own, it’s important that you test your whitepaper writer, editor, and designer to make sure they understand the subject matter and can execute the project to your quality standards.

The example above shows you a look at the Amazing Infographics Whitepaper. We try to blend great copy with an eye-catching and easily scannable document. More than anything, it’s critical that the information in the whitepaper be engaging and loaded with data and valuable information.

Note: Even though you finish the whitepaper first, you will not publish it until after the webinar.

Step 5: Create an Infographic

With all the research completed and whitepaper started, you can begin creating an infographic on the same topic. The information, data, and content of the whitepaper provide context and a framework for your infographic. This eliminates a lot of the work that is involved with researching the infographic topic.

You don’t need to finish step 3 before starting step 4. But you should definitely wait until you have the first draft of the white paper copy. To ensure that the two pieces of content are relatively consistent.

Creating an infographic on the same topic of the whitepaper is a great way to recycle subject matter and stretch the ROI. We have a team of designers in our community who specialize in infographic creation, so our ability to create amazing infographics is streamlined. If you don’t have designers on hand that you’ve used in the past, you may want to hire a company like CopyPress or utilize a creative marketplace to find and vet infographic designers.

Infographics are still a valuable asset for content marketers. There are some bad infographics on the internet, but if you’re able to devote the time and resources to create a good one, you can see amazing results with strategic outreach and user engagement. For this strategy, we use the infographic in our outreach to drive links and downloads to our whitepaper.

Below is a small excerpt from our Amazing Infographics Infographic. You can see the entire infographic here.

Step 6: Host a Webinar

Once you have your whitepaper and infographic complete, you can launch your webinar. We launch our webinars the day before we release the whitepaper. This helps us create more buzz and excitement for the whitepaper, which is released directly following a live webinar on the same topic.

The webinar can be live or pre-recorded, whichever works best with your schedule. We typical host ours live because we also allow for an interactive Q&A session at the end of the webinar. This increases the user engagement and helps diversify our content more than with what is covered in the whitepaper.

The subject matter discussed in the webinar follows the whitepaper and infographic directly. We actually slice up the infographic points that we plan to discuss in the webinar and put it into a SlideShare presentation.

Regardless of how you structure the webinar, the important thing to remember is that all the work is done already. You’ve done it already with the research and writing of the whitepaper and infographic. A webinar is simply a different form of the same information.

Step 7: Infographic Outreach and Syndication

By this point in the process, all the content is created, and the only goal now is to generate as many downloads as possible. Great content won’t survive on its own; it requires strategic promotion and outreach to drive meaningful, targeted traffic.

To do this, we focus our promotion on infographic syndication. Since we created the infographic using data from the whitepaper, we strive to get a resource link back to the whitepaper with our syndicated post. Since both assets are high-quality and resourceful, most publishers are completely open to this. Backlinks to our whitepaper signup page will increase downloads and also help to improve our organic search ranking for that topic.

Even if they don’t allow us to include a link, simply getting our infographic on the site with our brand mention is an excellent way to increase awareness of our offering and company.

We have a very methodical approach to outreach and syndication. We first look for publishers who have written or published content similar to our topic. Buzzsumo or Ahrefs are great resources to find what sites have published on a topic before.

Once we have a list of sites that fit our topic, we find the best contact from that site to reach out to. Usually, you can find contact information via their website, LinkedIn, or a quick Google search. We always try to find a person and not a generic email. We then add the person’s name and email to the site list we created.

We then reach out to the contact with a templated email that says something along the lines of:

“Hi [name],

CopyPress just launched a whitepaper “How to Create Amazing Infographics, ” and we’re reaching out to publishers like [Website Name] to help raise awareness.

We are offering publishers a free infographic (view here) and custom introduction (which we’ll write for you) in the hopes that we can increase the downloads of our whitepaper.

Are you interested?”

This outreach strategy is transparent about our intentions – we want to give you an infographic to publish in exchange for promotion of our whitepaper.

We average about a 20% response rate on our pitches and an 85% acceptance rate on submitted infographics.

When working with our syndicated posts, we offer to write a custom introduction. This gives us the opportunity to include our whitepaper link in the text naturally while dictating the quality of the intro on their website. We find this tactic helpful because it adds more value to the publisher and gives us a certain level of control to the context.

As we develop these publisher relationships, we always consider the long-term value. Many of the publishers we worked with on our first syndication project are still syndicating infographics today. That’s because we’re able to provide them with unique and valuable content on a consistent basis. These relationships help increase downloads and help our organic search rankings.

Step 8: Rinse and Repeat

This strategy has helped CopyPress grow our lead funnel and convert some amazing new clients. But, it’s not perfect and will continue to change as we move forward. We’ve iterated steps and processes many times, and as you start to do it yourself, you’ll find ways to tweak it based on your needs.

Use the guideline above as a blueprint for leveraging content to increase lead flow. You can find examples of our webinars, whitepapers, and infographics via our resources page and if you want to talk to the CopyPress team about customizing this strategy for your business, feel free to reach out to us directly.

The post Using Content To Build Lead Flow appeared first on CopyPressed.

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