It's been my experience that when business owners hear the words, "content marketing" or "content strategy," they're unsure what marketers are talking about, and they nod their heads like they know what we're talking about.
I hate that.
Content marketing is a strategy to attract, engage, and keep an audience by creating and sharing relevant articles, videos, podcasts, and other media.
By using this approach in your marketing plan, establishes thought leadership, promotes products, and services, creates consistent brand awareness, and keeps your business top of mind when it's time for customers to buy what you're selling.
The other part of content strategy that gets left out is developing this thought leadership regularly on your website to help with your search engine optimization. Knowing and using your keywords in the content on your website, videos, podcasts, and NOW social media amplifies your authority. [Click Here For Last Week's]
Who doesn't want to be doing that?
A lot of businesses. This means there’s an opportunity for your business!
When I first worked in the hospitality industry, the company's CEO promised that a new website would happen in the first year I worked for them as part of my taking that position. The website was old and was not optimized for search. During my interview, I pointed out that other hotels and restaurants weren't doing this, and there was an opportunity. It took showing my new boss these opportunities and creating a plan to present in my second interview.
Content strategy is often cheap, and I was willing to develop a web content plan that included our most searched keywords to help boost our authority with Google. This was not part of my job description but I felt I needed to make this extra effort to my job duties. I created a six-month calendar and wrote a weekly blog that I then used for email marketing and social media.
In the end, our website shot to number three in all of our search terms and the company I worked for and the phones started to ring with hotel reservations. This also leads to a consistent email marketing campaign and a simplified social media strategy.
Here are some of the content types to think about when building your marketing plan.
Blogs:
Blogs help you grow an online presence, establish yourself as an expert in an industry, and draw more quality leads to all pages of your site.
Pro tip: The key to your blog ... know your keywords.
Podcasts:
Similar to blogging, podcasts are also a great way to build community and thought leadership with potential customers interested in what you have to say. While it's a little more technical than writing a blog, it's a great way to stand out and become the go-to in your field, which is a thought leadership win!
Podcasts are pretty powerful because your audience can hear what you have to say, which builds know, like, and trust.
Pro tip: Talk using your keywords and transcribe on your website for search optimization gold.
Video:
Creating videos and posting them to YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok can be one of the most powerful ways to become the go-to in your industry, yet, this is one most business owners get hung up on. Video can be technical but learn some basics, like using simple editing tools on social media platforms and then repurposing for all platforms, including your website, can be incredible for lead generation.
Pro tip: Search optimize your video content. Read more on last week's post.
If you’re ready to stand out on social media and your website, steal my simple six week content strategy jumpstart workbook! Learn how to take the website first approach to your digital marketing and create a simple plan that both works for your website, email and social media marketing.