Last updated on November 5th, 2022 at 12:36 pm
Content marketing is non-negotiable for today’s marketers since it is an effective way to reach target audiences. As such, nearly all modern companies and their marketers have solid content marketing strategies that are successful to varying degrees. According to a Semrush survey of 1,500 companies across 20 industries, only 19% of businesses believed their content marketing efforts were quite effective in 2021. Fortunately, you can constantly optimize your content marketing approach for better results. Here are some of the best ways to improve your content marketing efforts.
- Set goals
Many experts agree that if you don’t know what you expect to get from content marketing, you will never achieve it. Therefore, it isn’t enough to have a content marketing strategy that identifies your target audience and specifies how you will deliver value to them. In addition, you must have a vision for what your content must achieve within a year. For instance, how much interaction, traffic, or followers it should generate are great goals, to begin with. Then, break down these annual goals into monthly milestones that you can easily achieve.
Furthermore, determine what actions are worth completing daily and weekly to achieve your large goals. For example, let’s assume you want to double your website traffic by the end of the year. You can set a weekly target of dedicating an extra hour to choosing keywords for SEO. This way, you will find more of the right keywords that can help you rank higher and realistically double your traffic, as long as you use them properly.
- Mix things up
You are definitely not alone if you rely heavily on one kind of content. Blog posts and articles are reportedly the most common types of content used by 73% of marketers. Although these content types are effective, it is prudent to consider that using them alone will hardly make you stand out from your competitors. Consequently, consider mixing things up to improve your content marketing efforts. You can deliver your new content in other ways like listicles, surveys, Q&As, think pieces, and infographics. Podcasts are also incredibly popular in North America these days, so you can launch one to engage with your target audience in a distinct way. Consumers are increasingly drawn to video content as well, so it would help to consider starting a video series to reach them.
- Stick to a schedule
Your followers appreciate consistency; much like knowing who you are and what you represent, they like knowing when they can expect fresh content. Therefore, create a defined content schedule and abide by it to show consistency. This schedule may differ from channel to channel, and that’s fine as long as followers are aware of the differences. However, many experts suggest that blogging two to four times per week is the best way to enjoy success with your content, so keep this in mind. Your followers will be constantly engaged if your content is high-quality and regular. Therefore, always uphold your standards to ensure that they do not stop coming back due to repeated disappointment.
4. Outsource
Outsourcing can be a great way to save money and make your marketing better. And it can take many forms. From paying an outside company to handle your social media posts to hiring a virtual assistant to help you with research and writing. By outsourcing some of your work, you can free up time and energy to focus on other tasks. Which is especially valuable if you’re a small business owner where time is in short supply. And by hiring an outside company, you get expertise in a field you might not know a lot about.
There are many different types of outsourced marketing, so knowing what kind of outsourcing you want is essential. For example, if you want someone to write blog posts for you, that person needs to be a writer. If you want someone to create graphics for your website, then the person needs to have a good eye for design. And in these modern times, you can even outsource to an AI program. Pictory is an excellent example of this. It’s an AI program that’ll make short, sharable videos from your existing long-form content.
Each type of outsourcing will have its own required skills and experience, and matching these skills with the task at hand is crucial.
