8 Marketing Strategies You Should Start Doing Today to Give Your Content A Boost
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This post was written by Stewart Dunlop, a content marketing expert working for Foundr Magazine.
I’m sure you know by now that good content is the force that drives traffic and boosts sales and awareness.
But there’s more to the story. While engaging content is not easy to create, there are other factors that decide whether your page or channel will become viral or not. Among these, I decided to focus on the types of marketing strategies used to promote your creations regardless of format (blog posts, videos, images, or a combination).
So, today I will mention some of the best strategies that proved effective over the years. Of course, not all the strategies mentioned below will work for your specific situation, so make sure to choose wisely.
Types of Marketing Strategies That Work for Content
#1: Develop Buyer Personas
The very first piece of advice you’ll hear when you begin to think about starting an online business is “know your audience”. In fact, the advice is valid for any business, since your goal is to find people interested in buying your product and service.
Still, in the online world, the best way to get out of anonymity is to address people’s real needs. For instance, if you want to start a blog about fitness at home, it is paramount to understand the demographics of your audience and why they would rather do their exercise at home and not at the gym.
This way, when you create content, you can provide valuable answers to questions they may have and recommend products and solutions for their problems.
Still, before you have the chance to gather an audience and have the possibility to get to know them, you will have to work with personas. These are fictional characters that represent the ideal viewer or buyer.
Their job is to help you see your audience as human beings that fit in a certain age and income category, have interests and hobbies, have a personal life, and can be persuaded to enter your sales funnel. It’s best to build a detailed image of these people, so you can understand what motivates them to click that ‘Buy Now’ button.
Once you have a clear view of your ideal customers, it becomes easier to create content that’s relatable and engaging. As a result, real people will notice your site or channel, and the boost will happen naturally.
#2: Don’t Focus on Boosting
What’s the first thought that comes to mind when you search for new content ideas?
If it’s ‘how can I gather more views’ or ‘I need an idea that will boost my post’s engagement’, you’re approaching the situation from a wrong point of view.
To create relatable posts, you first need to care about the audience. So, to boost engagement and get more views, your focus on things like:
- Problems you can solve using your site or channel
- Value you can create for your readers that no one else has
- Offering inspiration and encouragement
- Provide a positive note by brightening your readers/viewers’ day
- Create an interesting and unique view of the subject you are discussing
As you can see, none of the above are about boosting traffic or getting more shares. However, by caring about the audience, you will put more soul and work into the content you create, which leads to engagement.
In summary, a good content marketing strategy is to put soul into the work you do and show your followers that you truly care.
#3: Spend Time on Headlines
The headline is where it all begins and ends.
If you manage to grab people’s attention with a titillating headline, your content has a chance at becoming popular. But if the headline is common or boring, there is no engagement for you!
For instance, which video would you watch: the one titled ‘This Unicorn Changed the Way I Poop’ or the one called ‘Squatty Potty Ecco Toilet Stool’? They are both talking about the same product from the same company, but the first one is wildly popular while the second one is buried somewhere in YouTube’s graveyard.
So, the best types of marketing strategies are the ones that grab people’s attention and make them want to share the content with their friends.
#4: Be Active
Let’s say you managed to grab people’s attention with a fantastic post. Now, your comment section is blowing up, and people share and like your content like crazy.
What’s your next move?
The best strategy in this situation is to show you care about the engagement you managed to create. This means:
- Replying to comments in a meaningful manner (not just the thank you for your comment/opinion bit);
- Checking people’s content and liking it back;
- Answering questions (if there are any) as soon as possible
- Dealing with any criticism
- Keeping the comment section clean and polite
Your reply to the audience’s engagement is paramount as it will make people feel important and cared for.
#5: Use the Right Platform
Great content must be supported by the right distribution platform. Otherwise, it loses part of its charm.
Furthermore, the right platform is just as important in reaching the target audience. After all, if people who may be interested in what you have to say spend their time on YouTube, you shouldn’t post your content on Instagram, right?
So, before you decide on the platform, it’s best to decide on the type of content you want to create. Once you know this, it gets easier to select the best channel to connect with your audience. And bear in mind that you shouldn’t always choose the most popular platform.
For instance, if you decide to create videos and you know people who would best relate to them are on Vimeo, there’s no point in creating a YouTube channel first. Start with the platform that’s most likely to promote your content to people who can relate and engage with it.
Similarly, in the case of a blog, you should select a CMS designed for blogging and not one created for e-commerce. WordPress is a fantastic option in many situations because it is highly flexible and lets you decide the type of blog you want to create.
#6: Choose Variety
Consistency is good, but no one likes the same thing over and over again!
In fact, this is one of the oldest marketing strategy tricks in the book. Still, the secret with variety is to implement it subtly, as to not shock the audience.
For instance, if your favorite form of content is blogging, you can alternate between the following formats:
- How-to articles where you offer a step-by-step tutorial that will come in handy for your followers;
- Listicles – by far one of the most appreciated and popular pieces of content in the online world;
- A combination of video & text – Studies show that articles with images and videos in their body are more popular and get boosted easier;
- Focus Piece – Do an article where you talk about the people who drive the niche forward (CEOs, business owners, high-achievers, and more);
- Q&A – Here, you can take a Q&A session with your audience, or you can interview someone who is influencing the trends in your niche.
Of course, there are other formats and other types of content, but the secret is to keep your followers on their toes. Offer them variety and keep them wanting more!
#7: Use High-Quality Resources
Where do you take your inspiration from?
Anyone who has ever had to be creative and original at least at one point in their lifetime knows how difficult it can be to find the right inspiration. So how do online creators do it? How do they manage to come up with new ideas everyday and create content that’s interesting and engaging?
Well, every creator has their bad days, but the secret to their prowess stands in the resources they use.
For instance, people who create video content tend to consume impressive amounts of video content themselves. This helps them learn about video editing techniques, filming angles, camera tricks, new products, and interesting discussion topics.
The same happens with bloggers, podcasters, and Instagram influencers. They all have their resources and people they look up to for inspiration.
As such, a blogger who writes on entrepreneurship topics may learn a lot form a resource like Foundr Magazine, while an Instagram influencer who posts on travel topics for new mothers may want to follow Jessica Stein (@tuulavintage).
#8: Create Quality Content
The best way to make sure your work is rewarded is always to create quality.
But won’t that take more time and effort?
True, quality content doesn’t come easy, and it takes a lot of sweat and brainpower to come up with a good idea for your next piece. However, when you do find that perfect topic, and you take the time to make it into a beautiful, valuable post, the results are astonishing!
And I’m sure your followers will be more than happy to wait for your next piece of content rather than get bored with daily posts that don’t bring any value into their lives.
Some marketers will insist on the frequency of posting, but specialists say we focus our strategies too much on metrics. While metrics help in providing us real-time information about the audience’s wants and likes, the best strategy you can employ is to let only the best content shine through.
As such, your followers will know they can count on receiving only the best from your channel or site. And this will get one of the best strategies going: word of mouth.
Wrap Up
I know it’s difficult to keep searching for that perfect idea when other content creators are posting daily. However, if you want people to talk about your creations and engage with your content, you must find ways to stand out from the crowd.
And the best way to do so is through quality, patience, and empathy towards your audience. So, focus less on what the analytics is saying and more on getting to know the needs of your followers. This way, you’ll be able to create value in their lives and influence their thoughts.