5 Actionable Tips for Your Next Content Marketing Campaign
I recently came across a question on Quora that asked ‘Is Content Marketing Hard?’. After reading a lot of answers there, I found out that most people find it hard to make their content shareable. Though it is a known fact that the biggest challenge a marketer faces is related to content creation, I feel content distribution and promotion is equally hard.
The Instagram post made me ponder on the fact that in the modern digital landscape, it is really hard to promote content. Everyone is publishing something or the other. Be it social media platforms or blogs, the internet is filled with content, making the space crowded and more competitive.
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With so much activity on social media every second, do you
think simply publishing the ‘Publish’ or ‘Share’ Button will make an impact? Definitely
not. And you will have to create content in a way that enhances its
shareability quotient.
Anyone who reads must be influenced to share your content on social media and other platforms. Now you might be confused on how will you do that? Here are some tips to help you out!
Tip 1: Kindle Curiosity Among your Readers
According to research,
people read and share content that offers something of value i.e. clarity around
a query or topic they want answers for. If you manage to fill information gaps strategically
through your content, more people will read it and would share it with others.
So, how to strategically deal with this aspect? You need to
spark curiosity among readers regarding the information you intend to share. If
you manage to make someone curious with your approach, they will surely share
it with others.
There are many ways to appeal to someone’s emotional curiosity. I am listing a few here:
- Give a sneak peek into what you are about to tell
This approach is useful when you are trying to bring visitors to your website from social media or other platforms. Give a bit of information and mask the rest. This can be wrapped as a preview.
For example, if you are writing about tips you wish to give to your readers, provide basic information but don’t fill the gap already. Prompt them to visit your blog for more tips. - Offer a Solution
When you successfully manage to help people realize the information gap, fill it up by offering them an instant solution. This way they would be eager to share newfound knowledge with others on social media.
Tip 2: Focus on Content Design
Almost every online publisher focuses
on creating a useful blog post but not many pay attention to the content
design. Now, you might be thinking what is content design? It is the flow of
your content and influences:
- A reader’s decision to read or abandon the page
- Their willingness to link it to a resource or share it with others
There are many things you can do to refine your content design
like:
- Make use of informative, relevant and high-quality images
- Don’t clutter your color palette. Just stick to two or three colors for your blog
- Structure your content by adding bullet points, writing short paragraphs for hasty readers
Tip 3: Enhance Your Content
Utility Metric
Anything and
everything you write should be practical. What I mean by that is instead of
offering them theoretical knowledge, focus on providing practical advice for solving
their issues or problems. Don’t write elaborately about the technical aspects,
rather focus on how they can solve something by providing step-by-step
instructions.
When your content is
more useful in the real world, it becomes a practical asset for a reader. If
you are into food blogging, tear down your recipes in the form of steps. If you
provide technical support, give them checklists to comply with.
If you are writing something technical, make sure to add real-life examples. That way your blog would be more interesting. Interesting and practical advice has an enhanced shareability quotient in the modern world.
Tip 4: Add Social
Currency To Your Content
This is a great hack
that can work wonders for your content marketing strategy. Embedding social
currency in your content can make it go viral in a short while.
What social currency
is and how it will help you? Well, social currency is associated with online
influencers. It is based on the notion that people love to share things that
makes them look good. Here are some actionable tips to add social currency to
your blog:
- Drop in an email to influencers in your industry asking them a simple question about a topic you are looking to write upon.
- Tell them you are interested to add their opinion to your content and will provide a backlink.
- Add their response to your content
- After you publish the content, e-mail them the link to your post asking them to share the same.
Influencers love when their authority is strengthened. So, most likely they will share your content with thousands of their followers. What’s more, if you manage to get a response from a well-known influencer, people will start sharing your content, automatically.
Tip 5: Add Call to Action in Your Conclusion
Don’t leave your readers wondering what they should do after
they have read your post. Be a bit smart by asking them to share your content on
social media or leaving a comment. When your content ends up on a specific call
to action, the chances of readers following the same increases manifolds.
Wrapping Up
Content marketing is not that hard if you be a bit smart in your planning and execution. I hope these tips will help you refine your content marketing strategy and achieve your digital growth goals. Confused about something? Get in touch for free content marketing consultation.
Have I missed something here? I would love to know your personal hacks and tips to improve content marketing efforts. Let me know some tips you use in the comments section.
