Everybody wants to be at great at content marketing, but not many people have what it takes to truly be a great online writer.
Marketing your content online takes a lot more than just publishing a blog post and expecting everyone to follow all over themselves in reverie.
Do you have what it takes to create awesome content marketing? Find out...
RELATED CLASS: Developing a Content Marketing Strategy
If you will want to be terrible at content marketing, go ahead and don't create any type of content on a regular basis. If creating infographics, video blogs, podcasts, or in-depth articles is something you do monthly or quarterly, congratulations—you will make a horrible content marketer!
The core tenet of crafting online content is to just do it already. Make yourself have a publishing calendar, even if you're a one-person operation. Writtent.com has a lovely post on the '15 most life-changing editorial calendar tools', which include DivvyHQ, Trello, GoogleDocs, and SocialCast.
Why is creation important?
According to Izideo, blog content leads to 434% more indexed pages, gives websites 97% more indexed links, and to 90% of consumers find custom content useful.
2. Your Blog Design is Outdated
Making sure that your design is ecstatically pleasing and all your CMS plug-ins are current is just as important to content marketing been the type of content that you create. You can have the best content in the world, but if it is delivered on a terrible looking platform, readers will subconsciously not take it as seriously or not read it at all.
3. Your Content Is Stale
Great content goes beyond the visual layout of your content and online presence. It also means that YOU must be up to date as well. How can you create good content if you don't know what's going on in your industry? Use a RSS reader like Feedly or BlogLovin' or a news source such as Google alerts, that will let you know when headlines concerning your top keywords appear in search results. Focus on using the most up-to-date news, trends, and statistics in all of your content.
Why is updating important?
Moz reminds us that Google had a freshness update in 2011, which was measured all indexed documents for freshness, then scored each page in relation to the type of query. The freshness and relevance to current events in your content can directly impact your search engine rank.
4. You Aren't Nice to Strangers
Some companies are so protective of what they're doing online making themselves terrible networkers. In order to get the respect from others in your industry and your consumers, you have to be willing to welcome him outside opinions onto your content platforms, as well as making it a priority to get your content published elsewhere. Guest blogging is a huge part of this strategy, and it should always go both ways. In addition to regularly posting guest post on your own website, you should also be asking other websites or companies that you respect if you can publish content on their site.
If you are technically competitors or are providing the same service, don't automatically throw it out. While Pepsi and Coke should it be writing content free of each other's pages, two consultants that both specialize in public speaking shouldn't be afraid to collaborate with one another.
Why is guest blogging important?
Daily Statistic reports that 57% of companies that actively guest blog have acquired a customer exclusively through a guest blog. Furthermore, guest blogging companies generate 126% more leads than businesses who don't, and online users spend three times more time reading blogs and social media content, compared to email.
5. You Don't Talk to Anyone
Just as with guest blogging, other aspects of content marketing are a two-way street. As in a terrible content marketer knows, completely ignoring comments or questions on your blog posts or other platforms, such as social media, is almost the same as not publishing any type of content at all.
If the company won't take the time to interact with their target audience on social media or content platforms, what would make a user thinks that they would give them the courtesy of great customer service when they actually buy a product? Responding to feedback and questions on the content you published should be part of your editorial calendar strategy.
Why is online response important?
Social Media Today reported that customers end up spending 20 to 40% more with a company that engage and respond to their customer service requests over social media. Additionally, 71% of consumers who get a quick responses via social media are more likely to recommend that company to other people
If you want to get out of the terrible content marketing right, the first step is: begin to care. The second step? Get passionate about the type of content you want to put online and get to it. The sooner you start crafting great content for your own platforms, as well as others, the quicker you can start engaging with your target audience.
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