Editor’s Note: Here at Dispatches, we are always looking for ways to help our readers do things. For some of our readers, that means helping navigate the working world, for others, it means assisting in the ever challenging question,“what’s for dinner?” For still others, it means figuring out how to balance family life with everything else. In an effort to aid in all of these endeavors, we have collaborated on this article written specifically for our readers.
Content marketing is not just for bug businesses. Solopreneurs and small businesses should be thinking about how to make content marketing work for their organization.
Done well, content marketing can boost online presence, increase customer engagement and get useful material in front of the right audience. Channels include everything from Twitter to YouTube. SEO statistics show content marketing is growing among all sectors. Businesses should be thinking of ways to capitalize on the opportunity.
Brainstorm Your Ideas Ahead Of Time
Ben Young is the founder of a digital marketing agency. His advice is that businesses sit down and just have a brainstorming session at the beginning of every month. He recommends coming up with 20 ideas and topics and then drip feed those ideas and topics across multiple platforms over the course of a month. Experts then suggest that you use analytics to follow trends on your posts. Keep a log of which are the most popular and to which people return most often. This way, you can discover the type of content your audience is interested in, and what they’d like to see more of in the future. It’s also worth regularly checking sites like Quora. Questions often appear on Quora when the answers are not readily available through a conventional search. By producing high-quality, informational material, you can attract these people to your site. This is particularly helpful if your business can solve the questions that they are asking.
Generate Eye Catching Content
The evidence suggests that people typically spend less than a minute on any given web page. That means you’ve only got a small amount of time to capture their attention and communicate your ideas. Posts should be short about 350 words or less with easily digestible chunks of information. The best strategy, according to web designer Tom Warthen, is to provide tidbits. Give general overviews or heading titles, and then let site visitors drill down into the details when needed. It’s also important for small businesses to make their headlines as attractive as possible. One good strategy is to use a pop-culture reference familiar to the audience.
Optimize For Search
It’s important that modern content marketing is optimized for search to get the most traffic possible. Optimizing for search is relatively easy to do, using tools like Google keyword tool. Try using keywords in titles and the names of images on the blog.
Make Your Content Easily Shareable
Once you’ve produced new content, promote it through your business’s social media accounts. This should help build interest and generate views. If your business is B2B, it’s a good idea to post using LinkedIn groups. When you post on the news section of groups, the group admin sends out an email to all members linking to the blog. The blog itself can then be easily shared, using social plugins, like AddThis.
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