In the first part of this article, we talked about what content marketing is and how to do it right. Let’s get back on track with some other key rules to follow in the world of content marketing.
Rule #6 – Make Content a Competitive Advantage
Anyone can look up their competitors online to engage with their content. Ask yourself honestly — is there a competitive edge that you might be missing? Is the content of your competitors more accessible? Could it be more aesthetically pleasing? Don’t overlook opportunities for a competitive advantage!
If you want to be a content leader in your industry, you’ll need to present your company as a resource for information that pertains to your products and services, and you need to make sure that you stay ahead of your competitors. This means you’ll need to present reliable information in a manner that customers can understand, relate to, and engage with. Most companies don’t do this, so make the effort and you will probably be ahead of the competition. You’ll want to develop a plan to have content that is better and more consistent than the content of your competitors.
Rule #7 – Use Website Taglines and Headers
People read online content like they read magazines and newspapers. They are drawn to headers, and they will use navigation items to get more information. This means you’ll have to use headers and taglines to draw people into your content.
Headers should be clear and concise. It is sometimes a good idea to have witty headers, but clarity is absolutely essential. Visitors on your website need to know what you’re talking about! Clarity is also important when it comes to taglines. Taglines are 8-12 word phrases that explain the key benefits of your company, so they can really help to draw in the attention of visitors on a website. Google loves headers and taglines, so it is important to keep them in mind and use them effectively.
Rule #8 – Communicate in Layers
Taglines, headers, bullet points, and brief paragraphs — these are the layers between your content and your potential customers. Your content needs to be accessible! So make sure to organize it in a sensible and friendly manner. You can have as much content as you’d like on your website, so long as you organize it effectively by communicating in layers. Visitors should be given the opportunity to dig as deeply as possible into your content, yet at the same time, it is very important that they are not overwhelmed with too much information.
Rule #9 – Use Captions with All Media
The use of visual and audio media can dramatically enhance the success of your website. However, it is important to support photos, sound tracks, and other media with the information that you are trying to convey to visitors on your website. If the media on your site is not adequately explained, then ten out of ten customers will explain it for themselves. You don’t want anybody to get the wrong idea, so make sure that your website is adequately informative, and caption your media!
Rule #10 – Cultivate a Culture of Content Marketing at your Company
To bring all these rules together in an effective content strategy, there must be a corporate culture that respects the importance of content marketing. Your marketing team needs to be focused on what works. Content is important! Getting your company to respect the importance of content with an effective strategy can be quite challenging. However, this challenge is dealt with in successful companies through effective incentives and a rewarding culture of marketing. This process begins in training, and its success depends upon on the marketing director and CEO’s vision for the company.
Know Your ROI!
Any company that can invest in these rules will be able to see a noticeable ROI. That brings us to another content marketing tip — know the returns on your investments! Set up systems that can track the return arising from changes in the operations or design of your business. If you’re investing money in writers, research, or web developers or designers, then you should know exactly what your money is worth. The only way to do this is with systems that measure effective ROI. Watch Google analytics to monitor your online content, and develop a way to measure when clients, leads, or new customers come in.
Keep in mind that content on the web can last forever. If you write a great blog post that people can rely upon for information, then you might easily have a stream of new clients for years and years. So don’t underestimate the importance of content marketing! I hope you enjoyed these tips, and feel free to contact Intuitive Websites for more information.
