According to content marketing expert Neil Patel, just 42 percent of B2B marketers consider themselves effective at content marketing. That implies 58 percent that don’t consider themselves effective at content marketing.
Content marketers are also prolific, says Patel: 60 percent create at least one piece of content per day.
In short, content marketers are busy and not all that effective. These problems are even more acute at rapidly growing firms, where marketing needs change on a monthly or even weekly basis. If you’re struggling to get a handle on your firm’s content marketing efforts, try these tips on for size.
- Invest in Original Research
Originality always wins. Divert resources from more derivative marketing efforts to an original research vertical responsible for producing white papers and case studies that your clients and prospects are likely to find useful. Become known as a source of insight and original information, and the rewards — increased site traffic, new business — will follow.
- Post Regularly on Medium and LinkedIn
Continue posting regularly on Medium and LinkedIn, if you’re already doing so. Create content relevant to your core audience, even if it’s not earth-shattering or wholly original. Singapore-based financial services firm Asiaciti Trust’s Medium page is a great example: a repository of actionable content for readers seeking unbiased advice.
- Use Social Media to Drive Traffic to Your Content
Social media marketing is often treated as wholly separate from content marketing. This is a fallacy, as anyone who’s used “social” platforms like LinkedIn to publish original content. It’s also short-sighted. Active social media properties drive traffic to your main content channels; use them to promote the content itself, and let the content promote your products and services.
- Create a Position Specifically for Content Promotion
As your firm grows, invest in an expanded (and more specialized) content team. One position that’s gained favor in recent years among prolific publishers is the “growth editor” — a role whose core duties include promoting popular, evergreen content and identifying older pieces of content for updates. According to veteran editor Lymari Morales, The Atlantic magazine has dramatically increased impressions and engagement with older content since bringing a growth editor on board — perhaps your firm can too.
- Hire Visual and Multimedia Talent
Some decision-makers assume “content” means “written.” This couldn’t be farther from the truth. The most effective content marketing is substantially or even primary visual — that is, emphasizing graphics or multimedia elements over text. If you haven’t already done so, hire capable graphic designers and task them with producing memorable charts, infographics, and the like. Financial services giant JPMorgan Chase has a surprisingly innovative content marketing vertical based on “data visualization,” for instance.
Your Audience Is Out There
If this guide makes just one fact clear, let it be this: content marketing is not rocket science. Whatever its resources or internal expertise, your firm can adopt the principles and strategies outlined herein without hiring a chief marketing officer or radically reordering its business processes. Everything you’ve read up to this point is well within your capabilities.
The greater challenge, indeed, lies in finding your audience — or, rather, the core audience groups you’ve (it’s hoped) spent some time fleshing out already. Without those core audience groups, your marketing efforts will come to naught.
Here’s to finding — and converting — your audience.