You probably know the famous phrase, “content is king,” but there is no point in throwing content out there just for content’s sake. You want your content to get results and be worth the time and money spent creating it. Not only that, but customer expectations are growing across the board, so it’s important to be informed and intentional with the “what” you put out there. Here are eight things to consider when creating content for your business.
1. Will your content be found?
The purpose of content is for it to be found and read. In order to be found, it needs to be something people are searching for, to begin with. Make sure your content solves a problem or issue that people are looking for an answer to. Consider how they will be trying to find that answer. What terms will they search? Where are they searching? Answering these questions will give you a good structure to base your content around that will make it easily found.
2. Have you researched your customers?
If you assume what type of content is most important to your target audience, or you put your content where you hope they will be rather than where they actually are, you may not achieve the results you desire. Customer research will show you when and how they interact with your business. Understanding where information should be distributed and what information they are missing can help you develop and distribute successful content.
3. Does your content compel interest?
Unless you are making money from likes and shares, you want your content to build a relationship that leads to a sale. A hard-sell at every turn can undermine a content marketing strategy, so not every piece needs a call to action. However, every bit of content should be a stepping-stone towards customer engagement. Getting someone to view your content is part of the battle, but it also needs to move people to interact with your business.
4. What type of content best serves your message?
When you think of content, your mind might automatically go to blog posts and other written articles. While these are often effective pieces of content, there are many other ways to get your message across. A visual infographic is a great change of pace, as are surveys and quizzes. Before diving straight into a written piece, consider if there are other ways your content could be shared to give the biggest impact.
5. Is your content relevant to the audience it’s reaching?
Ideally, your content will be geared towards people moving through your sales funnel. For someone at the top of the funnel, you’ll want to provide them with content that has value and gives them the information they want. Think e-books, guides, and checklists. Someone farther along in your funnel will be more interested in how your business specifically can help them solve a problem. Things like case studies or product demos might be more suitable for this group. Not sure how to structure your content marketing? Sign up for the free webinar, “Unlock the Power of Content Marketing Today” for a step-by-step guide to increasing the profitability of your content marketing.
6. Are people reading your content?
You may already utilize your analytics to see which content is popular by page views, but are you looking at how long they are staying on the page? While it’s great to have high traffic numbers, it won’t do you much good if they are leaving right away. Check bounce rates to see if people are arriving then leaving immediately. If your bounce rate is high, make sure you are putting out relevant, useful content that makes people want to stay and read it.
7. Is your content unique?
Search nearly any topic online, and you’ll come up with thousands if not millions of results. While you may not be able to come up with completely original topics to form your content around, you can make how you present these topics unique. At the very least, research your competitors in your market and make sure you’re not saying and offering the same things they already are. If you want to grab readers’ attention, you’ll need to give them something they haven’t seen before.
8. Are you getting a good ROI?
If your return on investment (ROI) is positive, then you can put more money back into content generation to continue to improve what you offer. This may take a little longer than you might hope since content marketing works towards building a relationship before going for the sale. However, you’re working to create long-term customers instead of one-time sales. Be sure your content is moving people from the relationship-building stage to the purchasing stage by informing them of what you can do to solve their problems.
Sign up for the free webinar, “Unlock the Power of Content Marketing Today” for a step-by-step guide to increasing the profitability of your content marketing.