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The 6 Biggest Content Marketing Secrets No One Wants You to Know
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AUGUST 2016
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You’re boring. You’re irrelevant. You know nothing about your market.
Yes, I did just say that. Now, hear me out.
You’re quite aware that content marketing has replaced just about all other methods as the most effective way to reach your target audience, right? With a well-thought out strategy, your business could be connecting and building rapport with the most influential people in your industry.
Even so, we haven’t come across a huge number of marketers who reap the benefits of their content marketing strategy, and that’s because those who do enjoy success aren’t sharing their secrets.
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Content Marketing’s Dirty Little Secret
Content powers marketing, that’s a fact, and marketing, as you know, has become more of a conversation than a hard-sell. The result? No longer is it sell, sell, sell, it’s far smarter to share, share, share.
Doing content right is hard work. As a business, it’s hard finding the time to create hot, topical content, and it’s even harder trying to get results out of it. Content takes thinking and planning, not only about what to share but also how to turn prospects into paying consumers.
Without further ado, we’re going to share six content marketing secrets no one wants you to know about that will make your strategy easier to implement and more successful.
Tailored Content Should Be Top of Your List
Ever heard of Dynamic Website Personalization (DWP)? Maybe not, it’s another well-kept secret. DWP gives you the chance to change content and messaging on your site and can even change offers for a select group of visitors based on certain criteria that you set. To win with DWP, you need a combination of thorough buyer personas and careful content mapping.
Sound complicated? There are actually a few tools out there, and consultants like us at Iris Content, who will get you started.
Think of Content as the New SEO
Search engine rankings are now based on how much or how little they view your site as being an expert. What this means is that every bit of content you post online – no matter which platform you choose – will influence how high or low you rank in searches for your area of expertise.
Seeing content as the SEO driver can help define what your content will be about. Think about the keywords you want to use to outrank your competitors and suddenly, your content is no longer “just another blog post” but rather another article that shows Google the finger and says “hey, man, we know what we’re doing better than anyone else.”
Don’t Share for the Sake of Sharing
Yes, it is important to keep a consistent flow of content, we can’t dispute that. But there’s so much content out there and a lot of it is poor; it’s hit-and-miss; it’s boring; and it’s so yesterday. Opt for quality over quantity and share only what your audience is interested in and that which aligns with your expertise. By the way, if you’re sharing someone else’s work, write a strong commentary about why you feel it’s worth sharing.
As for your content, you should be wholly focused on original, unique, exciting stuff. Try to get as much as you can out of each piece. For instance, write out an article and then divide it into sections to share over a series of weeks.
By the way, another of the content marketing secrets you may not have heard: content isn’t only words. High-value visuals can create a higher level of engagement than words.
You Should Employ Marketing Automation
Today, the purpose of creating content is to demonstrate your expertise and generate leads. Marketing automation can give your prospects that little nudge they need through the sales funnel by serving them relevant and engaging content that will trigger their behavior. Marketing automation solves challenges at virtually every place in the marketing cycle at any time.
There’s a ton of marketing automation software out there, so it’s crucial that you choose a solution that can align with your needs. Developing a sound lead generation strategy will make it a lot easier to evaluate different systems and make the right choice. Don’t think of any software as a “one size fits all” deal.
Don’t Be Afraid to Share Old Stuff
Does this all make you want to crawl under a rock and hide for a while? Don’t you dare! Content marketing is easy – one of the biggest content marketing secrets we can impart is not to let what you already have go to waste. Think of it like cutting down trees and wasting paper, only in a virtual space.
Chances are, a mere fraction of your audience will see a piece of content when you first post it, and there is no reason why something you wrote last year has become irrelevant.
Careful, though, we’ve seen one too many blogs out there repurposing annoying, invaluable content. We’re not sure if it’s because they don’t want to waste time, effort, and funds on fresh content or they’re just too lazy and prefer to hit “share” without thinking. What do you think?
Here’s an idea: create a database of the content you’ve already created, with case studies and articles, presentations, infographics, and anything else. Map out how often you could re-share each piece using an editorial calendar.
But, think about this: why not refresh your content? Add a new spin? Add a little controversy? No time? No worries! Read on!
Original Content Doesn’t Have to Be Created
Okay, lean in close, I’m going to whisper this one… the most successful content marketers aren’t the hardest workers. What they are, is resourceful. They have access to a plethora of resources that can be tapped into for amazing content that is highly valuable social capital.
Final Word
Wait! Don’t go back under that rock!
Don’t pull your hair out wondering how you will find the hours to put these content marketing secrets into play.
We’ll do it for you!
Get in touch with Iris Content and get relevant.
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[/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Person” name=”Annie Ianko” position=”Content Happiness Advisor” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” facebook_url=”https://www.facebook.com/IrisWebContent/” twitter_url=”https://twitter.com/Iris_Content” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” custom_css_main_element=”box-shadow: 0 0 20px rgba(0,0,0,.1);||”]
Annie has 18 years’ experience as an editor and content creator and manager. With work in television and written media, she has dedicated her past 10 years to learning the ropes of online content creation, from writing to editing, from SEO to content management.
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Yes, I want to learn more about content marketing! I want to incorporate the latest marketing strategies to improve my brand, reach a wider audience and sell more stuff!
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