In today’s digital landscape, content marketing has emerged as a cornerstone for businesses aiming to engage their audience, build brand loyalty, and drive sales. However, with the sheer volume of content flooding the internet, it can be challenging to cut through the noise and capture the attention of your target market. That’s where content marketing strategies come into play.

This article delves into 15 time-tested content marketing strategies that have helped businesses of all sizes achieve their goals. From creating high-quality blog posts to leveraging the power of social media and optimizing for search engines, these strategies are designed to enhance your content’s visibility, engagement, and overall effectiveness.

Whether you’re a seasoned marketer looking to refine your approach or a newcomer eager to learn the ropes, these strategies will provide you with actionable insights and practical tips to elevate your content marketing game. Let’s explore these proven techniques that can transform your content from ordinary to extraordinary.

15 Content Marketing Strategies

Content marketing is a strategic approach to creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and engage a clearly defined audience. The goal is to drive profitable customer action by providing useful information that addresses the audience’s needs and interests, ultimately building brand awareness as well as trust and loyalty with it.

Improving SEO is another key benefit, as consistent, high-quality content boosts search engine rankings and increases visibility. Personalized content tailored to specific customer segments enhances engagement and conversion rates. In addition, valuable content encourages sharing and referrals, expanding your reach through word-of-mouth and social sharing.

So, how exactly can you achieve all of that? Here are 15 proven content marketing strategies that can boost your online presence.

1. Start a Blog

Blogging is one of the most popular ways of communicating via the internet. The first step in content marketing is starting a blog offering readers valuable information about your industry. Around 90% of B2B marketers surveyed say blogging is an effective long-term content marketing strategy, as per 2022 industry research by Social Media Today.

Topics can be anything from your impression of an industry trend, a recipe for your favourite pasta dish or a review of the year’s colour. Many websites are available dedicated to starting a blog and keeping it current, consistent and full of content, such as WordPress and Blogger.

When it comes to blogging, the headline is one of the first things that can draw readers into your blog post. Remember, consumers see thousands and thousands of promotional materials every day. So, you must produce a powerful headline that will grab their attention and want them to learn more.

2. Create an Email Newsletter

Email marketing is a digital strategy that involves sending targeted emails to promote products, services, or content, build relationships, and drive engagement. It is an effective tool for reaching a specific audience directly in their inboxes, serving purposes such as brand awareness, lead generation, and customer retention. Here is how you create your email newsletter:

• Email List Building: Collect email addresses from potential and existing customers through sign-up forms, landing pages, and other methods. Ensure that recipients have opted in to receive emails, complying with regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM Act.

• Segmentation: Divide the email list into smaller groups based on demographics, behavior, purchase history, and other criteria. Tailor messages to specific segments to increase relevance and engagement.

• Personalization: Customize email content to address recipients by their names and include personalized recommendations. Use data and insights to create more targeted and relevant content.

• Content Creation: Create engaging and valuable content that aligns with the recipient’s interests and needs and use compelling subject lines to increase open rates. Include clear calls-to-action (CTAs) to guide recipients towards desired actions. Use responsive design to ensure emails look good on all devices.

• Automation: Set up automated email sequences, such as welcome emails, drip campaigns, and follow-up emails. Use marketing automation tools to trigger emails based on user actions or specific dates (e.g., birthday emails).

• Testing and Optimization: Conduct A/B tests to compare different versions of emails and determine what works best. Analyze performance metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and bounce rates to refine strategies.

3. Create a Video

Videos are one of the most valuable content marketing tools for your business. It’s now easier than ever to make videos thanks to ever-changing mobile device technology. Many companies use mobile phone and tablet cameras to create very effective videos that can be uploaded to your website, social media or even YouTube.

Some video ideas are how to use products, candid camera-style impromptu videos and interview-style videos. They can bring your product or service to life and allow viewers to visualise the benefits they would experience if the video were their life.

4. Use Infographics

An infographic is a diagram or illustration that shares data, research, statistics and other information in a visually appealing way.

This type of content marketing is liked, shared and viewed more than other content; some studies even estimate up to three times more. Infographics shared on social media platforms drive, on average, 2X more engagement than standard text-only posts, based on extensive BuzzSumo data analysis.

Infographics can also boost a consumer’s understanding of your business and what you can offer creatively.

5. Create a Meme 

According to Paul Gil of Lifewire, “A meme is a virally transmitted cultural symbol that usually includes captioned photos intended to be funny, often as a way to ridicule human behaviour.” These appear on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms, but usually not on a blog. You can create a funny meme using online resources like memegenerator.net.

When posted by a company, memes can project a friendly persona to viewers. Social media users love memes, so there is always potential to go viral—meaning huge exposure for your business. ASOS is one company in particular that uses memes effectively to build a rapport with its audience.

6. Write a Product Review

Bloggers are famous for writing product reviews. Readers are notorious for reading product reviews. Product review content is an inexpensive yet effective way to teach readers about your product line. That being said, before writing the review, know your product inside and out. 

Make sure you’ve used it, have feedback from others who have used it and can offer ideas to get the most use out of it. Always include links back to the product page on your website so readers can easily purchase the item if they like what they read. Reaching out to bloggers and recruiting them to review your piece could tailor it to the target audience and give it a flair.

Great content increases audience retention and has the ability to gain traction on social media. These online viewers are now more likely to purchase from you because they have an insight into your business and what makes it function. When your audience knows your mission statement, you can connect with consumers who are also interested in that topic.

7. Write a How-To Article

When you write ‘how to’ blog articles, you position your company and yourself as an expert that people trust. The “how to” is a popular content strategy and usually receives fabulous ratings in search engines. Start the title, “How to” or “How to Do”, and then proceed to offer advice and tips on the subject. 

Think about topics that are relatable to your audience. For example, if you are a florist designer, a title could be “How To Design A Beautiful Autumn Wreath in Three Easy Steps.” Take photos and/or videos to coincide with the article for even more detail.

8. Say Thank You

This idea never goes out of style. Saying thank you through an email or letter for purchasing something from you is the best content marketing you can do.

The staffing company When I Work sends handwritten thank you cards to every new customer. The recipients are usually so happy, they take photos of the cards and share them on social media for everyone to see. They claim that referrals have increased to 23% thanks to a simple gesture. That’s effective and inexpensive advertising.

9. Share, Share, Share

Make it a point always to include social media buttons with links to your pages to encourage liking and sharing of your content. Social media is meant to be shared among followers and is key to getting your content read. Asking followers to share your content with their friends is also effective.

With every share, your business is automatically exposed to more impressions and potential customers. It also allows for more opportunities for engagement through various interactive features, such as polls, question boxes and rating scales.

10. Create Listicles

Popular sites like Huffington Post and BuzzFeed have mastered the love of the list. You’ve seen them and probably even read one or two of them. Ranging from every topic, these lists are often intriguing and informative at the same time.

With an engaging feature image, a list can attract anyone with a slight interest or curiosity about the subject. The format of lists is also appealing to readers as they know the information will be clearly laid out for quick access to the sections they want to read about. It’s a tried and true content marketing strategy that can work for you, too. 

11. Use Guest Blogging

Consider writing a blog for another site, specifically a high-quality site in your industry circle. According to Business.com, guest blogging as part of your content marketing plan is one of the most recommended strategies on building and growing a blog.

Yes, you will probably not get paid for the article, but in the long run, you’ll create more awareness for your blog and company. Going one step further, invite another industry blogger or leader to write a blog for your site. It’s a win-win both ways. 

12. Incorporate Educational Content 

“We see the highest ROI from our in-depth educational guides that thoroughly address knowledge gaps related to our fairly complex products.” – Sara Dunn, CMO at Acme Software Company.

Educational content teaches customers about your products. Educated customers are paying customers. Indium has used this strategy and discovered content gold with their From One Engineer to Another blog, run by 17 of their engineers. Through it, they produce valuable content and videos to answer questions about various engineering topics. Since the blog’s launch, the company has seen a 600 per cent jump in leads.

The key is to be short, sweet and to the point to teach readers why your product is worthwhile. The more you educate consumers on a product or service, the more open they are to being sold.

Interactive educational content, including quizzes, assessments, calculators and other formats highly engage visitors by letting them actively participate. Promote interactive content through email nurturing campaigns and social posts. Tools like Jotform, Typeform, SurveyMonkey, and Interact make creation simple.

13. Get Grouping

Content marketing is all about reaching groups of people who are interested in the same thing. According to writtent.com, humans are groupies, and our human nature is to embrace our groupie-ness, especially in our headlines. 

Allow your headline to invite a reader to share funny photos their group will love, something they are just not going to believe or statistics that will make them laugh out loud. Use a common thread like Harry Potter books, left-handed people, cat lovers or single parents.

14. Create a Content Calendar

A content calendar is a planning tool you can use to organize and schedule content creation, publication, and distribution over a specified period. It serves as a roadmap or editorial schedule that outlines the content you’ll produce, when you’ll published, and where it’ll be shared. Content calendars are essential for maintaining consistency and coherence in your content marketing strategy.

A well-tailored content calendar contains the following components:

• Content Types: Specifies the types of content you will create, such as blog posts, videos, social media posts, podcasts, infographics, etc.

• Publication Dates: Sets dates and times for publishing each piece of content. This ensures a consistent schedule that aligns with your marketing objectives and audience preferences.

• Content Topics and Themes: Outlines the main themes and topics to be covered in each piece of content. This helps ensure your content is relevant to your audience interests and supports overall marketing goals.

• Channels: Specifies where each piece of content will be distributed, such as website blogs, social media platforms, email newsletters, etc.

• Assignments and Responsibilities: Assigns tasks to team members responsible for creating, editing, and distributing content. This helps maintain accountability and streamline workflow.

• Campaigns and Events: Integrates specific campaigns, product launches, or seasonal events into the content calendar to ensure timely and relevant content.

• Keywords and SEO: Includes relevant keywords and SEO strategies to optimize content for search engines and improve visibility.

• Metrics and Analytics: Tracks performance metrics such as engagement rates, traffic sources, and conversions to evaluate the effectiveness of content and inform future planning.

15. Stay Consistent

Content marketing is all about being consistent and keeping your platforms full of current content. As the famous 1996 quote by Microsoft legend Bill Gates said, “Content is King!”.

In fact, consistency in content marketing is essential for building trust and reliability with your audience. When you consistently deliver high-quality content that addresses their needs and interests, you establish your brand as a dependable source of valuable information or solutions. This reliability not only keeps your audience engaged and coming back for more but also strengthens your brand identity by consistently reinforcing your messaging and values.

Moreover, staying consistent helps improve your search engine rankings over time. Search engines prioritize websites that regularly update with fresh and relevant content, making it easier for potential customers to discover your brand. Consistent content also supports long-term results by building momentum and generating cumulative benefits such as increased website traffic, leads, and conversions.

Consistency can be achieved by writing blog posts weekly, creating links to your website, posting on social media platforms daily, and sending email blasts monthly. Mix evergreen, educational posts with timely, newsy articles and use subheadings, bolding, bulleted lists, and images to make posts scannable. Also, include internal links to related content where relevant.

Conclusion

Navigating content marketing can be challenging, but with the right strategies, you can create engaging and effective content that resonates with your audience. The 15 proven strategies we’ve discussed offer a diverse toolkit for achieving your marketing goals, from high-quality blog posts to leveraging social media and optimizing for search engines.

Implementing these strategies requires consistency, creativity, and continuous improvement. By staying adaptable and open to new ideas, you can keep your content fresh and relevant. Remember, successful content marketing hinges on understanding your audience, delivering value, and building genuine connections.

As you apply these strategies, track your progress and refine your approach based on the insights you gather. Over time, you’ll see increased performance and stronger relationships with your audience. With these proven strategies, you’re on your way to lasting success in content marketing.

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