15 Proven Content Marketing Strategies to Boost Your Online Presence

Learn proven B2B and B2C content marketing strategies to drive leads and sales, including blogging, interactive content, infographics, email nurturing, and more. Optimize efforts with data.

What is Content Marketing Strategy, and why is it so important in today’s marketing plan? Content marketing is a strategy that focuses on creating and sharing valuable, creative and consistent content to generate interest in a brand, product or service.

In other words, instead of continually promoting products and businesses, content marketing is an avenue to provide expert and relevant content to your readership that helps, entertains or improves their lives.

Content marketing adds to increased sales and generates loyal customers. If you create online content that makes a difference, means something to your customers, or shares tips to make their lives better – the reader, in turn, will look to you and your business when they need products. Content marketing generates loyal repeat customers, up-selling and cross-selling. Here are 15 tips to help you achieve this and more:

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.

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.

2. 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. They 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 the viewer to visualise the benefits they would experience if the video were their life.

3. Use Infographics

An infographic is a diagram or illustration that shares data, research, statistics and other information in a visually appealing way, as shown below. This type of content marketing is liked, shared and viewed more than other content; some studies show up to three times more. 

Infographics are the fourth most used type of content marketing, suggesting that illustrations are worth looking into for an increase in online engagement. They can also boost a consumer’s understanding of your business and what you can offer creatively.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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 I”, 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.

7. 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. A staffing company, When I Work, sends handwritten thank you cards to every new customer. 

The recipients are so happy they take a photo of the card and share it 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.

8. 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.

9. 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. 

10. 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. 

11. Incorporate Educational Content 

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.

12. Create Powerful Headlines 

The headline is one of the first things to draw readers into your content marketing. It makes no difference if it is an Infographic or a blog post; powerful headlines will draw in the reader. Remember, consumers see thousands and thousands of promotional materials every day to produce a headline that will grab their attention and want them to learn more. 

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. Be 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!”.

Write blog posts weekly, create links to your website, post on social media platforms daily, and send email blasts monthly. Keep current and consistent, and your content will do the work for you. 

15. Share Interesting Facts

Entertain and educate your audience by sharing facts, stats and other information. There is so much information on the internet, much of it fluff and fiction, that straight talk stands out! 

Sharing statistical research that is proven factual is a way to update your audience on trends and, at the same time, position your blog as a site to gain expert advice and information. Loyal customers are created when they depend on a resource for information. 

Content Marketing Strategies: Expand on Each Tactic

Blog regularly – Post at least 2X per week, or aim for 8-10 blog posts monthly. Mix evergreen, educational posts with timely, newsy articles. Use subheadings, bolding, bulleted lists, and images to make posts scannable. Include internal links to related content where relevant.

Interactive content – Quizzes, assessments, calculators and other interactive 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.

Infographics – Infographics combine statistics, facts, and visuals into an easily consumable, shareable format. They allow repurposing of existing content. Promote finished infographics across all channels and consider guest posting them on industry sites.

Email nurturing – Segment your email list by buyer stage. Send targeted content to each segment based on their interests and depth of relationship, such as tutorials, product demo videos, and case studies. Personalize subject lines for open rate lift.

Content Marketing Strategies: Quote Relevant Experts

“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.

“Interactive content like mini assessments and calculators work remarkably well at engaging cold leads at the top of the funnel in a non-promotional way.” – David Williams, B2B Content Marketing Strategist.

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. Your audience knows your mission statement, and now you can connect with consumers who are also interested in that topic.

Content Marketing Strategies: Relevant Statistics

Back up strategies with current data from industry research reports:

• 90% of B2B marketers surveyed say blogging is an effective long-term content marketing strategy, per 2022 industry research by Social Media Today. Highlights the continued power of blogging.
• Email nurturing focused on sending targeted, stage-specific content can boost conversion rates by over 15%, according to 2021 email marketing benchmarks from Marketo. Demonstrates the power of segmentation.
• Infographics shared on social media platforms drive, on average, 2X more engagement than standard text-only posts, based on extensive BuzzSumo data analysis. Supports the impact of infographics.

Content Marketing Strategies: FAQ Section

Q: How often should you publish new content to see results?

A: Most experts recommend publishing fresh content at least 1-2 times weekly for sustained visibility and ongoing search engine coverage. Consistency is key.

Q: What types of multimedia formats tend to perform best?

A: Video, infographics, and interactive content formats like assessments tend to see the highest levels of engagement and sharing based on industry data. Mix up text, images, charts, and video.

Q: What types of content work best for lead generation?

A: In-depth guides, ebooks, templates, quizzes and other “low funnel” content that provides value tend to convert best for lead gen.

Q: How important are images and multimedia?

A: Very important. Articles with relevant images, charts, videos and other media get over 3 times the traffic and engagement.

Q: What is a good blog posting frequency?

A: 1-2 times per week is ideal for most brands. Consistency is key. Promote new and older evergreen posts across channels.

Q: How can I repurpose content?

A: Turn blog posts into video summaries, infographics, expanded ebooks, submitted articles to other sites, social posts, and more.

Q: What metrics are most important to track?

Track content performance across organic traffic leads generated, click-through rate, time on page, shares, and conversions.

Q: When should I consider paid content promotion?

A: Once you have a solid organic content foundation, paid social ads and promoted posts can further amplify reach and conversions.

These tips can be incorporated into content marketing strategies to spur a call to action and generate leads among an audience that didn’t fully understand your business before.

Content Marketing Strategies: Conclusion

Implementing a diverse content marketing strategy with blogging, interactive content, infographics, email nurturing and more provides both short and long-term ROI. Promote content extensively and track performance metrics. Adjust efforts based on data insights.

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