How to Take Your Content Strategy to The Next Level

By now, we hope that you have clocked onto the fact that content is the way forward. You will struggle to find someone working in the marketing side of a business who has not come across the popular phrase: “Content is king” and there is a reason for that – because it is absolutely true

Content is now at the heart of most marketing strategies utilised by businesses today and we at Nucleus Commercial Finance can understand why. It allows businesses to demonstrate their industry expertise and so as a result, brand awareness, traffic and conversions all get a boost.

In fact, according to marketing legend Seth Godin, content marketing is the only form of  marketing left. He strongly believes that educating your customers with resources is the fast-track way to land loyal customers that keep on giving – because that is exactly what your company is doing in return.

Marketing has transformed over the years and a hard-core sales pitch just does not work anymore. Marketing strategies these days focus on connecting with customers and the easiest way to do this is by teaching them with the use of valuable, actionable content.

What Demographic Are You Gearing Your Content Towards?

It does not matter how fantastic your content is if it is not reaching the right people. For example, Red Bull have mastered the art of content marketing. They have identified their target audience (adrenaline junkies who get high on life) and they provide sensational video content that peaks the interest of their target audience.

Getting the right content to the right audience is what fantastic content marketing is all about. Providing great content to your target audience is the holy grail of marketing that you should be aiming towards.

It needs to capture their attention enough that they feel inclined to engage with your brand further. The only way to achieve this is to really tune into your target demographic. Put together some buyer persona’s and use those as your starting point.

If you are targeting a specific community, you need to seriously think about who they are, what they feel and what pain points they suffer with – and essentially, your product or service needs to provide them with a solution to it.

Pave yourself out to be the hero they have been looking for. Think about the challenges your demographic face. Identify the “villain” – just a quick tip though, do not slander other businesses and brands. This will not reflect well on your business. Instead, identify an issue they may have and create a story around that. Solve your client’s problems for them.

 Think Beyond Basis Analytics

The mistake many businesses and marketers make is focusing on the amount of traffic their website attracts. But not all traffic was made equal.

There is no use driving traffic to your website if it is not going to convert in to customers. Therefore, it is important to look past the basic site analytics you have been obsessing over for the past few years.

Great content ultimately succeeds when people decide to engage with it. That means they are going beyond just digesting it. If your content is getting lots of pageviews but no one is commenting or sharing it, this suggests that your content is good… but not good enough.

Additionally, start paying more attention to your bounce rate. It is not enough to get thousands of views on your content if users are bouncing quickly. It means your business is targeting customers successfully, but not producing the right content to keep them interested.

 Invest in Your Customers

Creating high quality content is not as easy as you might think, but it is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility either.

If you have the talent in house, then you should be utilising it in whatever way you can. You never know, you might have a team leader in your midst with a strong writing background or IT staff who blog in their own time.

If you struggle to find anyone within the business, it may mean that you need to look further afield. If you have the financial capacity to do so, it might be a good idea to hire a content writer.

Instead of spending the majority of your marketing budget on ineffective, traditional methods, try switching it up and focusing on earned, organic traffic. If you do not have the financial resources available, it is definitely worth considering working alongside an alternative finance provider. There are numerous products available to SMEs that are made specifically to address poor cash flow problems. You could use the funding as working capital to hire the key roles you need to advance your business.

By hiring someone who deals directly with content, you will be assured that your content is up to scratch.

Experienced content writers know exactly what boxes need to be ticked in order to appease both Google and potential customers. The aim is to create useful content that is easy to digest, has credibility but most importantly, is interesting enough to consume.

These are a few simple tips to bear in mind…

1. Is the content emotionally relatable? People interact with content that evokes some sort of emotion.

2. Are you using more “you’s” than “I’s” – if not, this needs to change. Your content should not be all about your business. The customer needs to feel included and like your business understands them and the challenges they are facing.

3. Be original. Do something different so that your business stands out amongst your competitors.

4. Specific content works best. Content that is too broad rarely offers any value. People are digesting content for a reason – they want answers to burgeoning questions they have. General content is not going to help shed light on issues they currently have.

Get Your Content Out There

Ok, so you have created some sensational content. Now what?

Whilst writing valuable content is certainly the hardest part, getting it in front of the eyes of potential customers is not exactly a walk in the park, either.

But fear not! There is an entire industry built around making this happen… if you are not familiar with the phrase already, it might be worth quickly Googling “SEO”, which stands for search engine optimisation.

Whilst it might sound overly complicated, your business will be able to apply the fundamental basics at the very least. If your content takes off, you may choose to work with an SEO company, but until that point, you can handle the basics independently.

Whatever you do, do not try to outsmart Google with dodgy tactics you have read about online. It will not work as a long-term strategy and your business may get penalised.

Instead, focus your efforts on meeting the requirements search engines are looking for. Master the basic on-page SEO factors, which are as follows:

1. Use the right HTML tags in the right places. For more information on this, check out this guide by marketing guru Neil Patel.

2. Do your keyword research. There are plenty of amazing tools out there that can assist you with this, such as Google AdWords, Ubersuggest and Moz’s Keyword Explorer.

3. Implement a strong link building strategy. You need to include internal links within your content to other posts and landing pages on your site, but it is also important to include external links too. Additionally, guest blogging will earn you some credible inbound links which demonstrates to Google that your brand is authoritative and trustworthy.

Switch Things Up

Do not just rely solely on a blog for getting your content out there to your target audience. A good content strategy reaches far beyond this.

Your business needs to think outside the box and go beyond the basics. Work smarter AND harder. There are various forms of content that work brilliantly. Here are some suggestions:

• Whitepapers
• Case studies
• Video
• Infographics
• How-to guides
• Reviews
• Data breakdowns
• Ebooks
• Podcasts

 Try Paid Promotion

Content marketing is definitely the best way to gain brand awareness, but it is not necessarily the fastest. It is a strategy that takes time, commitment and dedication. If you are looking for a quick solution, then content marketing is not likely to be what you are looking for.

But that being said, you will be making a huge mistake if you decide to shun this kind of marketing as it really is the frontrunner for long-term business success.

To begin with, you may struggle to get your content seen. There is so much competition out there already and the digital world is a ridiculously crammed platform.

Paying to get your content distributed could well be the answer your SME is looking for. There are dozens of great PPC programs out there, such as Outbrain and Taboola, that help to get your content in front of thousands of people almost instantly.

However, nothing in life comes for free and so these outreach programs do come at a cost. But it will likely be a cost that results in your business making more money long-term, so do try to get the finances together to make it happen.

In case you do not have the finances readily available, you may be able to work alongside a finance lender who will let you use money tied up in unpaid invoices to get access to working capital that you can invest in content distribution methods.

If you are experiencing cash flow challenges or want to realise your business growth plans, get in touch with our team of Funding Specialists today on 020 7839 9451 or email [email protected].