Content marketing is essentially using content to attract your ideal peeps. So whether you sell products or services, create content that directly and indirectly relates to your offer. People find you either through SEO or other means and can read, watch, or listen.
People consume content in various ways and everyone has a preference, so there is no one right way to create content. Also, don’t feel like you must choose only one either. Some businesses create content across the board and have great success because they are reaching everyone’s preference.
I recently wrote a post about the 3 types of anchor content explaining this a little more.
Your free content should offer the what and why whereas your paid content is the how. When you are brainstorming what content to create, think about how your product or service solves a problem and ask these questions: what? and why?
Also, it is a great idea to have your content connect and relate as it will be easy to share within your content to keep people clicking, viewing, or listening. A great example is what I did above!
Video is on the rise
We know that video builds the know, like, and trust very quickly, not everyone or every business is right for video marketing. Some people are shy, introverts, or are not the face of their company. There are workarounds to video marketing without you actually be on camera.
There are so many great tools and apps available now that you can create videos with stock photos or now snippets of video that you can layover some text to make terrific marketing videos without you actually have you on screen.
Video marketing is the way to go. If you are going to spend time and money on marketing, put it on video.
Written content
Search engines love blogs! It’s a great way to set up an evergreen funnel that people find your article, read it, subscribe for your content upgrade, then you nurture them and eventually sell to them via inbox!
With methods of optimizing your blog content to easily be found via search engines and Pinterest and the fact that you can create less content and share it more often makes this a winner for every business! I’m serious, I believe that every business could and should have a blog, even if they are using video and podcasts.
Have you heard…
It’s no wonder podcasts are on the up and up! They are a fantastic resource to so many people who like to fill their cup or brain while working out or cleaning or driving. People live to listen to quick snippets of inspirational or informational content. Especially moms. If your target market has the word Mom attached to it, then you should be considering a podcast.
Podcasting may not be for everyone. But it can be simple to get started and the fun part about podcasting is that you can interview people and be interviewed by people. It’s a phenomenal way to reach audiences and provide value to your tribe with guest experts.
With each of these methods, you have to ask yourself a few questions to determine which one is right for you and your business.
>> Who is your audience? I found out that moms with little ones like blog posts because if the baby is sleeping a video or podcast may wake them. If you are not sure how they best like to consume content, ask them!
>> What is within the scope of time you have? Honestly, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Determine how much time you have each week to dedicate to content creation. If you are running on limited time because you know you have client work, a family and home to take care of, and a life you want to live, then keep it simple and choose one of these until you can bite off more.
>> Can you outsource content creation? Maybe you are the one who will initially create the content (like be on video or voice on podcast), but can you outsource the production part of that content. There are plenty of freelancers and businesses that offer this service for podcast editing, video editing, and blog optimizing.
>> How can you reuse content instead of creating more? Find patterns and overlapping themes in your content and see where you may expand on a topic or create a round-up post of already created content. This will save you time from creating more and helps your content connect. This adds value to your message and to your readers. It helps you be the go-to person and to be remembered.So I want to know from you, how do you like to consume content? What is your favorite way to create it? What does your audience like best?