3 Ways to Improve Your Content Marketing
The behemoth of the digital world, content marketing promises to boost exposure, build stronger identities and get customers on your side – provided your strategy is fighting fit.
For sluggish marketers, 2018 represents a clean slate – the opportunity to start afresh. Whether you’re taking advantage of new trends or launching fresh influencer campaigns, the possibilities are endless.
Yet it’s worth noting that it’s not always necessary to change everything. When campaigns don’t go your way it’s easy to feel drained or disillusioned. If you’re still struggling to get going, reap rewards and/or maximise the potential of your ideas, here are three surefire ways to improve your content marketing fitness in 2018.
Think twice about the quality vs. quantity debate
Quality is more important than quantity…we all know that, right? But what about the frequency of your content marketing activity?
According to research from the Content Marketing Institute, 75% of the most successful B2B marketers always or frequently deliver content consistently, compared to 59% of the overall sample.
A similar point is raised by Steve Rayson, director of BuzzSumo, who says that marketers must consider the maturity of a topicbefore deciding upon their publishing schedule. He suggests that in saturated subject areas, you should:
- Create radically different and exceptional content
- Discover specific niches or networks
- Prioritise promotion and amplification
- Simply produce more content
While quality should always take precedence, don’t forget how quantity (moreover the frequency of posting) might affect your success, especially in saturated subject areas.
Don’t be afraid of trial and error – embrace the experimental
With such an emphasis on quality, it’s easy to think that your content marketing efforts are never quite good enough. A lot of time, the power and potential of content marketing is elevated by letting go of this mind-set.
If you can be a bit more experimental and just throw some ideas out there, audiences are bound to respond in a positive way.
Sure, trial and error doesn’t seem like the most appropriate approach when budgets and objectives are on the line. But testing the waters of a thought or idea in single piece of content won’t break an entire campaign…you never know, it could be the thing that makes it.
Capitalise on the power of (your own) research
What informs your content marketing the most? In all likelihood, you’ll conduct a fair bit of research online and use the findings that your generous peers have so willingly collected. However, a lot can be said for conducting this research yourself.
Earlier this year, in partnership with SmartBrief, a research initiative was launched about the B2B buying process and the types of content that influences this audience.
It found that 74 per cent of B2B buyers consider original research to be influential in the buying process, second only to peer recommendations.
For this reason, you can’t under estimate the power of original research, fresh ideas, and unique insights that get to the heart of your audience’s biggest desires.
