It’s been said that content marketing is the new SEO, and with good reason. But content marketing isn’t a panacea. Some businesses fill their websites with content and have nothing to show for it — no bump in traffic and no increase in sales.

That’s because content marketing, like most everything else in business, is a science. It only works when you find the winning formula. Consumers hire you because they trust you have the winning formula.

So what’s the secret to succeeding and not failing at content marketing? It isn’t any one thing alone, but these three tips provide a good place to start:

Know Your Audience

If you were giving a presentation to a group of surfers, you wouldn’t show up wearing an Italian suit. Likewise, if you were presenting to investment bankers, you’d leave the flip flops and Hawaiian shirt at home.

For content marketing to work, you have to know your audience. Before you produce a single piece of content, ask yourself a few questions about your intended audience:

• What is their age, gender, location and level of education?
• Why are they on your page? What are they looking for?
• If you were meeting these customers in person, how would you approach the conversation? Would you be casual? Formal? Would you simply provide information or try to engage in a back-and-forth?

Before you do anything with your content, take the time to craft one (or more) buyer personas so that it’s clear exactly who you are talking to. Whether you’re doing the writing or you’re outsourcing the job, a comprehensive buyer persona ensures that everyone knows who your target audience is and how to engage them.

RELATED: 5 Reasons Content Marketing Fails

Invest in Quality

Content is like food — it’s available at many price points and quality levels. But that $3.99 lunch special with the mystery meat and processed sides, while cheap, probably isn’t your best option if you’re concerned about long-term health.

Just as you can find cheap food, you can find so-called marketers who’ll promise loads of content for next to nothing. But remember what your mother told you — if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

A 2016 Content Marketing Institute study found that content marketing leaders who publish quality content that’s compelling and valuable to the readers reported 7.8 more times the site traffic than those who didn’t quite meet the quality mark.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”Fr8q3″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Before you touch the keyboard, make sure you know who your audience is. #ContentMarketing #BuyerPersonas[/ctt]

What is quality content?

The debate over what quality content is will probably never end, but most people will agree that it meets these criteria at minimum:

• It exudes thought leadership: Telling people that the sky is blue or that dogs bark isn’t going to win you any awards – or loyal readers. Make sure the topics you choose are relevant to your audience and that you’ve put your own unique spin on them.
• It uses proper SEO: I like peanut butter sandwiches because peanut butter sandwiches have so much peanut butter on the sandwich. If you surf the web at all, you’ve seen posts like this and probably hit the browser’s back button quicker than you can say “keyword stuffing.” Keywords are important, but work them into the text naturally or don’t use them at all.
• It educates, informs or entertains: Make sure your posts have a purpose. Whether you create a How To that teaches the reader something or a listicle that’s just for fun, set a goal for that post and run with it.
• It’s coherent: A misplaced comma isn’t going to lose you sales or readers, but proper grammar, spelling and punctuation can put you in a more trustworthy and reputable light to your readers. Quality content also has a good flow, is organized in a logical manner and is factually correct.
• It gets the job done: No matter how “good” you think your content is, if it doesn’t push your content marketing needle and engage the readers, then it’s not very good at all.

Invest in content marketers who take the time to understand what your clients are looking for and can deliver high-quality content tailored specifically to them.

RELATED: 5 Tips to Revitalize a Lagging Content Marketing Strategy

Inform, Don’t Sell

Content writing and copywriting are two different things. Copywriting is purely promotional. There’s a time and place for it, but it isn’t when you’re trying to inform and engage your audience.

The purpose of content marketing is to build relationships and establish trust. Promoting a particular product or service is secondary. Focus on giving your audience something of value. Remember they’re on your customer’s website for a reason. Figure out what that reason is, and give them what they want.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”uwe3R” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Content marketers who publish content that’s compelling and valuable see 7.8 more times the site traffic. #HighQualityContent[/ctt]

If you do this properly, you can position your customer’s product or service as a logical solution. Let’s pretend your client sells nutritional supplements to weight lifters. You produce a content marketing piece on how to increase strength. If it’s well-written and offers value to the reader, it provides a natural opening for positioning your client’s products as part of a broader solution.

Content marketing has a lot of moving parts, but if you get these three areas right before you start, you’ll be on the road to success.

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A blog doesn’t do you any good without traffic. It’s like giving a speech to an empty auditorium. The content could rival “I Have a Dream,” but if no one is there to hear it, it doesn’t matter.

A blog isn’t like Field of Dreams. Just because you build it doesn’t mean they – meaning traffic – will come. It takes work to get consistent traffic to your blog. If yours is struggling, here are three potential reasons:

Your SEO Needs Some Work

If you’ve been content marketing for any amount of time, you probably have at least an idea what SEO is, but you might not be aware of the depth of its complexities.

These days, good SEO requires more than finding a few popular keywords and stuffing your content with them. You need to find keywords with high search volume and low competition. You have to find the Goldilocks spot for keyword density. If it’s too low or too high, you’ll be penalized. You also need to be sure your headlines, meta tags and images are optimized.

All that can be a lot to handle for a new or inexperienced blog owner. Fortunately, tools exist that can help you. Google’s keyword planner is a good place to start. It’s free and can help you find good keywords to target in your blog content.

You Aren’t Promoting Your Content on Social Networks

If you aren’t using social media to promote your blog, you’re missing a huge opportunity to increase website traffic. Most online users don’t sit around searching for blogs to read. Instead, they click on content their friends share on social networks.

In particular, you should be sharing your content on Facebook as much as possible. Seven out of 10 U.S. adults use the social network, and of that number, more than 75 percent check their Facebook feeds daily.

Make your blog content catchy enough and promote it on Facebook, and it could go viral. In short order, you could increase website traffic and have your blog become a household name.

Your Headlines Aren’t Drawing People In

There’s a reason you used to see so many blog headlines like this: “A Woman Gave a Dollar to a Homeless Man. You’ll Never Believe What Happened Next.”

Annoying as they may be, those headlines draw people in because readers want to know what happened next.

That said, Facebook and search engines now classify blatantly “click bait” headlines as such, and they penalize blogs that use them. But that doesn’t mean your headlines should be boring.

For instance, if your blog is about credit repair, the difference in a headline such as, “Advice on Raising Your Credit Score,” and one such as “6 Creative Steps You Can Take to Boost Your Credit Score Fast” is huge.

The second one isn’t click bait, and Facebook and search engines won’t penalize it. But for anyone who sees it and has bad credit, your blog headline jumps out at them and gives them a specific reason to click it.

It takes work and dedication to increase website traffic but with quality content and a good strategy in place, you can do it.

If you need help crafting interesting and engaging content, Crowd Content can help! Our talented writers are ready to help you increase website traffic by writing interesting and engaging content for your blog. Call us or fill out our contact form to learn more about our services.

The post 3 Reasons Your Blog May Not Get the Traffic You Want appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

So which one do you need when clients come to you to boost their business online: a content writer for your website or a web copywriter? The answer depends on the goals and objectives of the client’s campaign.

Nearly 100 percent of the time, though, you need both a content writer and a web copywriter. Here’s why:

Why You Need a Content Writer

Customers love buying things, but they hate the feeling of being sold. Navigating this dichotomy is one of the most challenging things in marketing. The most successful campaigns don’t push products and services on customers. Rather, they give customers a reason to buy and make them feel like it’s their idea.

That’s where content writing comes in. Rather than always trying to sell, sell, sell, content writing provides value to the reader.

Let’s pretend your client runs a mortgage brokerage. The client wants to increase their online presence and capture leads from people searching the internet for information about mortgages. You help the client set up their website. Now it’s time to populate it with content.

Purely sales content doesn’t give the customer what they’re looking for, and it doesn’t inspire their confidence. There’s a time and place to switch into sales mode. But that comes after your client has built rapport with the customer and earned the customer’s trust.

The way to build rapport and trust with a website or blog is through content marketing. It gives the customer something of use to them – such as detailed explanations of different mortgage types – without requiring anything of the customer in return.

It also establishes your client as an authority in their niche. It’s easier to sell to clients after you’ve demonstrated the depth of your knowledge and competence.

Why You Need a Web Copywriter

Anyone who has ever watched a sales movie understands the importance of closing. Remember the iconic scene with Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross, where he delivers the ABCs of sales: Always Be Closing.

ALSO – What is Copywriting?

It’s true. If your client doesn’t use their content to compel a specific action, then they’re essentially just a free source of information.

That’s why good copywriting goes hand in hand with good content writing. Your client’s content writing establishes trust and provides value to the reader. Their copywriting calls the reader to action and closes the sale.

The interplay between content writing and copywriting form the crux of a winning online marketing campaign.

The Takeaway

The easiest way to determine if your client needs a content writer or a web copywriter is to ask this question:

Is my client looking to build their brand and become an authority in their industry, or are they trying to close the sale and compel customers to take a particular action?

Chances are, they want to do both. And for that reason, having a winning content writer and a winning web copywriter on the job is vital for producing a successful campaign.

Need help with your web copies and blogs? Fill out our contact form or call us at (888) 983-3103 to learn about our engaging content solutions.

The post Do You Need a Content Writer or a Copywriter? appeared first on Crowd Content - Blog.

But what separates a content marketing strategy that is merely average or good from an exceptional one? If you look at the companies that are crushing it with content marketing, you’ll notice a few common threads running through their campaigns.

First-rate content marketing strategies create demand by challenging consumers to expand their thinking. They use natural openings to position specific products and services as logical solutions to consumers’ problems. They establish trust and credibility by offering value without asking anything in return. Lastly, a great content marketing strategy provides entertainment value.

Here are four companies that are crushing it with content marketing:

TED

TED is a nonprofit organization founded on the idea that people crave information and want to be challenged. TED disseminates information through short, inspirational speeches, which the company calls “talks.”

Perhaps you’ve watched a TED talk yourself. You’ve almost certainly seen one shared on your Facebook or Twitter feed, as they consistently go viral. The company’s YouTube channel receives a staggering 17 page views per second.

Lesson: It isn’t just “epic fail” videos or Jimmy Fallon goofing off with celebrities that go viral. People want to be informed, inspired and challenged. You’re already an authority in a niche; that’s why you have a business. Consider sharing your knowledge through valuable content marketing.

Shopify

Shopify is an e-commerce platform that helps retailers and entrepreneurs simplify the process of selling their goods and services online. The company’s software has powered everything from small online stores to Amazon’s Webstore.

The Shopify website features a blog and an extensive resource center. The blog gets regularly updated with articles, often featuring tips and advice from big-time influencers in the e-commerce niche. Its resource center is packed with information that a budding entrepreneur needs to grow an online store.

Lesson: Educating and informing your customers provides a natural opening to position your company’s products and services without appearing pushy or blatantly promotional. The Shopify resource center offers a crash course on e-commerce that can bring a complete newbie up to speed. But it also positions Shopify as the logical provider of choice when setting up an online store.

CorePower

CorePower, a fitness company started in Denver in 2002, took less than a decade to become the nation’s largest yoga chain. It did so without running TV, radio or newspaper ads. The company recognized the power of social media before most of its competitors did.

CorePower established a presence on the big social networks and built a massive following by offering informative content. The company also posted all its workouts online so those unable to make it to a physical CorePower location could follow along at home.

Lesson: It sounds counterintuitive —€” why give away information for free online that you’re trying to get customers to show up and pay for? But it worked to build the company’s reputation and brand awareness. The strategy also expanded the company’s geographic footprint as the online workouts drummed up demand for CorePower studios in new markets all over the country.

Gorilla Glue

Gorilla Glue offers an extensive line of super glues, sealants and adhesives. These might sound like the least-exciting products. How, you might be wondering, does content involving hot glue sticks or mounting tape ever go viral?

But the company has built an impressive online following by featuring creative content marketing prominently on its website.

Its “tough stories” series features real customers telling interesting and sometimes funny stories about how they used Gorilla Glue products to save the day when things went wrong on a construction project or household repair.

The website also features a “projects” series where customers can submit photos and videos of things they created using Gorilla Glue products. The company takes the best submissions and features them on the page.

Lesson: You can make your content marketing interesting no matter your product or service. The key is offering something to which your target market can relate. In the case of Gorilla Glue, the company is targeting construction professionals and DIY hobbyists. Its content marketing strategy resonates with these consumers because it takes something relevant to their everyday lives and makes it both informative and engaging.

Did these companies inspire you to develop an effective content marketing strategy for your brand? Let us help you! Fill out our contact form or call us at (888) 983-3103 to get started.

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HighQ, a UK-based Software as a Service company, conducted a recent study on the state of video marketing. The results were staggering. As of 2017, online video accounts for 74 percent of all web traffic. More video content gets uploaded to the web monthly than three decades worth of TV content. Over 500 million people watch videos on Facebook every single day.

The point is, if your small business isn’t video marketing, it’s missing a huge opportunity to reach target customers when they’re most engaged. But online video marketing can be expensive. You have production costs, distribution costs, not to mention good actors don’t come cheap.

A tight budget shouldn’t prevent your business from taking advantage of online video marketing. Use the following tips to launch your first video campaigns inexpensively.

Cast Employees as Actors

Using employees as actors in your marketing video offers several advantages. The most obvious one: your business saves money.

Employees also give your videos a genuine feel that you don’t get with professional actors. Your employees know your business better than anyone. They can deliver your message from the heart rather than reading it from a script.

Corey Batt of Master Your Money Now highlights that creating weekly video content starring his team has been highly effective. “I actually think that having our team on camera helps us in several ways. The videos feel more authentic, they introduce our audience to our team, and I don’t think I could hire actors that would show the same passion our team has for the product.”

If you are worried viewers will be turned off by seeing amateurs on screen, don’t be. Think about the videos that go viral on YouTube and Facebook. The vast majority aren’t professionally made. They’re regular people being captured on camera in authentic moments.

Consider Animation For Online Video Marketing

You can remove the need for actors altogether by animating your marketing video. Animation also doesn’t require a fancy studio or special lighting.

Perhaps you think it costs a lot of money to hire animators or buy animation software for online video marketing. Turns out, this isn’t the case. With services such as Animatron, you can start making animated videos online for free. Once you get some practice and decide to get fancy with your marketing video, the site has paid features that are more advanced. But it’s still far cheaper than hiring actors or freelance animators.

Skimp on Sound

Here’s another amazing stat from the HighQ study: an astounding 85 percent of Facebook videos are watched without sound. It makes sense when you think about it. People watch these videos while scrolling through their phones at work, in waiting rooms and in other places where they don’t have the luxury of turning up the volume.

Brainstorm marketing video ideas that don’t need sound to entertain your audience or deliver your message. You can save money on production costs without compromising effectiveness.

Remember the A-F-H Rule for Going Viral

Distributing your videos to your target market can be costly. The fees for Facebook, YouTube and Twitter ads can accumulate quickly. But if your videos go viral, you don’t have to pay to get them in front of a broad audience. Your distribution costs are zero.

Spend some time watching viral videos, and you’ll quickly see most of them fall into three categories –€” amazing, funny or heartwarming. People watch “epic fail” videos to laugh, and they watch footage of kittens bonding with Doberman Pinschers to be uplifted.

Find a way to deliver your business’s message while fitting in one of the three viral categories. It only takes one viral video to turn your small business into a household name around the world.

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