Your Content Strategy Can Use a Boost

Content rules the marketing world. Owner-generated blogs and articles work around the clock, delivering information to prospects and generating leads to boot.

More importantly, quality content establishes authority in the market. Your subject leadership builds trust and opens up possibilities for greater engagement. And all of it can be promoted in easy-to-digest organic or paid social media bites for a farther reach.

That’s the good news. The bad news? Maybe your content isn’t generating the impact you’d want it to. If so, it’s time for a look under the hood to see if you’re generating the content in the most optimal way.

Power up Your Content

The first step in this tune-up is to make sure you know what you’re looking at. Successful content strategies – like everything in marketing – is something that can be measured. Websites should be running with full tracking and analytics behind the scenes. This is a good time to look at GA4 and what Google can measure on its new dashboard beginning in July.

Whatever methods you use, knowing how your content is performing is key. Come up with key performance indicators, and track over time. This allows you to adjust to trends and create better content in the future, based on KPIs.

What’s working now? More than 76% of blog content published in the last year is how-to articles, according to orbitmedia.com’s annual survey, but their creators view guides and gated content as its most effective, based on results. That makes a lot of sense for automated marketing campaigns or landing pages. Prospects have been given an idea of your content, and now, based on your authority-establishing approach, they’re interested in more of what you have to say.

Discussions with influencers or interviews also work well. It’s another party helping establish your bona fides on the subject and another person invested in promoting the content once it’s finished. That influencer outreach has increased over the past few years, as paid services have shrunk.

Always Fresh, Always Optimized

What’s the benefit of great content if no one can find it? That’s where search-engine-optimized keywords and phrases come in handy. SEO-friendly content can have a long life. Have you ever looked for a recipe for the perfect pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving? Of course, and it never goes out of style.

By the same token, keeping on top of what’s moving in your field helps your content shine. Older articles can be refreshed and repurposed with new information, maximizing their reach and giving them new life. It can be a better use of limited resources to turn a 2018 piece into a 2023 model with the right tweaks, providing the new info today’s users are searching for.

Visuals Read Better Than Words

Quick, informative videos have taken over social media. For good reason: they convey details easily and reinforce key points fast to viewers who have increasingly smaller time frames to absorb it. That same power can move your website content into high gear.

More than 70% of effective content creators use compelling visuals to help tell the story, with a quarter of them using videos to enhance their content. The impact is impressive. Including videos in articles makes it twice as likely to have it be more read and engaged with.

Videos don’t have to be as time-intensive for them to make their mark. Compelling motion graphics or animated infographics can reinforce key points and assist in information retention.

Too Long, Didn’t Read

TL:DR, here’s the secret: a blog’s length makes a difference in engagement, but it’s not the same across the board. Working on a technical piece to show your expertise? 2,000 words or more may be necessary to establish your credentials and authority.

Short pieces have their impact, too, to capture a very focused point of view or idea. But the sweet spot is usually 1,000-1,500 words. If you’re too long without delivering what you’ve promised, there’s a good chance the reader will bail because it was too long (see the abbreviation above).

Consistency of content makes a difference, too. Effective communications mean regular pieces. Try to publish at least one piece per month for maximum effect. Irregular posting allows your audience to forget why they were interested in you in the first place.

Ready to boost your content? Let us come up with a personalized strategy to maximize your content investment.