Content Marketing for Beginners - Here's how to succeed

Yes, the rumor you've heard is true. Today's consumers have closed the door for traditional marketing. 

They put on coffee or go to the bathroom during the promotion on television, they ignore the ads in newspapers and make sure to block ads on the web as they browse. Talk about cheek when all you want is to tell them how amazing your products and services are.

So is it as good for us marketers to throw in the towel? To bite into the sour apple and start doing something else? Or is there a solution to consumer deficient behavior? 

Yes, luckily there is a light in the tunnel. And the solution is called content marketing. Or content marketing as we can also say in Swedish.

You've probably heard of it - it's a real trend word and there are few concepts that are talked about so often in marketing today. But if you're feeling unsure what it really is, what benefit you and your company can have it and how you go for success, this article is what you need to get warm in your clothes.

What is content marketing?

We go out hard with the most basic question. What is actually content marketing? 

If you are looking online, you will probably get drunk in definitions, but the most widely distributed explanation is probably this from the  Content Marketing Institute :

"Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience - and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action."

In other words, the aim is to attract and retain customers by regularly creating and curating to change or enhance the consumer behavior. It's no one-off effort but an ongoing process that should be integrated into your overall marketing strategy and where you have control over the content. 

It's simply about communicating with your existing and potential customers without selling. It's about marketing that does not bother or interrupt them. It's about delivering information that adds value and makes your customers smarter instead of pitching your products or services. The reward will be buyer and loyalty sooner.

Theory in all glory, but what does this mean in practice? Well, content marketing is photos, images, texts, videos, audio files. checklists, e-books, white papers - simply everything you create and publish online - to tell your company's story. To tell who you are and what you stand for. 

And even though it seems that content marketing has become the hottest potato market in Digital world, it's definitely no newcomer. Content marketing has been around for years - in the form of print ads, radio advertising and TV commercials that have been a natural part of our media consumption as long as we can remember.

What's new is the tools and opportunities for everyone to play in the game. Small businesses can now challenge the big dragons without having to have a giant budget hidden in the mattress. 

Exciting, right?

Why Content Marketing?

Today, content marketing is not a choice but more or less a must. But why is that so important? 

The answer is the internet. It has changed the business plan for today because consumers now use the network for the most part. When buying a new stroller, renew the autumn wardrobe, find a restaurant to visit this weekend, hire a craftsman for the bathroom renovation - everything starts with the internet. Just go to yourself, how are you doing? 

Today, most people go to a search engine, probably Google, and enter a question. And among the results that appear when you want to be at your disposal. You want to be there so you can tell why someone will buy your product or hire you instead of your competitors. Right?

But my customers are not online, maybe you say. So this with the net I do not need to care about. To quote Brasse in Five ants are more than four elephants: wrong, wrong, wrong! 

Perhaps you could get away with that excuse a few years ago, but definitely not now. Today, in principle, all audiences have a smartphone - from teens to retirees. They all have access to the network and use it diligently to look for companies that can deliver your products or services. And if you have not created any content that makes people find you who create interest, engage and make them want to buy from you, you will end up hopelessly afterward.

It's the bitter reality. If you have not already done so, it's high time to jump on the content train and make content marketing a natural part of your marketing.

Develop strategy and goals

The foundation of successful content marketing and therefore the first step is to develop a strategy and determine what goals you have with it all.

Define goals and measure success

What does a successful content marketing look like? 

Unfortunately, not everyone who has responded to that question before they're happy in the process of starting to create and publish content. But if you do not know how success looks, how will you know that you achieved it? 

First of all, we need to make it clear that the goal of content marketing can look in many different ways. Sometimes it's about making sure your product is being discussed, in other words creating buzz around it. Other times, the purpose is to get more subscribers to your newsletter, get more followers in social media or more watching your videos. There are also times when you simply want to sell as a dollar and earn money - you are, after all, a company that needs to be profitable.

With whatever the goal looks, it must be clear. It does not work with vague goals like "boost sales" or "more followers on Instagram". You need to make the success measure measurable - you will increase sales by 15% or get 200 new followers on Instagram within 30 days. Otherwise, it's impossible to know if you achieved them.

So take the time to fix these goals and make sure to measure them. How the measurement looks depends on what opportunities your business has. Perhaps you can use discount codes that you integrate into your content and which your business system can then track? Or use Google's  URL creation tools to add tracking parameters to your links and then follow them up in Google Analytics?

Once you get the results of your measurement, the next step is to evaluate what you've achieved. And here it is not enough to focus on the parts that made a success but also on what did not work. Taking on the negative glasses and investigating yourself is a prerequisite for getting better next time. Maybe it was not an article in text from your audience wanted without a video? Maybe it was the wrong type of motive on your photos on Facebook? Evaluate and then use what you've achieved to improve your goals.

Working with your content marketing goals is not a process at the beginning and the end but can resemble a circle where you start by setting the goals, then measuring them to evaluate the measurement results and then going back and setting better goals from outside what you achieved in your evaluation.

The purpose is to step by step change and optimize your content marketing for the better and find out if what you are doing is actually worth the effort or if you should put it on something else. If you are not sure what success is, you will never find the answer.

Get to know yourself

SVT has a program called "Who do you think you are?". 

That question, as a content marketer, should also ask you. You need to get to know yourself to know how to best communicate your content with your audience. For example, a small one-man company can Do not have the same approach as a large company with several thousand employees. 

You must find your own style and your own voice, both as to how you write and the visual. What are you and what are you not? Are you going to be funny or serious? Personal or professional? 

No matter what you should always be yourself. To monkey after someone else is not a good idea. Of course, you'll keep an eye on what others are doing, including your competitors, but if you try to copy a style that does not suit you, it will not feel real but unnatural and artificial. Such marks your customers. And the result is a fewer business. 

Then find out who you are and what you stand for. Then create content that goes hand in hand with this.

Integrate with your existing marketing strategy

One mistake many makes is to regard content marketing as a new exciting building block that you can only throw into its existing building, ie the marketing campaigns you already have. Embed some content marketing into our outdoor ads and in the TV commercial we are driving, it will be fine. 

While this approach may work, it is far from optimal. Content marketing will instead take place already in the planning stage for a new campaign. It should be integrated into everything else you do when it comes to marketing - do not be a kind of festive topping that you throw when everything is done.

In a smaller company, this process is, in most cases, not very complicated as it is often the same person (s) who take care of all marketing. But in larger organizations, it may be necessary to tear up walls and really start cooperating. It does not work with separate departments where one manages print ads, one manages online marketing and a third manage PR. While no-one is properly aware of what the others are doing. Everyone must work together. 

From the point of view, you are one and the same organization, and your customers do not care that you have different departments internally. They see you as the only device and you, therefore, need to act as such. 

Take the lead on the train

To pursue successful content marketing will be no dancing on roses if you do not have the company's management with you. And the bigger the organization you work in, the more difficult - and more importantly - is this. 

Firstly, you need a budget. There are also a lot of decisions that have to be taken during the work and sometimes there are also fast puckers that apply so you do not have the opportunity to ask and anchor everything. Then you must know that the wire is for you and backs up what you do.

If you are alone or in the company, this management support is no problem, but in larger companies, it can be a challenge. How can you make sure that management believes that content marketing is important and something you should focus on? There is no universal solution, but a good tip is to showcase what your competitors are doing in terms of content marketing. It is usually fast at most. And if you can not find any competitors, you can come up with a number of good and inspirational examples of companies skilled in content marketing and telling you what opportunities (read: business) would create the same for your business. 

You - a media house

- I'm not the one that creates content, I sell used cars. 

An extremely common argument regarding the new marketing imperfection. Most people are still stuck in the mind that they only work in the industry in which their products belong. Shoes, health food, heat pumps, wood products or whatever it may be. 

That's how it may have been. Shoe stores operate in the shoe industry, heat pump manufacturers in the heating industry and so on. But not anymore. In today's digital world, all companies in the media industry seem to like or not. Assuming they want some of the digital cake to say. And with the media, I mean the production of content.

In other words, it's no longer just big dragons like Bonnier, Schibstedt, IDG and other great players who have a monopoly in the media field. Even you're a media house nowadays, just chew it. 

In the past, you needed access to a well-stocked bank account, a printing press and great staff to produce content and distribute it to people. No longer. We can thank the technology for that. Today, it's enough for a blog, a Twitter account, or an app, so you're in the game and can call you a publicist. 

Not bad, huh?

Content marketing has transformed all companies and organizations into media houses where we can publish editorial content in the form of, for example, texts, pictures, presentations, videos and information graphics directly to our target audience, easily and cost-effectively. With just a few mouse clicks, we have our own media channels that we own and control. 

Being a publicist also means that you have to think as such. Especially when it comes to planning and advancement. Compare, for example, a magazine. They hardly stand one week before publishing and ponder what they should write for articles. Instead, they plan the content in their editions well in advance.

You must act the same way. Sit down and plan the next few months. Think about what important events are relevant. Maybe you're going to release a new product, launch a new service or arrange an event? When it's time to start planning and creating content that makes people curious and building excitement for the upcoming event or product release. Photos on Instagram, videos on YouTube, blog posts and tweets that create interest - only the imagination sets the limits. And the closer the event comes, the more the extent of the content increases. 

In order to keep up with all this content, it is not recommended that you try to keep everything in your head. Instead, your best friend is a publishing calendar and we will talk more about it later in the article.

Bet on small winnings at the beginning

All of us are children in the beginning, so even content marketers. And all this new with content marketing can certainly feel overwhelming when you are a beginner. Where are you going to start, how are you going to succeed, how are you going to break? The questions and concerns can be many. 

In order not to feel that you are drowning, it's advisable to start with something small and feel that you master it. Choose something that you can do fast and that does not cost you much. Maybe you can photograph at your next fair and create a fancy slide show with music of the photos? Or do short simple video interviews with customers trying your latest product using your smartphone? 

Feeling that you can do this, increasing your confidence and moving on to larger content adventures. Small wins lead to big wins.

Choose the right platforms and tools

Now that you have your strategy, goals and planning in place, it's time for the more handy part of content marketing platforms and tools.

Necessary ingredients in your online presence

Today there are several tools and social networks out there. And there are constantly new platforms. Many of us have neither time nor resources to be everywhere, but there are a couple of important things that you should have in place before you get started with your content marketing. A solid online site, so to speak. 

The first and most important thing is to have your own website. Your website serves as your home plan, your business name, wherever you direct all traffic from other channels.

In addition to the website, you should also have an account on Facebook. Whatever you like about Facebook, it is by far the world's largest social network. Having a presence there is, therefore, a good idea. In addition, I recommend that you have accounts on Instagram and Twitter, two other popular platforms in the market. Here, most likely, your customers are ready to talk about your products, services, and competitors. 

If you're not there, they can not find you, they can not tag you, they can not do anything. And you can not find their discussions about you either. Not so successful, right? So before you begin your efforts on content marketing, make sure you have laid a stable online site that you can then use when working with your content.

Not without my blog

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest in all honor - but it's an ingredient that's absolutely essential and a given starting point in your content mix, it's a separate blog. And then I'm not talking about a free blog on, for example, Blogger or WordPress.com without a blog that you cough yourself and allow to be an integral part of your website. 

The easiest way is to use WordPress to create the blog, but there are of course other publishing tools out there to find the one that suits you best.

The reason why a blog is a must is, above all, that you have the opportunity to publish all kinds of content on it - text, images, audio, video, presentations, etc. In addition, all content that you publish on your blog and you are in control of it. 

Do you publish something on a third-party platform, such as Facebook, so it's a fact that you do not control it? Even if it does not feel likely, Facebook or any of the other services can actually disappear tomorrow and then your content stays with and is gone forever. Or suddenly, they can start paying or finding something else that you do not appreciate. They own the platform and decide on it, not you. Therefore, it is a risky strategy to build only its online presence on land leased.

Get guidelines and train all involved

Anything that matters with the content marketing work - but perhaps not the most exciting part - is to set up clear guidelines and educate all those involved in creating content. And the bigger the organization is, the more important it is that everyone is on the same track so that you act outward as a single unit. 

What platforms should we be on? Who will publish what and when? What is appropriate to publish and what should we avoid? How do we respond if someone writes something negative about us in social media? Make sure everything is sunny and that everyone knows what's going on.

If you have already started sweating, I can rest assured that you do not need to put together a hundred-page rulebook for how to behave in your content work. In many cases, it is enough with a few pages where you set clear and clear rules that everyone can understand. But the extent necessary depends, of course, on what the company looks like - no business is the other equal. 

Also, do not forget that the guidelines may need to look different for different platforms - Facebook and Twitter are not the same - and they should also indicate how employees should behave privately in social media. You want to avoid finding a Facebook post from Peter at Customer Service where he asks about your business for anyone who wants to listen. Even if you communicate as an individual, you still have a representative for your workplace and should act accordingly.

If you need inspiration for what your guidelines should contain, then googling tips such as "Social Media Guidelines." Then you will be guaranteed many examples from other organizations that can help you with the traces.

Practice makes perfect

No one imagines Usain Bolt became the world's fastest man the first time he jumped 100 meters. Or that Julia Roberts became one of Hollywood's most popular actors the first time she went to audition. And it is said that Thomas Edison took 2,000 attempts to create a working bulb. In other words, these champions had to fight hard to achieve their success. Long and persistent training was required. 

The same applies to you in your work with content marketing. Your first try will probably not be any successes. And there's nothing to be sorry for - it's quite normal when you're a newbie to something. We are all children in the beginning.

Sadly, there is no magic formula to becoming a skilled content marketer overnight, but it's about rolling up your sleeves and creating, creating, creating. For every new text, photo, video or whatever it's for content you produce, you'll get a bit better on what you do. So be sure to create as much as you can only, do it regularly and be patient - sooner or later when you graduate. 

And do not get water over your head by trying to get the best on all platforms at once. Begin with one, suggest that the one you know is easiest for you, and master it before moving on to the next.

Roles and responsibilities in content marketing

Successful content marketing requires clear and clear roles and responsibilities at work. On large companies, probably several people have these roles, while you are solo entrepreneurs or work in a small company, you probably have to put on a pair of hats. But you are probably used to it. 

The rules that we will discuss below are editors, community managers, and content creators. 

Why you need an editor

It is Monday at 9 am and you and your colleagues have a morning meeting to plan the week's content marketing work. Most of you look tired after the weekend and do not seem particularly charged to grab that brilliant content that will make the audience love you. 

- Yes, you say. What are we doing this week? Can you blog about the benefits of IT for public organizations, Johan? 

- So, I'm not done with my part of the Ebook about security that I and Anna would fix to our mailing list. And in addition, I have to find something smart on Twitter and LinkedIn did not get much done there last week. Can not another blog? Karin?

- Sure, I can blog, but then you can actually help me get on a topic. And have anyone heard from Lars by the way? He would have finished the layout of the infographics of the year's IT trends that he and I agree on until yesterday, and I have not received anything in the emails ...

Does not sound like a dream scenario for a company that wants to work effectively with content marketing or how? Hopefully, it's not so bad at you, but still - it's vital that you have someone who has a hardware bulletin on the content work. 

That's where the editorcomes into the picture. He or she is the one who keeps the order and knows exactly who will do what, when to do this and make sure that it is also done. A planning master, simply. The editor is also the one who ensures that all content you produce is within the framework you set up for what you can do and not to do, keep track of following the strategy and reaching the goals. 

Community Manager

The next important role after the editor is the one in charge of the company's community . And what do I mean by community? Well, that's all communication on the web about your company. Comments on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and all other channels. And of course also on your own blog. 

The community manager is the voice and face of the company in all this communication. He or she is the one who answers questions or comments on eg. Facebook. And also make sure that communication stays objective and defends you if it starts blowing bluntly. 

There is much that can happen in the web world and that's why not anyone who can handle this task. Therefore, be careful whom you choose. The person must have many different characteristics.

First and foremost, he or she must understand how to communicate with people - both those who love your business and those who for some reason ask you to pull your finger grow. In the worst case, you can come across real starring who gets a kick of throwing hatred on your way, but these people must also be handled in a good way. 

Of course, a community manager must also be able to write because communication on the Internet takes place in writing, and fully understands the various platforms and what distinguishes them. Replying to someone on Twitter, where you are limited to 140 characters, requires a different type of communication than a reply to a blog commentary, where you are able to embroider your text. That the person knows the company and the brand in full and your guidelines for content marketing on their five fingers are other obvious features. 

In addition, it is important that a community manager is always there. People's patience seems to only get worse and worse, and they demand a response quickly. They have to get it - unless otherwise, they need to know when they can wait for a response. The important thing is that they do not feel ignored when they belong to you because it is most likely to bite your tail. 

Total summaries: The person in charge of the company's community has a key role. Choose the person with care.

Creators

Finally, we come to the role that may feel most exciting when talking about content marketing: to create the content itself. 

How many content creators are involved, of course, vary from company to company, but no matter how many it is, it's important that everyone is trained and fully aware of the guidelines you set up for your content work. 

An important factor is also that you have the right person in the right place. Do not be too careful about the formal division of the company. If Stina on customer service is a good idea to photograph, maybe she is responsible for all the photos you publish on the various platforms, even though she is not working in the marketing department. And your CEO does not have to be the one who manages the company blog if he or she neither likes nor is particularly good at writing. 

In addition to the fact that the content creators are skilled at their task, motivation is also important - that they really like doing it and are not forced. The genuine joy that someone likes what it does, noticeable. If on the other hand, there is happiness and genuineness, it is also noticeable. And the risk is that it's backing down your brand.

Do not forget to listen

"Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would have preferred to talk." - Doug Larson

- But you do not listen! 

The above reply might as well be expressed by consumers to companies as a frustrated teenage parent to his rebellious son. 

In the relationship between parent and teenager, we can probably accept that this is a period of time, but as far as the company's advances in the online world are concerned, we would be able to demand significantly more. It would not only cause their target audience to be more appreciated and thus more benevolent, but also to help themselves become better content marketers.

We have spoken roles in content marketing and what these people should be able to do a good while now. But we have not yet touched on an extremely important characteristic of all roles: the ability to listen. 

In fact, this is a shortage today. Everyone wants to be seen, heard, be the one who speaks, but is it really someone listening? And is it that when we listen, we do not do it with the intention of understanding the other, but really we just wait for our own trip to talk?

Big mistakes in content marketing - and in real life too, for that matter. 

Not to mention what is meant to mean that we lose the opportunity to actually act and improve things based on what we find out when we listen. For who is it that can actually provide really valuable information about deficiencies or improvements with your product or service? Are you your colleagues at the development department who worked to produce the product for three years, more or less isolated in its bubble? Or are your customers, those who actually use the product in their everyday lives? 

The same thing about your content - Do not listen to what people like about your blog posts, e-books or Instagram images, it's very hard to get better. Those who do not listen but just run on their own head have only done half the job. 

How do you then listen?Fortunately, there are a lot of tools out there - both free and those that cost money - that can help you with this. The tools will notify you every time your company, your products, your industry etc. are mentioned online so you can quickly get into the discussion and show that you are there. If you do not feel like using a tool, then the least you can do is to set up automatic searches on Google and Twitter at least, it does not cost a penny. 

A natural consequence of listening is of course also to answer what is said about you. In other words, the listening process is a two-stage rocket, and answering is something you should not forget.

If someone says that he or she lacks a feature in your product, thank you for the feedback and announce that you will consider this for the next update. Tell someone that they had a terrible experience when they visited your playland, sorry it happened and ask if there is anything you can do to put everything right. And keep in mind to also respond with a positive suggestion that your business is amazing. 

Show cards and good that you are human and personal, that you listen and answer. It likes people and you will be rewarded accordingly. In addition, as you said, you can take advantage of what you find out and get yourself better.

Put your plan into practice the best way

Once we have all the roles and responsibilities ready for us, it's time to talk about how to work with content marketing in the best possible way.

The publication calendar - your best friend

As planned, planning A and O is a successful content work, and the first company should provide a publishing calendar. 

When you have a tool in your hand, a tool that has changed the life of the content departments. Which made the most confused and messy content marketing organizations to highly efficient and structured content marketing machines.

The tool will help you create the best possible content in the shortest possible time and make sure you always know what to do, who will do it and when it will be done. In addition, it helps to keep your target audience engaged because it ensures that your content does not stagnate, feels uniform or overly sloppy. It sounds like the best invention since ready-made bread, right? 

Briefly, the publishing calendar is a calendar that specifies what content your company will publish for a certain period of time. And it does not have to be as complicated as you might think - it works great with eg. a spreadsheet in Excel or Google Docs. Although of course there are a number of programs out there that simplify it all.

But the fact is that in the beginning there is something as simple as the calendar below. A simple table-table chart that you can draw on a plain paper or white board.

As you can see, write up all weekdays on one shoulder (Saturday and Sunday you can skip if you want, but keep in mind that in most services you can make timely posts so you do not have to be in place during the weekend). On the other axis, type the different channels you use for your content, in this case, blog, facebook, Instagram, twitter, and youtube. 

Then you decide how often you should publish on the different platforms. On Twitter or Instagram, you may consider it appropriate to publish several times a day, and if you find it easier to put two crosses in these boxes (or how many times per day you consider appropriate). If you like, you can also draw small symbols in the different boxes depending on the type of content you want to publish - text, image, video, etc.

As you can, you can do it how easy or how advanced you want - the main thing is to understand how the calendar works and that this does not discourage you without being done. Over time, you are getting better on it and both you and your future structured content marketing work will thank you. Never again will you have to wake up one morning and have no idea what type of content is being published today.

Take advantage of your strengths

Focusing on what you are good at and enjoying is fun, ie your strengths is one of the best ways to create really good content. 

You've probably experienced the difference in job satisfaction when you work with something you like compared to something you have to do but dislike. In the first case, it's easy to forget about time and space, while in the second case you're bored counting the minutes until you get home. The same is true with content marketing. 

Content marketing is, as I say, a long-term work that takes both time and effort and it will definitely come a day when you prefer to study paint that dries then creates content. Days when you have to force yourself to do what you should. To do something that you are good at and like will make these valleys much easier to handle.

So you who are not already aware of your strengths should immediately start investigating yourself to become aware of these. Are there any textual articles that are your thing? Or do you do the best in company with a camera and should, therefore, invest in the video? Perhaps your visual eye is your greatest asset so you focus on images? No matter what strengths you have, it is important that you are aware of them so that you can properly target your energy. 

Starting with your strengths is, therefore, a good idea to give you a sure reason to stand on. But when you get warm in your clothes, you should also dare to go outside your comfort zone and try other types of content. In the long run, you can not lock yourself in your favorite content - it will be monotonous and tedious for both you and your target audience.

Giving out on unknown seas can sometimes give happy surprises - maybe you have hidden talents that you do not discover if you dare not try. And keep in mind that you do not have to publish anything you create - if you feel unsuccessful, you can leave it in the trash instead of on the web.

Strong web writers make success in the content world 

A basic skill you as content marketers must have is being able to write for the web. 

It's easy to believe that this knowledge is only needed if you are going to write blog posts, but in fact, you need to be a skilled writer no matter what type of content you create. 

Your photos need strong captions and your videos need a sharp screenplay. Not to mention social media - to create a committed community on eg. Twitter or Facebook you need to be able to seduce people with the written word. What you write must also be customized for the web and screen reading, a communication that requires something different from offline. paper.

The first step to becoming a skilled web writer and copywriter for the web is to communicate as a real person, not a robot. Too many people who write in the service are in the trap of hiding in an internal trade language with difficult terms or breaking the latest trends in the belief that people do not perceive them as professionals either. 

Nothing could be more wrong. Besides, with this language strategy, you risk being perceived as sad and sad, the danger is also that people hardly understand what you say. The result will be regardless of ignoring you. So if you want to reach your target audience, I advise you to quickly bury this corporate bullshit and communicate with your audience in a simple and personal way that shows you to understand them. Which shows you are like them.

Another pitfall for the web communicator is to be too focused on sales. The reason is that today's marketing has evolved from having been one-way communication, where companies in lonely majesty based their messages, whether the consumer would listen or not, to become a two-way communication between companies and consumers. Marketing to the big mass hoping to catch enough fish on the hook does not work anymore.

Of course, the ultimate goal of your content marketing should be to create the business, there is no charity you are dealing with, but today you need to get another contact with people. You must see the process as more long-term than fast puckers. Begin by creating relationships with your target audience. Make them feel like you. Ask interesting questions, say good morning, thank them for being there, inspire them with good quotes, ask how to help them - only the imagination sets the limits. 

The key word is commitment.

"Content is king but engagement is queen, and the lady rules the house!" - Mari Smith

This type of content engages and cares for your relationships, which means that sales sooner or later come by themselves without repeatedly screaming "come and buy!". And think about what you think about companies that generally only publish sales messages in social media - is it a company you like to follow? 

And you, forget to say, do not listen to what your audience says and be sure to answer them. In short - show that you care. That you are a regular person. It will take you a lot longer than the seller type with an inexhaustible supply of industry keys and trend words.

Images are the best-selling friend of the content marketer

There are some types of content that require more attention than others. And perhaps the most important content type today are pictures, so our visual friends deserve their own title. 

An image says more than a thousand words. It must be one of the most worn out clefts out there, but it does not matter less. 

We, humans, are visual beings. We love pictures, see things instead of getting them described. It's something to keep in mind in your content marketing - no matter what type of content you produce, be sure to include photos. These are pictures that, in particular, make people share content - and divisions, becoming viral, are every marketers' wet dream.

Just think of social media. They are just getting more and more visual. Twitter, previously text-based, now allows images in your tweets. And it certainly has given results. Tweets that contain pictures have been shown to have 18% more clicks, 89% more favorite selections and 150% more retweets ( source ). The same great success has photos on Facebook - in the case of shared posts on Facebook pages worldwide in March 2014, 87% of the posts contained images ( source ) were included. 

Take a look at the chart below. It shows that images and photos are considered the most important tactics to optimize content on social media among marketers ( source ).

Today, we are not only visual creatures but also scrolling creatures. With a breathtaking speed, we scroll through the flow of our various social media. And if you go to yourself, what makes you shark and stop in scrolling? Is not that the three-line text update? No, it's pictures - at least if you're like me. 

So include photos or photos when you publish content on social media. And, as I said, see that all content you create on, for example, your website or blog contains some kind of image. These are pictures such as Facebook and others. retrieves when someone shares your content - and when this happens, you want your content to show off their best page.

If you can afford, please hire a professional photographer for your pictures. But do not forget that we all now have a good camera in our pocket in the form of our smartphones that we can take pictures with. So be sure to take photos as soon as your breath falls. For example, be a photo from your office, an event, your store or your product. People love to get a bullshit behind the scenes and what may seem sad and every day for you can be exciting for someone else. The important thing is to dare and not lock in the fact that you have to have professional photos in order to publish something.

Video - The new black in content marketing

As said, we can not talk about content without paying much attention to the visual. We have already made clear how important this is with pictures, but we should not forget about video. We, as people say, love watching things and that's exactly what you do you see or hear someone in a video. 

A few numbers that should be watered in the mouth are ( source ):

• 55% watch videos online every day - 78% do it every week
• 75% of business executives watch work-related videos every week
• 57% of the internet traffic today consists of video - in 2018 it is estimated that the figure has increased to 79%
• 52% of marketers believe that video marketing is effective for brand awareness, creating leads, and engaging the target audience
• The word "video" in the subject line for a newsletter increases the opening rate by 19%, the clickthrough rate by 65% and decreases the number that ends up subscribing by 26%.

No doubt you should also jump on the online video tour, right? 

Unfortunately, the word video is usually a lot of scarecrows. Because we automatically think that video means you have to set yourself in front of the camera. But it does not have to be you who are the main characters of your video - you can turn the stitch (or rather the camera) instead and shoot someone else. It may be a happy customer, someone you meet at a fair or colleague who is more suited to the lens lice than you.

Another objection to video is that it's expensive. And it has also been once in a while, but no longer. We have previously talked about the fact that you now have a full-featured camera in your pocket in the form of your smartphone - in the same way you also have a good video production equipment. Who could have imagined it a couple of years ago? The trend has certainly been in a positive direction for those who want to become their own media producer. 

The common argument that your customers are not watching the video can also be a little easier. YouTube is today the world's second largest search engine for its owner Google. That all your customers would belong to the minority who did not look using this site is therefore not very likely. People turn to YouTube to answer their questions and that's where you should find the answers. 

Video on Facebook also increases for every day that goes and is today on the same levels as YouTube. Instagram is another popular moving image platform. Here is your target audience and you have many nice opportunities to spread your video galleries today.

In summary - you do not have to be included in your videos, it does not cost the shirt and your customers will appreciate it. In other words, there is no doubt that video should be included in your content mix. If you need inspiration, YouTube - and especially Vimeo - is a great place to visit. 

And you do not forget to be careful about the sound. There is nothing that can lower an otherwise excellent video as poor sound quality. You can also export the audio from the video and upload to, for example, SoundCloud.

Customize the content of the platform

Platforms to publish content are, as I said, plenty of. New social networks and services are constantly evolving. As you have probably noticed, there are many times the possibility to couple these together automatically - for example, Your posts on Instagram automatically also published on Facebook.

To make it easy and use these features is obviously attractive, but I advise you to nevertheless. The reason is that different platforms have different possibilities and work differently. An image that is primarily published on Twitter and created to fit there may not be as good on Facebook when the same version is posted there. One reason is that you can publish significantly more text on Facebook than on Twitter.

Therefore, it's better to customize the same image and then upload it directly to Facebook with a longer text instead of allowing the Twitter version to be automatically published. Additionally, this gives your followers a variety - the risk is that they'll be tired of you when they look exactly the same on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. All platforms, therefore, have their own culture and you need to adapt to get the best results.

But even if you should adapt to each platform, do not hesitate to reuse your content in different places. We have already mentioned that an image can be uploaded to both Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. But it does not stop there - why not upload the pic on Pinterest and Flickr also? And if you have more pictures, you can also reuse them on YouTube by creating a video game video with any of the services available. And do not forget the opportunities available on Google+, our favorite search engine's social network. 

By recycling content, even though you say no to automation, you can still save time. The time that you can use to create even better content.

Reach success with content marketing

Now we have reached the end of the article and it's time to tie up the bag and give you a few words on the way. 

An important thing to do with you is that content marketing is a long-term marketing strategy. It may take time before you see the results of your efforts. And when you succeed, unfortunately, you can not lean back and enjoy the successes - for the day you stop creating new content you immediately lose the tailwind you have achieved. 

Sustainability is thus a virtue in the content world. On the other hand, everything you've created on the web is working for you around the clock, all year round. In other words, nothing you do is in vain. Eventually, you've got a powerful content army and suddenly someone finds you through something that you might have created several months ago and even forgotten. You never know when it happens. 

Do not forget to keep an eye on what others are doing - both your competitors and other companies who are skilled on content. Do not copy them, but study how they work and get inspiration for your own products. 

And perhaps the most important thing for success - remember to have fun. Pick up the child in you who once loved to create - draw, write small fairy tales, etc. If you like what you do, it will be easier to find the excitement of the content marketing process - and also easier to cope with when the work feels heavy. Of course, you have to make money for your company, there is no playhouse we are talking about, but if the joy comes along, the way to the shops becomes much nicer. 

The conclusion is: Content will be built out of joy.  

A big good luck!