Make Content Marketing work for your business

I recently delivered a workshop at the Welcome To Yorkshire Y Business Hub event on the secrets of content marketing. I’ve talked about this subject before on this blog, but this time I’d like to focus on ensuring your content marketing aligns with your business strategy.

In our role, we talk to many businesses of different types and sizes and find that many want their marketing to be more effective both on and offline. Content Marketing, when used correctly is hugely powerful and can help you to achieve a great return on investment. In fact, according to the Content Marketing Institute, “While content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing, it generates more than three times as many leads.”

So how do you make it work for you?

Remember that the purpose of content marketing is to engage, inform and interest your audience so that they pay attention to you and, ultimately, want to buy your products or services.

But in order for your content to be really effective, it’s vital that it accurately reflects your business and supports your strategic objectives. So while it’s important to be regularly generating content, not all content is good content. 

• You need to ensure everything you do online or in print relates back to your strategy – your reason for being in business.
• Make sure that each product, service or area of your business that you want to promote is thought about.
• Think about your key target audiences for each of your products or services and the key messages you need to convey to them.
• Ask yourself what their issues are and why would they choose you?
• Ensure that these thoughts and messages are woven in to your content – or at least hinted at.

Then write in a way that expresses your personality as a business. Informal channels, like social media and blogs, are a great way to get your own voice and opinions into your communications. Make sure it is relevant and then will connect your audience. 

If the content you produce, shows customers that you understand their wants and needs, and that you share their concerns and interests, then it will create trust and authenticity in your brand and give you an opportunity to generate sales for your products and services

What makes good content?

• Adds value and is relevant to your target audience
• Builds awareness and positions you as an authority in your industry
• Provides evidence of why they should choose you or your business
• Makes people engage with you and share your content
• Attracts potential customers and encourages them to take action

Where do you start?

Updating and refreshing digital content is often the quickest, easiest way to keep your content marketing relevant and up to date. Adding regular news stories, case studies and blogs to your website will give you a wealth of great content to share as well as help to improve your search engine rankings too – so people can find your website more easily. See our blog from earlier this year about SEO and good content

Talk about things you are expert in. Show your knowledge. Demonstrate that you have your finger on the pulse and are bang up to date with current issues and trends in your market. In short, show people why they should trust you.

Content marketing doesn’t have to entail significant extra work. It’s often about making your existing materials or marketing channels work harder. There are so many outlets for your content now so remember to make the most of them. Share your content across multiple platforms, but adapt your style accordingly to suit each one. . 

For tips on how to generate ideas for new content, take a look at this blog from last year. 

I’ll be giving more marketing tips for SMEs at another seminar this week. Why not come along on Tuesday 8th November to Mercure York Fairfield Manor Hotel to discover the ‘Secrets of Successful Marketing’?