We are currently living through an online marketing revolution, and the tables have well and truly been turned. The panda has left the building and Google has stuck a knife into traditional SEO concepts. Through algorithm improvements, the onus has now shifted from your traditional optimisation practices and content marketing is now the new star – many online marketing companies have stood up and taken notice. But fear not, SEO experts, as your jobs are safe for now, and don’t be alarmed when your company begins to morph into not just a marketing company, but a fully-fledged creative agency and publisher.
The standalone SEO page has been rounded up and the firing squad have emptied their cartridges, and it now lies six feet under with its best buddy, the once cute and cuddly Google Panda . Saying that, SEO is pretty much essential in order to optimise content for the web, so excuse the slight hyperbole of that last bit. While they are still separate entities, one cannot live without the other. People won’t discover your content if a brainbox optimiser hasn’t had his way and fixed what’s under the bonnet – but let’s just say that SEO is in a state of flux.
If you’re reading this instalment of the Neil Walker Digital blog, then it is most likely the case that you are in some way or another involved with online marketing. If you are, I’d bet a tenner on that you’ve been hearing the words CONTENT MARKETING increasingly often over the last 18 months or so. You might have got sick of it, or you may have acted swiftly (kudos if the latter applies to you) but do you actually know what you’re doing?
This online marketing revolution is somewhat akin to when Ben Elton, Lise Mayer and the late Rik Mayall essentially shook up the British comedy scene with their anarchic BBC show The Young Ones in 1982. Vyvyan, Rick, Neil and Mike stormed onto the screens of the nation with a tirade of ‘knob jokes’ and anti-establishment humour. They saved the nation from the decaying old relics that had been working in comedy since time began. What was once alternative comedy became mainstream, and the same could be said for content marketing at the moment- I mean, I’m betting again, but I’d put, let’s say 20 quid on the fact that Buzzfeed wasn’t taking up your newsfeeds two years ago like it is now. If only Ladbrokes took such ridiculous wagers.
Now it’s time for marketers to get to work. It’s time to make like Frank Underwood and ‘break the fourth wall’. Instead of the old ‘if we build it, they will come’ mantra, actually begin to talk to your audience.
You might not even realise it, but when you create content you’re competing with a hell of a lot of other people who are doing exactly the same. I mentioned Buzzfeed before, but there’s Mashable , Red Bull , Econsultancy and a whole host of other brands who are now publishing tons of immensely sharable and readable content.
You see who I just mentioned? They are your rivals; you’re fighting tooth and nail with them for the attention of internet users from here in Manchester, to Salvador in Brazil and all the way to Wellington on New Zealand’s North Island.
Don’t confuse content marketing with strategy
So, how can you create impressive content that breeds phenomenal success? Seeing as though that was the title of this blog, it’s best that I talk a little about it in more depth. Content strategy and content marketing are certainly not the same thing, and it really bugs us here at Neil Walker Digital Towers when they are tarred with the same brush. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not a battle. I’m not about to shove them in the octagon and make them swing it out for three rounds. Here we will look at how it’s possible to understand content strategy so you can move forward and produce killer content which enables you to compete with the heavyweights in the content marketing division.
Improve your content strategy
Unbelievably, 92% of marketers are now reported to be undertaking content marketing of some sort . And why not? It’s a proven tactic of ensuring your (or your clients’) website receives more traffic. But it’s not as easy as that, and you might well know this already. Take this example: you’ve been creating longform content for three months and you see no results. The same thing happens after six months. Why hasn’t every single person that has ever logged on to the internet suddenly passed through your webpage? The following points will outline where you might have been going wrong:
Content is more than a branding exercise
Don’t just create your content as a way to increase your brand output. You need to focus heavily on developing a return on investment (ROI). You might be thinking “How do you measure the success of an infographic?” and you may have had a hard time convincing clients of the necessity of pushing out more content. Begin to create case studies for clients which showcases other brands and their victorious and undeniably fruitful content marketing campaigns and when you’re pitching – tie absolutely everything to the ROI. This will give your content direction and a purposeful goal. Create a sense of excitement with your clients and don’t just sell them content, sell them money, lots of money.
There’s no excuse for bad content
So, your client has accepted this new content strategy and you start to create blogs and infographics but is it good enough? There really is no excuse for bad content, but remember that content comes in many forms. Think about what your audience would want. So before you settle into a regime of producing only infographics, you should take a look at the wealth of different options (shown in the infographic below) that you could pursue.
Determine KPIs for your content
Never use the same key performance indicators (KPIs) for all of your content. Why would you? You could measure your infographics or highly sharable lists like ‘10 most adorable dachshund puppies ever’ by the number of shares it receives and links which are then created. That’s fine. But if you have a buying guide or on-site content which describes a product in a comprehensive manner, measure that written content on product sales; the same goes for any buying guides. It’s key to understanding the different roles that your content has within your ‘marketing mix’.
Don’t find good ideas, find great ideas
I had an idea once but forgot to write it down, and low and behold, it’s gone forever. Don’t let this happen. There are plenty of ways you can create brilliant ideas for content out of thin air, and begin the process by building customer personas and creating user journeys. Understand who your content is for and spend a ‘day in the life’ in their shoes. Imagine what they get up to in their spare time or what they have for breakfast – go as far as you see fit. Write it all down, as ideas can come from the strangest of places.
You’ll be able to find great content ideas once you understand the problems that your readership has. This will help you clearly understand your target audience so you can provide them with the content they desire, reinforcing your (client’s) company’s website as a trustworthy and helpful source that they can return to regularly.
Tools such as Followerwonk allow you to build personas if you don’t want to go through the process yourself. By taking two or more keywords, the algorithm delivers you a clear idea of keywords which your target market may be interested in. You can do this for all of the different age groups or type of customer you have so that you can go on to create content which is highly relevant and interesting to that particular segment.
Understand where your customers hang out
This could mean in their day-to-day lives, like the pub for example, but what we really mean here is where they spend their digital lives. The internet has now morphed to a stage where it’s so fragmented that it’s very difficult to put a finger on where your audience will be. Let’s run through a quick list of where they might be found (quick breath): Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, Reddit, Myspace, Bebo, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Vine, Stumbleupon, Deviant Art, Daily Booth, Vimeo, Youtube, Flickr, Blogger or Digg.
Very quick case study
Take time to realise where your audience will be, and adapt your content for the different networks. Each network operates in similar ways with followers and likes, but each one has a clearly different benefit. So, if you’re a food blogger, your marketing mix might look a little something like this:
- Blog – longform content (blogs, recipes, reviews)
- Twitter – share blog posts with tasty image attached
- Facebook – again share and converse with followers
- Instagram – make the most of the photo editing software and, more importantly, use it to post images of food
Social media is essentially channel-specific content marketing – you are still using content but in a different format. If you’re a content creator, social media is your soap box, or your speaker’s corner. One way to create an efficient content mix could be to use Instagram to provide tasty content nuggets which are quick and easy to create, keeping your audience in-the-know and updated whilst you prepare your content which takes longer to develop and publish.
How can you improve your content marketing?
If things aren’t going too well, take a step back from your content production and go ahead and perform an audit. Think about how your goals could have been different or better, and look through the content you have already produced. Is it of a good enough standard?
Think about all the content you have been making; did you spend sufficient time on making sure it was of a high quality, readable and sharable? Developing a clear content strategy is key, as you will be sure to see a boost in the quality and effectiveness of your work. The process is more about resources and the way you use them rather than skills and technical ability.
Utilise the many tools the internet has to offer
Here are a few tools which you can use when developing your content strategy, assisting you in the development of your strategy:
- Screaming frog and URL profiler – both are useful for conducting content audits, they will help you to organise your content and check the URLs for things like readability whilst clearly displaying sharing metrics
- Mural.ly – acts as a virtual whiteboard and allows for ideas to be dropped and moved, you can also encorporate sources from the web
- Yutongo – an excellent platform for crowdsourcing ideas; it allows for a team to join where you can then ask creatives for their ideas and challenge their brain power in order to solve a creative problem
Final thoughts
The end of the panda era has come at a time when traditional journalism is slowly faltering (arguably on its last legs). Publishers are cropping up everywhere and now is the perfect moment to set sail on a content creation voyage. Become a publishing house yourself and if you combine a well-thought-out strategy with your content output, you’ll never hear yourself asking “How do I create content for this boring client” or “I can’t think of any ideas” as you bang your head off your desk.
Take a look at the other posts in the Neil Walker Digital Reading Room for more inspiration and handy guides on how to ensure your content really stands out amongst the rest of the content on the internet. Remember, the team of writers here at our office in Manchester’s Northern Quarter are thought-leaders in all aspects of content marketing. You can get in contact with either myself, Dan, Rachel or that lad Chris on Twitter – we’ll all be glad to help (and can translate for the latter if need be).
Remember, better marketing starts with better user experience and this all starts with content strategy, so always size up your operation regularly – or better still, before you’ve even started. If you have any questions about why you may have fallen short in the past, please get in touch with us here at Neil Walker Digital. You can join in the conversation on Twitter – we’ll be sure to reply so ask any questions you have about your content marketing or marketing mix as a whole.