Ghosts. Goblins. Ghouls. This month, there are a lot of frightening things out there. Your content marketing strategy shouldn’t be one of them. Yet, it can be a nightmare to continually come up with ideas that will attract new leads and engage existing ones.
Here, banish the demons and get some valuable strategies that will round out your content marketing efforts.
- Start with a single blog post
Challenged to come up with new ideas to write about? Look at your blog’s analytics to unveil the most popular posts. Once you’ve identified them, use them as a launchpad for additional content. If your “Top 10 Ideas for a Home Business” post got tons of views, you could write 10 additional posts, each expanding on one of the original ideas. Or you could create an eBook going into more detail on starting a home business. Since you already know this topic is a hit, you can reasonably assume that more content in the same vein will also attract traffic.
Why it works: No need to reinvent the wheel. You’ve already got valuable data that can help you hit the mark with future content topics.
Related: 5 Frightening Causes of Small Business Failure
- Mix it up
If you’ve been publishing three 500-word blog posts every week for years, your readers might like a little diversity in their content. Remember: not everyone likes to consume information in the same way, so having the occasional video post, webinar recap, infographic or interview post can help you attract more content consumers as well as reinvigorate existing subscribers.
Why it works: Trying something new can shake things up for you, too. Thinking about disseminating content in different ways from your traditional blog post can inspire you in unimaginable ways.
- Talk about a product
While your content marketing shouldn’t be blatantly promotional all of the time, there are ways to sneak in your product or service in a way that readers will appreciate. For example, let’s say you sell marketing software. While you don’t want to create an eBook called, “100 Reasons Why You Should Buy Our Software,” you could take a softer approach and get great results.
You could create an eBook on, “10 Things to Invest in When Starting a Business,” and make one of those things marketing software. You don’t even have to promote yours by name, but you can link to pages in that section that give people more data on what your software is all about.
Why it works: People aren’t dumb. They know when they’re being sold to, and usually they shut down if there’s no benefit to them. But by taking the informational approach, you create value to your audience while building trust. From there, the sale is easy.
- Share case studies
You’ve done some great things for your clients, but nobody but you knows. Writing case studies, however, not only provides you with great content fodder, but it also demonstrates your value to potential clients, especially if they have similar problems to the clients you highlight. Get your clients’ permission to share details on a project you worked on together, and focus on how you delivered results (numbers and data are great selling points!).
Why it works: You’re selling without selling. If a reader sees that someone had a similar situation that you helped solve, she’ll be more willing to approach you about how you can help her solve her problem.
- Celebrate the holidays
Holidays are a fun theme to use for your content (take this spooky blog post in October, for example). Finding a way to incorporate, say, Santa’s naughty and nice list, freedom for the Fourth, or things to be thankful for can help you connect with your audience in the moment. If you have holiday-themed products or promotions, you’ve got even more reasons to leverage this strategy.
Why it works: People have holidays on the brain. They’re personal and (usually) evoke positive emotions. Leverage that and you’ll build trust.
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- Raise old topics from the dead
Just like zombies, some things are better off the second time around (I’m not sure that’s entirely true, but work with me). Look back through the years of content you’ve created and identify the topics that were popular.
You can either rewrite the past post or leverage it (as in the first tip above) and link back to it. Either way, you’re making the most of your evergreen content, which, otherwise, goes to rot in your blog’s archives.
Why it works: You’ve invested a lot in content marketing, and it’d be a shame for golden content from a few years back to never see the light of day again. So get your shovel and start digging.
See? Content marketing doesn’t have to be frightening. It’s just a matter of paying attention to what your audience wants and focusing on quality.
