In the world of modern marketing, content is king. Content marketing avoids explicit brand promotion and focuses on generating interest in products and services in an organic manner. Given the consumer habits of millennials and Gen Z, two generations that are far savvier than their predecessors, you simply cannot survive online without a great content strategy.
Whether a business is a new startup or an established brand in the property or fintech industries, I truly believe that this is the time to unlock the full potential of content marketing. Here are seven tips I give to all business owners.
1. Build a Consistent Brand
Content marketing is built upon the idea of expressing the ideologies of the brand to resonate with your target market. It’s almost impossible to do this when the brand is inconsistent. It is shown that shared values account for 64% of brand relationships. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to build those bonds when the company sends mixed messages.
I cannot overemphasise the fact that, before doing anything else, companies need to understand their place in the market. Demographic analysis through surveys, competitor insights, and other strategies will help build a clearer image of what customers want. This info makes life far simpler for business owners and marketing teams alike.
Subsequently, then, consistency across all content marketing strategies makes the company seem more dependable and trustworthy. This will translate to greater conversion rates.
2. Use Videos
While quality content is essential, choosing the right format to express those ideas provides the strongest foundations for building successful campaigns. Users retain 95% of the content consumed through video compared to just 10% of the text they read. For this reason alone, I advise all clients that videos should form a central focus of any content marketing campaign.
There are plenty of additional reasons to embrace video within the marketing strategies too. Studies show that there is a huge demand for video marketing by modern consumers. Moreover, the fact that mobile browsing sessions have overtaken desktop browsing is another trend that points towards the use of videos.
In a multicultural world where a large percentage of the customer base will only speak English as a secondary language, the visual and audio content is far easier to digest too.
3. Build Links with Other Businesses
As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to adopt the ‘my business versus the world’ mindset. When dealing with content marketing, however, an open mind is crucial. While content marketing serves many purposes, increased visibility is one of the most significant goals. Of all the metrics used by Google to rank pages, inbound links sit at the very top table. As such, established connections are key.
There are many ways to achieve links back to the company’s site through content marketing. Guest blogging is a particularly good way to produce engaging content that fits the brand and redirects users from sites that share a similar audience. Author bios can be used for similar results, which is why I’d suggest insisting on these where possible.
Other ideas include appearing on podcasts or providing infographics that are credited to the company. The impacts on your SEO and organic traffic will be huge.
4. Use Targeted Promotions
Content marketing for property companies, for fintech companies and for startup companies needs to reach the right people. If working in real estate, for example, there’s little point in having content that reaches people halfway across the world. Likewise, if a business sells houses, views from people without any financial assets is a little futile.
Social media likes and web views will inflate egos, but they won’t generate revenue. Over half of all marketing experts have pinpointed data-driven target marketing as a priority. Whether it’s through geographical parameters, age limitations, or other algorithms is a matter of personal opinion.
Get this right and the content marketing budget will work far harder, ensuring that all produced content actually reaches the right people and gains a fair chance at creating the right response.
5. Ask People to Share Content
Content marketing relies heavily on engagement, which is why creating content with the ‘share factor’ is essential. Inbound marketing is a methodology that draws people in rather than force them into visiting. While clever ad campaigns do help, nothing will beat the power of recommendation. In fact, 92% of consumers trust referrals from friends and family. I know that I do.
Focusing on quality content will naturally encourage people to share. However, there’s nothing wrong with actively asking them to spread the word. If they love the brand, they’ll have no problems with helping it grow in this way.
6. Use Analytics
Technology can be used to enhance businesses in many ways. Aside from using modern facilities to create and publish content, computers can assist your decision-making processes. Over 3 in 4 businesses are not satisfied with their conversion rates, yet many still persist with their existing strategies. However, there are many useful analytical tools available.
Analytic tools from Google Analytics and other platforms can provide insight into where web traffic comes from. More importantly, it’ll highlight which content pages and content marketing links actually generate leads. When the business understands user behaviours, it’s far easier to focus its efforts and budget on the ones that work.
The harsh reality is that no novice will ever make the perfect choices at the first time of asking. When data insights are used for guidance towards the right changes, it won’t matter.
#7. Get Professional Support
The digital marketing arena is fiercer than ever. Businesses are advised to spend around half of their marketing budgets on digital strategies and this figure will grow over the coming years. For start-ups, property companies, and fintech companies employing the specific tactics needed for success within the desired niche is vital if the budget is to be used efficiently.
Most new entrepreneurs do not have the skills or experience to make this happen. Therefore, embracing the support of an expert in the field can pay dividends, ensuring that all content satisfies current trends and reaches the right people. This will put your business ahead of the competition.
Whether it’s developing a consistent strategy, creating specific content, or ongoing management, our team of experts can support your business.
