Content marketing has become a popular way of promoting brands as many marketers believe that it is more effective than traditional advertising (e.g., print ads).
Content marketing and social media marketing go hand in hand – the reason being is that so much content revolves around users and their voices/opinions of products and services they use. Talking about social media, it is basically a huge hub of information and content where users can interact and share posts/ideas/opinions. So how do we make the best use of this?
Here are 13 powerful content marketing tactics that could also help social media marketing:
Engage with your content
No content is considered engaging if nobody reads it. Content marketing done right entails content that gets shared. People who are impressed with your content will share it on their social media, thus increasing the traffic on your website. If you have content that truly delivers value to readers, they are most likely to pass it to others.
Some common reasons content gets shared:
– content educates the reader
– content is entertaining or humorous
– content is controversial/stirs debate
How to get content shared? You need to have content that resonates with your target audience. Ask yourself these questions before you even begin creating content for your business website:
a. What content does my target audience want?
b. What content can I deliver that will benefit my target audience?
If you know the answers, you are one step closer to success in content marketing.
Focus on quality content before quantity
One of the biggest content marketing mistakes is worrying about creating volume content without first establishing content quality. This content will not benefit you or your business in any way, even if it approaches trending topics.
To make content marketing work for you, first, you need to create content that delivers value to your audience. Remember that it should be focused on attracting traffic, leads, and customers to your business website. When people engage with your content, they need to be convinced that whatever is offered on your website is worth a visit.
So before starting content marketing for SEO reasons, ask yourself, “Is it going to add value to readers or serve a purpose?”
Update statuses with links to your content without being too promotional about it
People are following you on social media because they’re interested in what you have to say, and they want to hear from you. Think of social as an extension of your email list — if someone subscribes to your email list but is instantly blasted with promotional content, do you think they’ll be happy?
They won’t. And they’ll unsubscribe.
That’s why you need to be careful when publishing content on social media — it’s a fine balance between sharing the article and being too pushy.
The key is to always make your content relevant to your audience. If you’re an online retailer, for example, there are lots of ways that you can tie in your latest blog posts with status updates on social media. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
– Mention the key points of the piece in your update, and include a link back to your content so people can read more if they’re interested
– Use some of the data from the piece in the copy (“In a recent study by Acme Corp, we found that…”)
– Reference the post in a question (“What are your thoughts on using X to market Y?”)
The possibilities with social media marketing are endless, so make sure you always keep your content marketing pieces in mind as you’re planning updates. Think about ways you can integrate the content marketing and social media marketing to keep your audience interested — it’ll pay off!
Optimize content for conversions
When creating content, you need to optimize it in ways that can lead to conversions. First, ask yourself if the content you are planning on making is indeed one your target audience would want to read? Next, determine how content optimization can help convert content readers into customers within an appropriate time frame.
Optimizing content means tailoring content to meet your audience’s needs. It also involves promoting content based on content performance.
Share user-generated content (UGC) as much as possible
User-generated content makes content marketing on social media more authentic. Everything your brand publishes should be tied back to the content of current conversations, which means that content marketing efforts will be seen as not just content for content’s sake. It will allow you to provide value on social media through content, but it can also make your pieces go viral if users share it on their own profiles.
User generated content is great because it has an organic reach across all networks and can help you reach new audiences on each platform. Your customers are already talking about your brands, so join in with UGC by sharing some of those posts directly on popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter. User-generated content is essential in any kind of business, for instance USG can be effectively used for restaurants to attract new customers. And certainly don’t forget about content moderation since it will help to support your efforts.
Post content during peak times
Not all hours are created equal on social media. Some days will perform better than others based on what’s happening in the world at that time or what’s trending currently online (e.g., content related to current events).
You can use free social media scheduling apps to build a consistent schedule and post at the ideal times. You can also use these apps to manage social media content throughout the week without spending all day on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. Letting an app handle content scheduling can save you time and allow you to focus on content creation. To schedule Instagram post ahead of time is one way to ensure that your content reaches its target audience when it’s most likely to be seen. Automation tools can help your business save time and energy by taking the stress out of learning how to schedule posts on Facebook and other social media platforms.
Move content above-the-fold
You’ve probably heard this before — “above-the-fold .”But do you know what this actually means? It basically refers to the very top area of a website (not including menus). If someone visits your company Facebook page and scrolls all the way down to see everything there is to see on the page, the stuff above the fold is what they see right away.
Most people don’t scroll all the way down to check out what is at the bottom of a website. If the content isn’t above-the-fold, viewers are less likely to click on it or interact with it in any way. If your content is below-the-fold, make sure you place it more prominently on your Facebook page (e.g., placing it within an image). To elevate customer convenience, restaurants can consider integrating QR code menus into their social media strategy, allowing customers to explore their offerings swiftly.
Create powerful storytelling content
Another content marketing tactic that social media sites can bring to the table relates to creating effective storytelling content. This is especially useful for companies in the B2B space, which have traditionally had a more challenging time leveraging this approach.
Nevertheless, many examples of businesses have managed to use their LinkedIn company pages or blog posts to plan and create compelling Linkedin content around their product/service offerings that definitely resonate with their audience and help them cut through the vast amounts of content available online today.
Moreover, using storytelling as a means of engagement can be an essential factor in determining your brand’s USP (unique selling proposition) in the marketplace.
Use visual elements
Another good tactic concerns using visual elements contextually. In the past few years, we have seen an exponential change when it comes down to people’s preferences when it comes to consuming content online.
A strong argument can thus be made that businesses need to start relying more heavily on their social media channels (especially Pinterest and Instagram) when creating visual assets that are not only appealing but also highly shareable. A still relevant content example that yields good results are Instagram grids. By doing this, companies will essentially be able to get the most out of the vast amounts of visual content available online while boosting traffic flow on these platforms exponentially.
Speaking of visuals…
Use video on social media for leads generation
Another tactic related to using social media for effective content marketing is to make video and use it on social sites like Facebook or YouTube for lead generation purposes. This is especially true in the B2B space, where some leading brands have managed to create highly compelling YouTube videos that attract their target audience and help them guide individuals through the sales funnel. Additionally, to make their YouTube marketing strategy sustainable, companies more often than not use dedicated tools.
Simply put, social video content can be extremely helpful for brands looking to get ahead of their competition while at the same time nurturing prospects into leads that are much easier to close. And with online tools like Canva’s video editor, anyone can create engaging videos on the go, no previous experience required.
Make your brand speak the language of social media
A critical aspect of content marketing is making sure your brand adapts to the language of its audience. Remember, social media is where users are, so if they’re on their newsfeed, they would expect it to be filled with business/brands that sound like real people or, dare we say, “friends.”
So talking about your brand’s features and benefits may not be enough. Using terms that are familiar to your audience will help establish the connection between your brand and its customers, which is what content marketing is all about. You can also consider using voice overs that speak in a relatable tone and language because they can establish a connection between your brand and the target audience.
Make use of your competitors’ keywords…for good!
In an industry with so many competitors, it is easy to get stuck in negative competition. That is, making sure that your brand doesn’t lose out but instead stays afloat and surpasses the competition (which can be a daunting task). However, content marketing isn’t just about promoting the brand; it’s also about providing helpful tips, advice, and information to your audience.
So while some may think that promoting themselves over the competition is the way to go, this isn’t really necessary if they’re providing more value than just their features/benefits on their “About Us” page.
Provide instant gratification through quick posts.
Content marketing these days revolves around making use of social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. However, in order to maximize these networks’ effectiveness, it is important to note that even if someone were to follow your business on Facebook or be a fan of your brand on Pinterest, they would still want instant gratification – meaning that you have to keep them engaged and coming back for more without delay.
This is where the concept of posting “quick tips” comes in. Posting quick and easily digestible content like this will encourage users to think, “okay, I’ll give it a shot and see what happens.”
Don’t shy away from paid content promotion…
If there’s one thing that business owners worry about, it would be spending money on content promotion. However, if done correctly, you can use social media ads to promote branded content and move people through the sales funnel. This will help build up brand awareness while also allowing content to generate traffic/views.
…but do have a content strategy in place first
Remember, content marketing is still about being relevant, so no matter how much content promotion you do, there’s always that possibility that it just won’t work out enough for the content to go viral. This is because even if you’re promoting branded content, there are other factors in play outside of your control, such as what the market needs at the moment.
So while content promotion through social media ads can be very cost-effective (especially compared to other forms of advertising), it is always best to make plans before investing too much money on paid promotion. Have a content strategy in mind and get people talking about your content before doing anything else. That way, you can build up a following/audience, making content promotion be more effective in the long run.
Wrapping up
At the end of the day, content marketing is all about establishing a connection between a brand and its audience. It’s not just about being competitive in an industry where so many other brands are also vying for attention; it’s also about helping provide information that doesn’t necessarily relate to what you do but can benefit your target audience.
So if you’re planning to start a content marketing campaign, make sure that your brand speaks the language of its audience and don’t be afraid to promote it. Just remember that while content promotion can be very cost-effective, it is also essential that you have a solid content strategy in place before investing too much money in it.
