There are many innovative ways of creating a content strategy in 2019. Will a blog be the best way of getting to your audience, or is a podcast more effective? Should you create an informative white paper based on research? How do you know which approach is the best?

The first thing to do is to chalk out the goals that you are trying to accomplish, and keep the target audience in mind. Try to map each piece of content to a specific goal, so that it is relevant and meaningful.

Here’s how to create the right distribution channels, and create content that works well!

How to create Brand Awareness

External platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, or other websites can be used to create brand awareness and tell the world what your product or service is all about. There are several ways to do this.

1. Syndication

Through content syndication, your content can be republished on other websites in order to get a greater reach. By getting your content in front of a wider audience, you can increase brand awareness and also drive more traffic to your original article. Make sure that your syndication partners provide a canonical tag back to your site, as otherwise you will end up with issues related to duplicate content. Syndicated content must ideally be timely (pertaining to something that’s currently in the news) and should have a gripping headline. It should also be free of unnecessary fluff and should be meaningful. The whole piece should not be longer than 1000 words, and should contain a couple of links back to relevant content on your website.

2. Sponsored content or guest posts

Even if your website traffic is not the best, if you can add some sponsored content on a more prominent website your brand will get noticed. This can be in the form of online advertorials or articles that resemble normal articles, but are tagged as “sponsored content”. Try to make it read as genuine as possible and not sound like a marketing gimmick, as otherwise it will lose its value in the eyes of the readers.

If you do not wish to increase your marketing spend, you can create a guest post on other relevant websites. It’s a win-win both for you (as you can increase brand awareness) and for the other website (as they get quality content with a unique perspective). Create compelling, convincing content that doesn’t sound too promotional. Right at the end, add a call-to-action with a link back to your website.

3. Paid advertising

Organic advertising can take very long, so if your goal is to reach your audience quickly, then paid advertising is the way to go. Google, Bing and Yahoo have a quality score that is based on several factors, including your CTR, quality of your landing page and how relevant it is to your ad, besides the relevance of the text itself. Create a number of landing pages that are not indexed, so that they don’t mess with your SEO rankings. Have images or videos that are gripping and a catchy headline that has the right keywords. Content should be targeted and very niche in order to get the highest quality score possible.

Similarly, Facebook and Twitter have a ‘relevancy score’ that works the same way as the quality score. The higher it is, the more audience engagement you are likely to have, and consequently, the better your ad will perform.

How to increase organic acquisition

Organic traffic acquisition has a higher rate of conversion, because the people who land up on your website are those who are already interested (or they would not have typed in the search query). Targeted content with relevant external links is important to build domain authority.

Here are two tactics to do this.

1. Blog posts

Engaging blogs that have genuinely interesting and useful content can drive up your organic search rankings. Blogs are relatively easy to produce and scale up, and you can have blog posts on your website as well as third party websites with a hyperlink back to your website. Some ideas for blog posts are question-and-answer articles, comparative articles (is A better than B?), articles with ideas and how-to’s, and user stories from the customer’s perspective. Refrain from keyword stuffing as it tends to get your article blacklisted by the search engine, and will do more harm than good. Have a targeted topic that is informed by keyword research, so that it answers the search queries that are typically typed in by users. Add a call-to-action at the end.

2. Original research

If you have the resources to do so, original research is one of the best ways to notch up your organic traffic. Your content is unique and you are the only source for the data you are putting out there, which results in unique insights for an appreciative audience. If you do not have your own data, consolidating data from official sources in your industry (such as government or census data) and drawing meaningful insights from them will also work well. The original perspective you add can offer value to the audience, who may not want to sift through boring technical jargon and interpret it themselves.

How to generate leads

You may be looking at generating leads as your primary goal. You should have content that is powerful enough for your prospect to give you their contact information. They will be willing to sign up only if they feel that you are offering real value to them. You can do this in two ways:

1. Whitepapers/E-books

If you can create an e-book or an original whitepaper on a relevant topic, you could advertise it on your website and make it downloadable only on providing contact information. Your readers should find your downloadable content so irresistible that they are willing to sign up for it….and you have the lead that you were looking for! These kinds of targeted leads are more valuable, as you know that the prospects are already interested in the subject matter. The more exclusive the e-content, the more leads you are likely to generate.

Keep the information collected to a minimum. If you plan to send emails, ask them for just the email id. If you wish to do mobile marketing, get their mobile number. Asking for too much information will lower your conversion rates, as people are naturally wary of giving too much away for free.

2. Webinars

Webinars with short, concise informative content that is very engaging can create the right kind of prospective leads. As they can hear and see the presenter live, they can create a rapport with them especially if it is an interactive webinar. If you are offering a discount on an immediate signup at the end of the webinar, perhaps with a link that expires in a short while, the viewer can be enticed to sign up at once. As the content is only available to those who attend, you can play on the exclusivity factor and compel the right audience to participate. Webinars can be in the form of introductions to the product, demonstrations or how-to’s, comparisons, influencer marketing talks, or an interview with an industry expert. Here, too, do not ask for too many contact details on sign up. Design the content with engaging visual or embedded videos, and make it as appealing and useful as possible.

How to generate revenue

All said and done, any business seeks to generate revenue. Product pages must be informative and accurate as they will lead to direct conversions.

Product pages

Keep your product page simple and straightforward. Focus the content on driving a purchase. Each product should have a unique name, in order to avoid issues with duplicate content. Descriptions should be brief, and should clearly mention how the product will add value to the customer. Bullet points highlighting key features and bite-sized content will help the reader to grasp important points at a single glance. Images and video will add value to the content on the page. Trust signals like genuine customer reviews, quotes and statistics will help to drive up sales. Add a clear call-to-action above the fold, and if you can add a discount offer with an expiry, that will compel the reader to make a purchase as well.

Want to try some or all of these ideas and improve your online visibility? Connect with us, and get the support you need!