5 Content Hacks For Your Digital Marketing Strategy

When we talk about Digital Marketing, we talk a lot about the importance of a well-designed website, Email Marketing Campaigns, Social Media Marketing, SEO, and so on…but did you know that Content Marketing is a major part of all of that?  

So, some of you may be thinking ‘what the heck does content marketing mean?’  

Marketo’s definition that we agree with, – “Content marketing is the savvy marketer’s response to the new, relationship-based, buyer-driven, digital marketplace.” We like this description because it refers to the importance of relationships and selling the way your customers want to buy!   

Content marketing is basically telling your story (or stories) to your identified audience segments and sharing your valuable knowledge, services or products with them - a major part of your continued brand building and growth strategy.  If you do this right, you will continue to strengthen existing relationships, create new ones and build trust with all of those followers which will then convert to more sales of your products or services.

Help them help you!  

1. Make sure your content is easy to share!  Don’t just create that awesome website content and those super interesting blogs then just let them sit there stagnant on your site!  You can use it in an email campaign, post it out on your social platforms, and post to groups and other outlets.  

2.  Use CTAs (Calls to Action) and test!  Maybe you’re creating links within your blog content?  Analyze which links are getting the most action.  Or, have buttons strategically placed on your website pages. The top of the page often makes it easiest for people but you might want to play around to see if you get more action when you place it somewhere else on your page?  And, you can have more than one, in fact, we recommend you do!  Include calls to action in your email campaigns, on your social posts and within your blogs that will then drive those interested followers back to your website and hopefully they’ll stick around and learn even more about your amazing company!

3.  Ask.  Yup, it’s not always easy for us to ‘ask’ for something, but your audience is already there! These people (yes, they’re just people like you and me) have either given you permission to email them, have clicked on your Facebook page, follow you on Twitter or have connected with you on LinkedIn, so you can definitely ‘ask’ every now and again.  We always recommend the 80/20 rule – share interesting or helpful information 80% of the time and only ask (or clearly advertise) 20% of the time!  

4.  Ok, back to SEO (Search Engine Optimization, or, in laymen’s’ terms ‘how you rank in search’). Make sure you’re using rich key words and phrases within that awesome content.  Google Adwords Keyword Planner is a great tool but if you just Google search ‘how to find keywords’ you’ll find all kinds of great tools, both free and paid.  Using rich keywords and phrases will help people who want (and need) to know more about you find you.  Trust us, they’re looking!  

5.  And, drum roll please…our favorite content hack tip here is: ‘Guest Bloggers!’  We love to feature complimentary businesses and colleagues within our content strategy and often utilize this tactic for our clients as well.  It’s a great way to not feel so alone on your island, and it’s an even better way for both parties to expand their reach.  You can get your information in front of people that might not know about you and expend your audiences.  And, in the long term it’s a much more comprehensive way to educate your followers on the breadth and depth of who you are, what you do, and most importantly…why you do it!