Revealing the Secrets of Highly Effective Content Marketing

“Content is King” – this phrase has been thrown around since Panda and Penguin were rolled out. Today, there is an overwhelming consensus that great content should be the cornerstone of every business’ digital marketing strategy.

However, it can be said that this recognition for effective content marketing is long overdue. Good content should have been the focus of marketers from the start. However, while Google was still figure out what kind of information internet users are looking for, bad content from unethical marketers proliferated. Now, good content is the talk of the marketing town and without good content, marketing success is next to impossible.

What Makes Content “Great?”

Internet marketers have been using the term “great content” but those who actually cared to explain what they mean is almost next to none. At a glance, it’s easy to spot a well put together piece of content if it’s creatively made, unique, has impeccable grammar and well-researched. Again, these things are the obvious.

When you search around for content marketing tips, two characteristics of good content particularly stand out – value and virality.

“Life Changing” Content

Creating value for your target audience through content is to some extent changing their lives. And we are not talking about grand gestures here. It could be a mom getting information from a blog post about the different types of schooling available for her child. It could be a DIY enthusiast finding a how-to video on how to design a home using the Mediterranean style.

Essentially, creating value is about giving your target audience what they want – information, answers, solutions, guides, entertainment, clarification and the list goes on and one. The common denominator here is that great content should have a real impact on the lives of your target audience.

Great Content Spreads like the Flu

The next characteristic of great content is virality. Attempting each and every time to create content that can spread like wildfire is probably one of the most powerful content marketing tips you should implement. It’s about producing content that is so good that you were able to transform your audience into your brand ambassadors and content propagators.

That being said, the question on your mind should be: how do I create viral content? The answer is current content has a high pass-around value. Here, current does not mean now as in “current events.” It means developing content that satisfies what your audience is looking for as of the moment. Again, it’s all about what your audience wants. If they care about a specific topic so much, they will share whatever information they find to their network.

Based on historical trends, content that provides solutions are very sharable. And since you know your niche and your audience better than anyone else (assuming that you invest time and resources in market research), you’re the best decision maker as to what topics your market is genuinely interested as well as the challenges they are facing and the solutions you can provide that relates to your products or services.

Determining the Proper Distribution Channel

The next on this list of content marketing tips is utilizing the best distribution channel. A good piece of content is practically useless if you use the wrong distribution channel. In order for you to identify the most appropriate distribution channel for your content, ask yourself the following questions:

• Can you sustain a highly effective content marketing in this channel or will it be a challenge to distribute content using this channel in the future?
• Do most of your customers or prospective customers have access to this channel?
• Are you launching a short-term or a long-term content marketing campaign?
• Are you using just a single channel or multiple platforms?
• Will your choice of content distribution channel stay relevant despite changes in your consumers’ information consumption behavior in the future?

Doing content marketing effectively is by and large reliant on your choice of distribution channel. Once you have this in place, you can now decide on what form of content you should produce which can range from articles, blog posts, videos, infographics and others. The best content marketing tips would dictate that how you present your content should be based on the demographics and psychographics.

Good Content Can Fuel Your Success Online!

At the end of the day, doing effective content marketing is not about being the greatest publisher online. As an internet entrepreneurship strategy, great content should engage your people, encourage purchase and foster customer loyalty.