Are you using different content marketing formats to implement your strategy?

If not, then it’s time for you to start doing it. Using a variety of formats helps you get more value from your content and improves your overall ROI. In addition, this way you will not get lost in a highly competitive online environment. According to research, in 2021, most brands used at least  7 different types of content.

In this article, we will look at the main formats of content marketing. You will learn exactly how each of them can help your brand, as well as how to effectively implement them into your business marketing strategy.

Key points

• Blogs increase the number of indexed pages by more than 400% and increase the number of visitors and site views.
• By the end of this year, video content will account for 82% of all online traffic.
• Case studies are a powerful form of social proof because they show real results.
• Interactive content is a differentiator – it stands out from the sheer number of static formats offered by brands.
• On social media, people share infographics 3 times more than any other type of content.
• E-books and white papers are popular types of content used for lead generation.
• User-generated content is created by brand ambassadors—customers, employees, and influencers.

WHY USE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONTENT MARKETING?

Content marketing is all about driving traffic to a website with engaging and valuable content. A huge number of formats expands the reach of your brand and satisfies even the specific preferences of the audience. You have the opportunity to distribute content through several channels at once and attract different segments of target customers.

This approach also makes it possible to always share information in the most optimal way. For example, a large list of statistics is better perceived on visual infographics, a client’s success story becomes more understandable thanks to a video interview, and a blog post is more convenient to share on social networks.

In short, with different content formats, you increase your ability to connect with potential audiences, which can help drive sales and revenue for your business.

8 CONTENT TYPES TO INTEGRATE INTO YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY

Blogs

If you’re only going to pick one format to start with, let it be your company’s blog. As a rule, this is the basis of a good content marketing strategy. Blogs are a driving force for organic traffic and a platform for other types of content to spread.

According to statistics, this format shows a very high return on investment. Company websites with a blog, compared to competitors without it, have on average 434% more indexed pages, attract 55% more visitors, and are 97% more effective at building links.

Read More: 10 Trending Content Marketing Trends For 2023

As you might guess, the effectiveness of blogs depends on their activity. Research has shown that posts 3-4 times a month generate 3.5x more organic traffic compared to sites that post less often.

By using different post types, you can further benefit from content diversification as part of your blogging strategy. These include:

• Ultimate guides – cover your core business and serve as evergreen content;
• Lists – posts on almost any topic that are easy to write and easy to read;
• Practical guides – describe the steps to complete a task or solve a problem;
• Case studies – tell customer success stories and demonstrate brand value;
• News and opinions – comments on current events in your industry.

Video Content

Video is the future of online content. Cisco predicts that by the end of this year, 82% of all Internet traffic will be video content. Users prefer it over other formats, and brands use it to attract customers across platforms. There are plenty of examples: YouTube channels, social media posts and stories, videos in blog posts, customer interviews, and more.

Many companies believe that video content is beyond their ability to create content, but in 2022, that kind of thinking is fundamentally wrong. While some brands do commission professional video production, many do it in-house using smartphones and other simple and undemanding technologies.

The most common types of video content include:

• Webinars – online events with the participation of company leaders, where they demonstrate their expert knowledge;
• Vlogs and social media stories are more casual types of video content that allow you to look at the brand “from the inside”;
• Interviews with clients – demonstration of real customer success stories;
• Product demos – demonstration of features, benefits, and instructions for using the product;
• Viral video – increasing brand awareness by posting videos on the most trending topics;
• Branded video – branded promotional videos on various platforms, including the company’s website, email newsletter, and pages on social networks.

Cases

According to Qualtrics, 93% of shoppers look for online reviews or other forms of social proof before buying a product. Case studies are a powerful way to provide that confidence to your audience by describing your clients’ success stories.

This format not only demonstrates the value of the brand with real examples but also includes real customer reviews, which increases the credibility of the company.

The good news: According to statistics, 83% of consumers are willing to share a positive experience with a brand. In other words, to create a portfolio, you just need to contact satisfied clients. The main rules for writing case studies:

• Mentioning successful cases of working with clients from different audience segments;
• Focusing on a solved problem or a satisfied need;
• Providing clear, measurable results in the form of numbers or statistics;
• Adding quotes and real testimonials from your customers.

interactive content

Interactive content stands out from the sheer amount of static content that already exists on the web. It gives potential customers the opportunity to interact directly with your brand before they decide to make a purchase. This includes quizzes, polls, games, interactive maps or infographics, polls, and calculators.

As with video, many people mistakenly believe that creating interactive content is difficult. In fact, this is not so – it is found everywhere on the Internet. Chances are you use interactive content all the time without even thinking about it: for example, taking Twitter surveys, using monthly payment calculators, filling out customer feedback forms, etc.

Most modern CMS, social networks, and email marketing platforms have built-in tools for creating interactive content. They do not require writing code or any technical experience. Smart brands also use interactive content to engage potential customers (by collecting contact details) and to continuously improve their strategy and offerings (by analyzing the information shared by users during interactions).

Infographics

Infographics visually highlight a specific topic. It is especially useful for presenting large amounts of and/or complex information in an easy-to-read format. Infographics are also very easy to share – they are shared three times more often than any other type of content on social networks.

Creating infographics may require a graphic designer, who can be quickly found on various sites – for example, Upwork or Fiverr (in case you do not have a full-time employee).

White papers and e-books

E-books and white papers are similar types of content designed to showcase a brand’s expertise in a particular area. They are aimed at slightly different audiences. E-books usually introduce the topic and are aimed at the general public. White papers, on the other hand, are more academic and detailed. They are designed for an audience that already has a certain level of knowledge in the area covered.

E-books and whitepapers are also used at different stages of the buyer’s journey. The first ones are at the beginning, and the second ones are at the later stages of decision-making.

Both of these types of content act as lead magnets. This is useful downloadable content offered in exchange for a user’s contact information.

Social Media

Social networks perform several tasks of your content strategy at once. First, you can create original content through posts and stories. Second, you can amplify content from other channels by sharing it on your company’s social media page.

Social media is a very powerful tool because it fits seamlessly into the natural behavior of shoppers. In addition, 90% of people prefer the brands they follow.

User Content

Last but certainly not least, you can harness the power of your audience by turning them into brand ambassadors and encouraging User Generated Content (UGC). This includes social media posts, reviews, recommendations, influencer content, and more. Your employees can also become brand ambassadors by creating branded content (such as blog posts) and sharing existing content on their professional platforms (such as LinkedIn profiles).

CONCLUSION

Want to take your content marketing strategy to the next level? Digital Growth World “#1 Digital Marketing institute in Varanasi” will help you develop an individual strategy for you together with your team. It will include other content marketing formats tailored to your audience, including eBooks, videos, infographics, and customer success stories.

So, you have created quality content on topics that are relevant to your audience. It is SEO optimized, attractive, and unique. However, your site’s organic traffic is not increasing.

It seems that the content that you have worked so hard to create is of no interest to anyone.

What is the reason?

The point is, great content doesn’t enhance itself (although it certainly can have a positive impact on your brand among those who read it). Without proper amplification, your work is likely to go unnoticed and simply get lost among the other 7.5 million blog posts published daily.

Content with poor visibility attracts few views, has low engagement rates, and leads to lower traffic. It is unlikely that you dream of such a return on investment.

The sad reality is that without amplification, even the best-written content will be seen by only a small group of people. According to BuzzSumo research, 85% of all content gets less than 10 shares.

Less than 10!

On top of that, a study by Backlinko found that 94% of blog content contains no links at all. Most of the remaining 6% contains only 1 link.

And finally, an analysis of the ahrefs platform showed that 91% of all content receives zero traffic from Google.

Null.

So while your new content may suddenly go viral, the chances of it happening are slim if you’re in the statistical majority.

Don’t be in a hurry to panic and think about how to increase the visibility of the content – not to mention its attractiveness.

Amplifying content can solve your problem.

WHAT IS CONTENT AMPLIFICATION?

Content amplification is the process of distributing the content you create, whether it be blog posts, videos, e-books, or other activities. This can be done through free organic channels, which include social media accounts, a blog on your site, and email newsletters. There are also paid channels such as PPC (contextual advertising), PR, newsletters, and magazines, as well as content distribution and syndication platforms.

Content amplification can be thought of as promoting or distributing content.

HOW TO AMPLIFY CONTENT?

Services and products never sell on their own. In the same way, the content will not automatically start to be popularized after publication. However, with the right gain plan, you can spin it up.

Get comfortable and start reading. Now you will learn how to promote content.

WHAT’S STOPPING YOU?

Let me start with the obvious and explore the reasons why you are not amplifying content yet.

The vast majority of people (85%) believe they don’t amplify their content enough or not at all.

80% of them said that this is due to the lack of time they spend on other tasks.

Respondents also cited lack of stakeholder support, limited budget, and concerns about over-advertising as reasons. However, the main problem, of course, was the lack of time.

1. Find time

Easier said than done. But it’s necessary, isn’t it? If your content isn’t producing results, you don’t have to bother creating it.

One of the easiest ways to find more time is to stop devoting most of your workweek to content generation. Instead, you should focus on amplifying the material you’ve already published. Chances are you already have a collection of great content—find the right audience for it.

Tip: Add a content boost to your plan right away and schedule it. If you treat it as an integral part of the workflow, and not as something secondary, then the task will be completed. As a result, you may create less content, but it will bring better results.

2. Analysis plays a key role

Before amplifying content, you need to understand where it needs to go. In fact, you should consider a distribution strategy before you even get started. You will generate content based on where it will be published.

So, take the time to find places where your target audience often appears.

Are your potential customers connected to the B2B industry? Try to find media platforms and social networks that cater to this audience. Perhaps your clients are dog breeders? Are there Facebook groups or Reddit communities that you can be a part of?

Maybe you want to attract muscle car enthusiasts? Show your content to a popular magazine and try to get published in it.

Tip: Don’t try to advertise everywhere – your content needs to be relevant to the audience you’re trying to reach or you won’t get any response. Don’t waste a lot of time on useless things (which is surprisingly easy to do). It is better to find places where advertising will work and focus on them.

Trying to amplify content on platforms that don’t fit with your target audience will only diminish its effectiveness.

3. Rely on your own audience

Your customers and audience are the best ambassadors for your brand or content. They appreciate you. And if they’re happy with the value you provide, they’ll be willing to tell others about you.

So, use the trust and loyalty you’ve already earned to grow your presence in new places and in front of new audiences. Ask existing customers to engage with and share your content.

With the help of likes, comments, and reposts, they distribute your content in their networks. This allows you to find new audiences.

The best thing about this tactic is that it is very easy to implement. You just need to ask.

For example, if many people are subscribed to your mailing list, you can make it easier for them to share your content with calls to action and a share button in the email.

Tip: The more personalized the request, the better the response. It will take more time to compile it, but the result is worth it.

4. Use outreach in moderation

Yes, outreach can be a powerful tool, but only if used correctly. Don’t spam and ask people to share your content – it won’t work. You must work delicately.

Find the right people and make sure you personalize the email you’re about to send. Research information about this person, their job, and the type of content they like to consume. If done right, the email you send will resonate with them much more. They will appreciate your efforts, which will greatly increase your chances of getting a response.

Never be intrusive, but try to make your content as easy to access as possible. For example, create a template for a tweet or LinkedIn post that only needs to be modified slightly. You can also provide several ready-made options from which they can choose their favorite.

Tip: In emails, be sure to thank people for their time and offer a favor for a favor. Reciprocity is always welcome.

5. Paid promotion

Saving is good. If you can achieve the results you want solely with free amplification methods, then everything is just great! However, organic reach these days is not what it used to be. Your content may need some extra help in order for people to accurately notice it and start interacting with it.

That is why it is worth considering the possibility of using paid amplification methods.

Only 32% of people surveyed had a budget for content enhancement. The very fact that only such a small percentage of respondents have money points to business opportunities. You will have fewer competitors where you want to advance. Advertising spending will give the best results when you have few competitors.

Note that out of the above 32% of those surveyed, 93% of respondents said that paid amplification had a positive effect on their results.

The conclusion is simple: almost everyone who has paid for the distribution of their content believes that the money was well spent. With this in mind, you might want to allocate more funds for reinforcement and see if this will help you achieve better results.

So, what paid methods can be used? Lots of options:

• search advertising;
• advertising in social networks;
• advertising in newsletters;
• native advertising;
• influencer advertising;
• platforms for publishing and amplifying content;
• event sponsorship;
• and much more…

In fact, almost anywhere your potential audience is, you will have some way to invest and get attention. Do a little research and see what options you have.

Tip:  Of the paid channels used, social media ads (100%) and search engines (53%) were the most popular. It is unknown if this is due to their effectiveness or if they are simply the most obvious. However, these places usually have the toughest competition, so it’s worth considering more niche channels as well.

IN SHORT, WORK

The main conclusion that suggests itself from the results of this article is that it is becoming more and more difficult to promote content every day. Organic traffic is declining and the big companies that can bring it in won’t help you without generous pay.

Without a smart content amplification strategy, the outlook is bleak.

In today’s ultra-competitive environment, you will have to constantly fight to get your work noticed. When it comes to content marketing or content amplification, don’t expect all problems to be solved as they come up. You must work hard and constantly.

It will take a lot of effort to get the content to start attracting more of the right people. Make sure that developing an effective amplification strategy becomes part of all your future campaigns. This way you are guaranteed to increase your ROI on your content.

Let’s say you have your own business and you launched a company website. You have two tasks: drive as much traffic to your site as possible and increase brand awareness. You probably know about such a popular tool as search engine optimization (SEO). Also, you should know that having good links back to your site is one of the three most important factors that affect your search engine rankings.

This means you need to get as many links to your site as possible. Given the industry in which your company operates, developing and implementing a link promotion strategy can be a daunting task, especially if you are a small or medium-sized business. After all, your competitors may be large corporations with virtually unlimited financial and human resources. It may not even be the size of your competitors, but the fact that they have found effective ways to generate a large number of links. And you may be tempted to get as many links as possible, no matter where or how you find them.

However, not all links work the same. Focusing only on the quantity and neglecting quality can seriously harm your business. Therefore, first and foremost, focus on building quality link building. We decided to share some helpful tips for building a link portfolio to effectively promote your business.

HOW TO CREATE QUALITY CONTENT TO GET BACKLINKS

The higher the quality of the content on your site, the more likely you are to receive organic links rather than artificial backlinks.

Small and medium-sized businesses that do not have enough time and resources to develop high-quality content can outsource its creation. Although the services of freelance writers are not cheap (from $ 45 per hour and even more), by contacting professionals in their field, you will receive quality content as soon as possible.

1. DEVELOP RELEVANT CONTENT

When creating content, think about how long it will remain relevant. If your content is focused on solving a problem that can quickly disappear from the visibility of your audience, it will have a very limited effect on the link-building process. Therefore, always consider such a feature as the relevance of the content you create.

Don’t let your posted content go out of date. Try to make your published content so that you can easily make changes to ensure that it is up to date. The ability to update your content underlines your expertise. Moreover, it is the simplest way to develop new content with minimal time and money.

Try to check your published content more often. Is it still relevant and valuable? And also timely restore or replace links that stopped working.

2. BECOME AN EXPERT IN THE FIELD IN WHICH YOUR BUSINESS OPERATES

People often cite expert opinions. By publishing quality, authoritative, well-structured content, you will position yourself as an expert in the field in which your company operates. It will motivate other authors to create more organic links to your content. Moreover, you will be able to insert quotes into various materials published on other sites, thereby gaining even more opportunities for creating backlinks.

Building relationships is also a testament to your competence in a particular area. By working with reporters and representatives of organizations working in your industry, you will strengthen your status. If they need a source for a citation, they will most likely turn to you.

Maintain your good reputation by using an effective backlink-building strategy by controlling who is linking to your content. If you receive links from less reputable sources or spammy sites, the effect will be the opposite.

3. EMBED IMAGES, ANIMATIONS, AND VIDEOS INTO YOUR CONTENT

The average Internet user is unable to keep his attention on this or that object for too long, and the so-called “user’s attention time” is decreasing every year. Therefore, the content you create should grab attention. You will achieve this effect by diluting the text content with visual objects (pictures, animation, video).

If your content contains infographics, images, and videos, the likelihood of a user following a backlink following your prompts is significantly higher than if there was only text in front of him. Beautiful and high-quality images attract the attention of users, making it possible to quickly evaluate the content of a text article. Choose your visuals responsibly. For example, stock images have much less impact than unique images that are directly related to published material.

Undoubtedly, you want those who link to your content to indicate the source of the information correctly. Do not neglect this rule when using images or videos obtained from third-party sources.

4. REUSE YOUR CONTENT

Regardless of the way you create content, you have invested certain resources in it, namely: spent time and effort on research, writing text, creating graphic elements. Use resources as efficiently as possible by repurposing content that has already been created. You will spend far less time and money making changes to use the content for other purposes than creating new original material.

There are many ways to reuse already published content. For example, you have done the research and obtained data that you did not use in any material. They come in handy for new content. Find a different approach to the problem, building on the materials already created. Use the images already published on the site for posting on social networks.

However, content reuse is not simply about copying the same content for posting on different platforms. You still need to create unique, high-quality content that doesn’t duplicate existing content verbatim. However, by building on the work you’ve already done, you can create new content much faster and more cost-effectively.

SEO STILL PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE

The better you understand the principles of search engine promotion, the more effective your job of generating backlinks will be. Most of the search results will forever remain out of sight of Internet users, therefore, if you are not included in the TOP-3 search results, the probability of going to a page on your site is extremely low. However, if you are in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in the SERPs, your chances of success increase dramatically. So, the probability of clicking on links located in the search results in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places are distributed as follows: 30%, 15%, and 10%, respectively.

Also read: Intent and SEO: a Quick Guide 2021 | DigitalGrowthWorld

Key phrases used correctly are still one of the key factors to consider when ranking. By increasing your site’s page rank by using high-frequency keywords, you increase the likelihood that users will link to your content.

While this is not directly related to link building, you must ensure that your site is protected from hacking. The security of an Internet resource plays an important role for any company seeking to maintain its reputation and expand its audience. Modern hackers exploit vulnerabilities in SEO strategies for subsequent attacks. Therefore, as your campaign to increase the number of backlinks expands, remain vigilant to prevent attackers from using your resources to their advantage.

Building an effective backlink generation strategy isn’t just about getting links from any source. You have to think carefully and plan everything, spend time and money on creating quality content that people will want to cite and link to. Every company’s investment in developing high-quality content is sure to pay off.

As marketing trends are constantly changing, use only the most effective strategies to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction and outperform your competitors. Content marketing is an extremely important area for any business and brand that wants to ensure its further growth and expand its customer base. Without content marketing, it can be challenging to drive conversions and sales, generate leads, and grow your mailing list.
According to Statista, in 2019, through the use of content marketing strategies, the total profit of companies exceeded $ 42 billion, and this figure continues to grow. Many businesses have identified content marketing as a very promising direction, and if you do not join them, you will be left behind the competition.

If you want to achieve maximum results in your business in 2022, you need to consider all the leading trends in your content marketing strategy. This is especially important as the last fiscal year has been a very eventful one. Therefore, we offer 10 content marketing trends in 2022 that you need to keep a close eye on.

1. Make A Bet On Customer Retention

Quality content marketing plays a critical role in attracting customers, boosting search engine rankings, and increasing conversion rates. However, not everyone is discussing customer retention tactics. To close this gap, we offer a list of content-oriented strategies aimed at maintaining user interest after they have completed the targeted action:

• Update the content on your site regularly to add value to what you offer and convince users to come back to you again and again.
• Find out how users interact with your product, even if you are confident in its quality.
• Include various materials in your emails, such as promotional information, descriptions of the characteristics of your products, news of upcoming changes and updates, notifications of discounts and promotions.

According to experts from Statista, the number of email users worldwide reached 4 billion in 2020, and this number is expected to increase to 4.6 billion by 2025.

2. Use Augmented Reality Technology For Visual Storytelling

The best way to get a person to assimilate information is to present it visually. If you want people to remember your brand and participate in its promotion, you must dilute your content with quality images. With their help, your content will become less boring, it will motivate customers to get something more. Explore the available options for using augmented reality technology to promote your content:

• Create a sense of real presence by connecting interactive elements and adding something new to your content.
• Personalize the process of interacting with representatives of your audience.
• Encourage customers to engage with you before, during, and after using your products or services.

As of 2019, 68.7 million people around the world have used augmented reality technology at least once a month. Taco Bell used it to foster a sense of community by offering live content on social media. They promoted themselves as an innovator in the fast-food market.

3. Implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technologies

Many companies at the start of their activities have limited resources, so they have to use them as efficiently as possible. AI technologies enable fast processing and analysis of data, thus facilitating the decision-making process. According to experts, in the near future, closer integration of AI with human resources is expected, which will contribute to the growth of labor productivity and the efficiency of the business as a whole.

Today’s customers want companies to respond to their queries in real-time. Therefore, content marketers continue to implement various AI-powered interactive elements such as chatbots. As AI advances, new data analysis and marketing materials development tools such as optimized blog posts will emerge. With AI optimization, employees can focus on higher priority tasks.

4. CREATE YOUR PODCAST

Educational podcasts are in increasing demand, so many companies are already exploring the field. Today there are many podcasts targeted at entrepreneurs and businesses. By offering listeners quality content, podcasts have a high potential for use in content marketing campaigns. According to Podcast Insights, there are about 2 million podcasts available in 2021, with a total of over 48 million episodes.

By creating the right podcasting strategies, content marketers share stories with their audience. They can capture the attention of niche consumers by talking about the positive aspects of the products and services on offer. Well combined with social media, podcasts are used as blog add-ons and are targeted at those who prefer to consume audio content. The key difference between podcasts and text content is that they are more human because by changing the tone, the speaker gives the information an emotional color.

Basecamp has launched their own podcast Distance, where they provide all the information you need to be successful. They also provide funny and inspiring examples from the life of entrepreneurs whose business has been in operation for over a quarter of a century.

5. PERFORM QUALITY SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

When performing SEO optimization and conducting content marketing campaigns, you must be consistent in your actions. For example, new, original, and creative content gets indexed significantly faster than irrelevant and repetitive content. Don’t forget to optimize your content, as 95% of users only view the first page of search results. Most potential customers will not know about your business if your site is on the second and subsequent pages in search results.

Your content should both attract potential customers and be able to solve their problems. To create compelling content, use meaningful keywords and target a specific segment of your audience. Use meaningful keywords and target unique concepts to develop truly engaging and relevant content.

Also Read: 10 Principles Of Content Optimization For Maximum Results

Don’t think of content marketing and search engine optimization as two separate areas as they complement each other. Content marketing is only effective if it meets SEO criteria. Working in tandem, content marketing, and SEO are powerful forces for promoting a business online.

6. DOCUMENT YOUR CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGIES

Many startups and established companies are implementing content marketing strategies without documenting them. According to the Content Marketing Institute, about 41% of marketers do not document their content marketing strategies. As this direction develops, the need for a clear plan will increase. By documenting your strategies, you can deliver more meaningful results in 2022 and beyond. Plus, having a clear content marketing strategy will make it easier for you to introduce new members to your team.

7. PUBLISH HIGHLY SPECIALIZED CONTENT

Building brand awareness is one of the biggest challenges startups face. Therefore, you need to optimize your content marketing plan in such a way as to focus it on the aspects and directions in which your company performs best. To achieve this, keep an eye on events and news that are relevant to your niche, as well as the ever-changing demands of consumers, in order to offer them the best solutions. This way you can create really interesting content, stand out from competitors, build a brand, demonstrate your knowledge and expertise.

8. USE VOICE SEARCH TECHNOLOGY

Given the popularity of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistants, the demand for voice-enabled gadgets continues to grow. Millions of smart speakers have already been sold, of which the Google Home Mini is the most popular. Today, there is a smart gadget with a voice search function in almost every home. According to statistics, about 36 million US residents use voice assistants every day.

As many people prefer the voice search feature, content marketers have started using this technology in their campaigns. Most often, sections with frequently asked questions (FAQ) are created on their basis. By incorporating relevant keywords, FAQ sections are of immense benefit.

9. INCREASE THE LEVEL OF CONTENT PERSONALITY

Thanks to data-driven content marketing strategies, many startups, and established companies can gain more insight into their customers. The collected data will enable you to create effective content that responds to user requests at every stage of the marketing funnel. Plus, you can easily get all the information you need about your competitors. By studying the key features of the content they publish, as well as the reactions from their users, you can effectively solve your own content marketing problems.

10. USE KEY ACCOUNT MARKETING (ABM) STRATEGIES

In the past, B2B marketers used the same sales funnel scheme in their campaigns. However, it has undergone significant changes by 2022. In the past, marketers have been bombing the web of generic blog posts in the hopes of catching a few leads. Key customer marketing (ABM) uses the opposite strategy, namely the introduction of highly targeted personalized programs to attract specific business accounts.

ABM stresses the importance of quality service and building customer relationships. Instead of publishing a huge number of blog posts and sending out the same type of e-mails created for a wide audience, ABM marketers develop personalized content and offer personalized services for people behind certain accounts. According to ITSMA, about 85% of marketers who consider ROI consider ABM the most promising direction. In addition, about 41% of B2B marketers plan to increase their ABM marketing spending in the near future.

CONCLUSION

In this time, when the pandemic has not yet passed, many companies have a good chance of staying afloat, and this is possible thanks to the implementation of an effective content marketing strategy. When planning your content marketing campaigns for 2022, be sure to keep the tips and trends listed above in mind.

Spring is not only a time of renewal of nature and menus in your favorite restaurants. But it’s also time for content marketers to develop new strategies to be at their peak during the high season. We posed a few questions to industry experts to find out which content marketing trends they care about the most, as well as what new strategies they’re going to pursue in 2021. Ultimately, we’ve highlighted 7 top content marketing trends you should be aware of:

1. Creation of content communities.
2. Webinars and streams.
3. Improving the perception of content.
4. Focus on goods and services.
5. AI-powered text content testing.
6. Increased emphasis on SEO.
7. Reuse content across different platforms.

So, let’s take a look at each of the trends separately.

1. CREATION OF CONTENT COMMUNITIES

This trend is not surprising as there has been an increase in the number of Slack communities in the tech space lately. In addition, many marketers are focusing on personalizing content in a pandemic. Building communities for collaborative content development and sharing is an effective way to grow your audience, even for companies with limited resources.

Believes that this trend is set to skyrocket this year with increased productivity demands and resource constraints. At some point, they will be able to achieve maximum performance indicators by creating and distributing large volumes of content without sacrificing its quality.

Another advantage of this trend: Business owners will be able to attract a huge number of authors on various platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn) and also use a traditional channel (so-called “word of mouth”) to expand the audience of content creators. All this contributes to increasing your brand awareness, as well as the growth of KPIs. Plus, your audience members will feel more meaningful to your brand and more involved in business processes. Whether you’re hosting a webinar, blogging, or using social platforms, your audience will feel like a community.

2. WEBINARS AND STREAMS

Since all public events are prohibited due to the pandemic, there is an increase in the popularity of streams and webinars. In this regard, the so-called “video marketing” will gain momentum in 2021. But this rise in popularity isn’t just due to social constraints. The main reason is that a video is a simple tool to quickly communicate something to your audience. Every consumer wants to receive information as quickly as possible. This is why video marketing is so effective. According to most marketers, a video marketing investment is highly profitable.

You will succeed even if you just pay more attention to simple webinars and streams. However, according to Patrick Whatman, head of content marketing at Spendesk, the format of the webinars will also change. His company conducts a variety of exclusive video sessions, masterclasses, fireplace conversations, and other types of streams, increasing their level of interactivity. People don’t want to flip through slides, they want to communicate and ask questions. Patrick himself rarely participates in webinars, preferring to get all the necessary information from blogs. However, he emphasized the value of the new format, highlighting the opportunity to participate in real-time discussions and ask expert questions.

3. IMPROVING THE PERCEPTION OF CONTENT

When surfing the Internet, many of us end up on pages with ad units instead of pages with articles that we would like to read. Excessive advertising on the page annoys the user, and he ultimately leaves the page. At the same time, many people use tools like Miss the Office, as they help distract (although hardly anyone misses the “chomping” sounds that are emitted by work colleagues who decide to eat). The bottom line is that the very process of interacting with content is just as important as what kind of content you interact with. Regardless of the type of content (innovative, interactive, improved UX), improving content perception will be a key content marketing trend.

Also Read: 10 Trending Content Marketing Trends For 2022

If you want to improve the efficiency of your content development investment, you need to work on how users perceive it. you will only be able to keep the attention of users on your site if you make them love what you write, provide what they were looking for, and can effectively enter them into your marketing funnel.

Pat Flynn’s learning pages offer the best way to interact with content. They contain not only articles, but also video courses, webinars, podcasts, videos, and calls to action posted in the “right” places on the page. Every brand should follow suit to attract even more potential customers.

4. FOCUS ON GOODS AND SERVICES

Gaining attention to content at the bottom of the funnel and related to top deals is another important content marketing trend that will continue into 2021. This is partly due to reduced marketing budgets and the use of conservative approaches. According to Patrick, most companies are looking to reduce their costs over the next 6-9 months, including implementing content marketing strategies. Most likely, content marketers will focus on existing audiences and core products, as this is not the best time to conquer new horizons.

From this, it follows that more attention will be paid to content located at the bottom of the marketing funnel, which is closely related to the proposed product or service and is intended for a specific category of consumers. On the other hand, this approach will allow you to more accurately assess the ROI of your content development.

5. TESTING TEXT CONTENT CREATED USING AI

Today there are many tools that allow you to create text content automatically – based on artificial intelligence technology. However, content creation experts have been predicting an increase in the influence of AI on the process of writing text articles for many years. It is likely that creating text content using tools such as the GPT-3 API and Content will be a new trend in 2021.

6. INCREASED FOCUS ON SEO

Some marketing trends may fall out of sight, but not completely disappear. This also applies to SEO in content marketing. Quality search engine optimization will continue to be a critical part of content marketing in 2021. Small businesses will continue to try to get out of the shadow of the CEO giants by using long and niche keyword phrases in their content. This means that you will have to spend even more time on key phrases and developing a solid SEO strategy in order to succeed in the long term.

7. REUSE CONTENT ACROSS DIFFERENT PLATFORMS

This content marketing trend is probably the one you like the most. As mentioned above, many companies are forced to reduce the resources allocated to the development of quality content. In this regard, there is a need to repurpose the existing content for its distribution through various channels. As you spend time and other resources developing quality, engaging content, you probably want to share it with as many people as possible. In this case, reusing content for distribution across different channels (platforms) is a better idea.

The idea of ​​repurposing content instead of building it from scratch allows you to get the most out of your content. Many brands realized how effective and important virtual events (streams) are only in 2020. In 2021, many companies figured out how to improve the effectiveness of webinars, podcasts, video conferencing. To inform about the upcoming event, they post at least 5 posts on social networks, blogs, and newspapers. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when you can just make the wheels spin even faster.

START INCORPORATING THESE IDEAS INTO YOUR CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGIES NOW

Keep these trends in mind as you plan your content marketing strategy for the year. In 2021, special attention is paid to the creation of high-quality content that can bring great benefits to your business and does not require additional resource costs. All of these ideas will help speed up the process of creating high-quality content to achieve your marketing goals.

Creating really high-quality content is not an easy task, especially if the goal is to write texts that are well received by search engines. As the volume of content grows, so does the level of competition. Only high-quality, optimized content brings maximum benefit. How to make the process of its creation painless? We have compiled a list of recommendations for content optimization, affecting technical and other aspects.

1. FINDING THE RIGHT KEYWORDS FOR TARGETING

Let’s take our article as an example. Why are we writing about content optimization? This topic is relevant to a wide audience of users. It has a high potential for attracting customers, contains a key phrase for which you can rank highly.

Ahrefs, a keyword reviewer, reported the following results: 300 searches per month for “content optimization” in the US. The potential traffic is even higher as there are many related keyword phrases and there are countries other than the US. The service also gave this keyword a 7 on a difficulty scale. It is based on the average number of links to articles included in the TOP 10 search results.

Note: The maximum difficulty score is 100 points. 7 points mean there are links to 8 sites. If the score were 70 out of 100, this would indicate there are hundreds of links.

Provided that good content is created, the author of the article will receive at least 8 good links, providing a good chance of high positions in the search results. It’s not difficult to compete for a specific keyword with sites with similar authority indicators. The situation changes dramatically if the competitor is a super-authoritative resource. Domain name authority is an important attribute of successful project promotion. With the right approach, it can be created in about 90 days.

2. OPTIMIZATION FOR SEO

Search engines are using ever smarter content analysis algorithms. Therefore, the presence of key phrases in the direct entry in the meta-titles, description, URL is not a prerequisite for a successful promotion. If the site is new and has a low ranking, it is better to use direct keyword matches in all of the listed places.

Not sure if all your published content is SEO optimized? You can find out using the Screaming Frog SEO Spider tool. It analyzes the site, identify various problems: duplicate titles, long or missing descriptions, missing alt attributes, etc. Screaming Frog SEO Spider is capable of finding broken links.

By eliminating the problems of search engine optimization on the pages, you can achieve higher positions in the search results.

3. OPTIMIZING CONTENT FOR SHARING

Are you working hard to create quality content and want it to stand out from the crowd every time someone shares it on social media? To accomplish this, you need to “tell” social networks (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) what information to display when a link to your site is posted.

Content optimization on Facebook is done using the Open Graph protocol. In fact, Facebook gets snippets of code for interpretation later:

• Title (title) tag tells Facebook what your page is about and how it should appear in the Social Graph.
• The description tag provides information about your page and encourages people to click through.
• The image tag is for hosting the URL of the image that represents your page on the Social Graph.

All of these tools will help you optimize your content for posting on Facebook, but in the case of Twitter, there is more work to be done. Twitter Cards can help you with this. These are summary cards containing the title, description, and page thumbnail that are displayed every time someone shares your content on Twitter.

All this takes time and effort. If your site is built on the WordPress platform, the Yoast SEO plugin can help simplify things with built-in parameters for defining Open Graph and Twitter Card tags. You need to go to SEO> Social Networks in the WordPress dashboard and select the appropriate tab (Facebook, Twitter, or another social network).

After enabling the Open Graph metadata for Facebook, the plugin will automatically fill in most of the tags. For pages without images, you can choose a default image. In the case of Twitter, you need to enable card metadata, then select the default card template.

At the end of all the settings, it will not be superfluous to check the correctness of content optimization. The special tool Knowem.com will help with this.

4. OPTIMIZATION FOR READING

Many webmasters put so much effort into optimizing content for SEO that they sometimes forget to structure it to be readable. Structured content is better and easier for site visitors. You can improve the readability of texts in the following ways:

• Write in short sentences and divide the text into paragraphs. Many readers scan the text in search of a quick solution to the problem. Therefore, you should write in essence, paragraphs should consist of a maximum of four sentences, contain a complete thought.
• Make subheadings to break down text blocks. If the reader likes the subheadings, they will most likely read the entire article.
• Use copywriting techniques. There are techniques and tricks to grab and hold the reader’s attention.

5. IMAGE OPTIMIZATION

High-quality, relevant images draw the audience’s attention to your content. You need to make sure your images are optimized for search engines. Google is unable to view images. In order for the search engine to understand the meaning of the posted images, you need to add “alt” attributes corresponding to the page content. The image is also given a name that is displayed when the mouse is hovering over the image.

To load images correctly, you need to make sure that they are of the correct size (resolution). Overly high-quality images take up a lot of disk space and take a long time to load, ruining the overall impression of your content. For fast loading, the image compression mechanism is used.

Tinypng is one of the best image compression tools out there. Able to reduce the amount of memory (occupied by an image) by 30% or more, it does not degrade image quality.

6. PLACEMENT OF RELEVANT LINKS

Relinking is important from a CEO’s point of view. It also improves your overall site experience by making it easier to find relevant content on your site or third-party resources. For example, this article contains a link to a similar article published on the same site.

Internal links have a big impact on SEO by helping to distribute link power across all pages on your site. It will not be superfluous to post links to articles published on other authoritative resources.

7. OUTREACH TO ATTRACT EVEN MORE TRAFFIC

Once you have posted links to relevant articles on other sites, you should request backlinks. The bottom line is that the more authoritative domains link to your site, the higher the chances of getting into the top of search results. Links from popular sites have a lot of authority and attract the most relevant traffic to your site. The search for links is performed as follows:

• Connect and configure Brand24, a tool for tracking mentions of key phrases your content is targeting.
• Get notified of new posts with these keywords.
• Make a list of sites and find contact emails using special services.
• Use Zerobounce to validate email addresses.
• Build link building with email outreach tools.

The content for each site or contractor must be personalized. This contributes to more effective outreach.

8. SPEED ​​OPTIMIZATION

While website load speed optimization may not be directly related to content optimization, it does have a huge impact on the overall user experience of your website. If the site is loading for more than 2 seconds, the user is likely to leave it without waiting for the content to load. In addition, search engines also factor in page load speed in their search rankings.

Also Read: 5 Simple Ideas On How To Use Interactive Content

Download speed is an important parameter that is controlled by GTMetrix and other online services. If the site is loading slowly, this problem needs to be fixed.

There are many factors that affect the page speed of a website. GTMetrix will demonstrate the loading speed of each item. Speed ​​optimization is to speed up the loading of all items that are loading too slowly.

The main reason for “slow pages” is too large image files. You need to go through all the image files and compress them if needed. If your site is powered by WordPress, you can use the EWWW Image Optimizer or other plugins that scan site images and compress their size to improve site performance.

9. OPTIMIZATION FOR MAILING LISTS

Content marketers always strive to get the user’s email address – this is the most important target action for them. The bottom line is that email allows them to return leads, direct them through the sales funnel. First of all, you need to learn how to request an email address. The most effective way is to upgrade the content.  

Content Upgrades are offers to familiarize yourself with a particular content posted on blog article pages, which also include a subscription offer at the top and bottom of the article. You can offer any upgrades in exchange for an email address. The main thing is that these upgrades (checklists, reports, manuals) are closely related to the topic of the article on the page where they are posted. Getresponse Autofunnel is one of the best tools for getting your email subscriber into your sales funnel.

The subscriber enters an effective sales funnel containing a product page, an order form, a webinar (if required). The tool allows you to track analytics at every stage of the sales funnel.

10. ADDING STRUCTURED DATA AND MICRO-MARKUP

Micro-markup not only contributes to the growth of a site’s ranking in your search engine but also increases the degree of its user-friendliness. What is micro-markup?

In simple terms, micro-markup is a way to help a search engine understand the context of a page on your site using specific attributes. It also helps to increase the relevance of search results.

The micro-markup of the site is checked using the Structured Data Testing Tool. To check, you need to enter the site URL or paste a code snippet into a special field. Adding structured data markup to WordPress sites is done using the Schema plugin.

CONCLUSION

This list of items to optimize seems overwhelming at first glance. Once you start optimizing each piece of content before publishing it, you quickly get used to it. Optimizing content is an integral part of the creation process, not a side task or routine that you do from time to time.

You create content.

You share it with the whole world and hope to interest your audience.

But how do you know if it actually works?

What signals will help you determine if your content is really interesting?

This article provides valuable tips to help you determine how well your content is engaging your audience.

WHAT IS MEANT BY “ENGAGING CONTENT”?

Let’s put ourselves in the reader’s shoes for a moment.

They may not know the exact definition of “engaging content”. However, the reader at first glance will distinguish it from content that doesn’t generate absolutely any interest.

If your site visitor doesn’t like your content, it will simply leave you.

There are tons of places potential subscribers can go – for example, your competitor’s blog.

But…

If visitors read content that interests them, answers questions, or simply entertains, they’ll do something. For example, share it or leave a comment.

While these actions require minimal effort from your audience, you still have to try hard to deserve them.

Now let’s look at a few ways to determine the attractiveness of your content.

ARE READERS SHARING YOUR CONTENT?

The number of reposts of an article or any other content is one of the first metrics that marketers use to measure user engagement.

Naturally, we all want people to like our content so that they are eager to share it with their surroundings.

Reposts help your audience grow organically by providing more “social proof” for your content.

So how often do people share your content?

The answer to this question will help you understand if it resonates with your target audience.

A large number of reposts means that you’ve managed to create interesting content.

Lack of reposts usually indicates that you are not meeting the expectations of your audience.

However, take your time thinking about why your content isn’t good enough. The first step is to make sure that you give your readers the easiest way to repost.

If your resource lacks intuitive social media buttons located in a convenient and visible place, your readers are unlikely to start looking specifically for them in order to repost.

DO READERS LEAVE COMMENTS UNDER YOUR BLOG POSTS?

You just need to look at the blog comments section to understand a lot about reader engagement.

Do you feel like nobody ever reads your posts? Or, on the contrary, do many comments appear under them, and active discussions flare-up?

In the second case, you are doing everything right – keep it up!

If there are no comments, encourage your readers to write them. For example, ask them questions. Be sincerely interested in their feedback and opinions, and be sure to respond to comments received. Involve commentators in further discussion of the topic of the article or post.

We always respond to readers who take the time to leave a comment on our blog. In our opinion, this is a great way to build relationships with people who are interested in reading our articles and following our work.

Also Read: 5 Simple Ideas On How To Use Interactive Content

If you develop relationships with people who read and comment on your content, they are more likely to continue to do so in the future.

ARE YOUR ARTICLES READ TO THE END?

Do you know how much of your content people actually read?

Unfortunately, the statistics are unlikely to please you. On average, people read about 20% of the content on a page simply because they are not reading it, but rather skimming through the content.

If you manage to surpass this tiny value, you can be sure your content is truly engaging.

Now let’s find out how you can check this:

1. Time spent on the page. This indicator in Google Analytics or Yandex. Metrica shows how much time users spent on a page who viewed more than one page. If someone comes to your resource, reads an article, and leaves immediately, the counter will not be able to find out how much time the person spent reading it. Time spent on-page is a useful metric (the higher the better), but you should understand that it reflects information about only a small percentage of your audience.
2. The number of pages per session. Another useful metric to help you determine if your site is interesting to visitors beyond the article that brought them in. If the content on your resource is attractive, then readers will be more enthusiastic about moving to other pages.
3. Scroll depth.  Using the scroll map feature, you can see how far visitors have scrolled the page – in other words, whether they are reading the entire article

ARE PEOPLE SUBSCRIBING TO YOUR EMAIL NEWSLETTER?

How many people are subscribed to your newsletter?

We will assume that you are asking your readers to subscribe to updates at the end of your articles, in the blog sidebar, or through special fields in the middle of your content to generate leads.

However, how often and how many people subscribe to your newsletter?

The constant influx of new subscribers is a good sign that your content is interesting!

So how do you track the number of subscribers to your mailing list?

With a tool like Mailchimp, you can grow your mailing list as well as easily track the effectiveness of forms in terms of conversion. It integrates with Google Analytics and monitors the referral page for each new subscriber. With tools like this, you can determine which content elements are driving the most conversions.

Here’s a pro tip for getting more followers:

Offer content upgrade!

A content upgrade is a bonus content that you create for a specific blog post and then offer readers to access it in exchange for an email address.

If the number of subscribers to your resource is decreasing, then it is quite obvious that your content is not interesting enough or valuable for readers.

ARE YOUR CONTENT BEING REFERENCED?

If your site is often linked to, it says a lot about its quality. To achieve this, you must create truly useful content!

It also means your readers are engaged enough to share your content link with other people.

With this in mind, remember to regularly check the number of backlinks to your content. 

By tracking backlinks to your site, you can identify specific pieces of content that your readers are most likely to share.

ASK YOUR SITE VISITORS A QUESTION

One of the best ways to understand your site visitors and get their opinion on the content you publish is to reach out to them directly with a small survey.

The feedback received in this way will directly speak about the quality of your content and help you optimize your work.

OUTPUT

Keeping your audience engaged is challenging given so much content. Modern people strive to satisfy their needs as soon as possible. If they fail to quickly benefit from your content, they will leave and probably never return to your site.

However, if you keep a close eye on the metrics mentioned in this article and continually create new content based on the interests and needs of your audience, you will give visitors a good reason to stay on your site.

Are there other ways to check if people are interested in your content? Feel free to share them in the comments below this article!

Interactive content is a good way to attract attention and revitalize your familiar publications. Interactive content makes your audience more involved in the process, increases the number of clicks, and provides more opportunities for learning and enjoying your publications.
Interactive content includes any content that the user can click on, respond to, or act in any other way. These pieces of content require more effort (and sometimes money) to create, but users spend more time on them and get more benefits.
To give you something to ponder, consider five varieties of interactive content.

TESTS / SURVEYS

Tests and surveys are an economical way to create interactive content. Think about it – how many times have you stopped on content to find out which pizza you like?

Tests can be fun and help your audience determine what they need, and this, in turn, can be an opportunity for you to offer a product or service. They can immerse you in the minds of your audience and create double content (once when you publish, and another when publishing the results).

Another advantage of tests and surveys is that they can show your audience that there is feedback, and their opinion is important to you.

Twitter, Facebook pages, and groups, Instagram stories already have built-in polls that you can use. Each of them allows you to add several answer options (polls on Facebook allow you to add photos and GIFs as answer options).

As soon as someone votes, they will be able to see the results of the survey. In Instagram Stories, you can use the poll sticker to create a two-choice survey that will last 24 hours.

If the network on which you want to conduct a survey does not have built-in tools for conducting a survey, you can always write your own options in the headline and ask the audience to comment on the corresponding post. You can also conduct surveys on the landing pages of your site.

CONTESTS / PRIZE DRAWS

Traditional contests and sweepstakes are also great examples of interactive content and can be a great way to attract more audience attention.

Besides the fact that you can ask people to comment on the post, or share the record of the draw on Facebook, Instagram, you can just hold a draw, ask to follow the link or invite a friend, and also invite the audience to answer the question in the comments.

Make sure that your prize is associated with the brand, and remember that you will succeed.

INTERACTIVE INFOGRAPHIC

It may be more expensive to create, but it is very interesting for the audience.

Interactive infographics and other content elements can include pop-ups, draws, additional content, etc. In addition, they can be an excellent tool for educating an audience in your particular industry or contain a product overview.

INTERACTIVE VIDEOS

Interactive video is another great way to use interactive content, which guarantees the greatest audience reach and interaction with any type of content.

Also Read: How to Create a Content Plan For Social Networks

Interactive videos can include click-throughs on landing pages, practical jokes, or the playback of specific information based on a user’s choice. For example, YouTube allows you to get a viewer to subscribe to your channel, watch a video or playlist associated with it.

These are just some of the ways in which you can use interactive content to increase user interaction, and as we all know, this interaction is becoming increasingly important in order to get traffic from social networks.

Creating a content plan for social networks is difficult for many, but this task only seems very difficult than it actually is.

What is a content plan?

A content plan is a public resource (a document, if you prefer to use tabular forms) that project participants can use to plan all activity on social networks. This resource should visualize how your content marketing strategy is implemented in the short term (current week) and long term (up to a year).

The most convenient option is a calendar-based format. Creating long and massive post lists is tedious and costly. Each time, adding situational content, you have to make sure that the established order does not turn into chaos.

The purpose of planning in content marketing is to achieve maximum consistency for the work of project participants. Duplication of tasks and unexpected situations when someone from the team is not up to date with current plans cannot be allowed.

Business promotion in social networks should be consistent with the current tasks of the company. Marketers need to understand what they should talk about throughout the year and how this is consistent with sales plans.

The content plan should take into account not only the tasks of the sales department. You need to plan content around key events and important calendar dates.

Are social networks a sales channel or a communication channel?

Of course, it’s nice to receive orders from social networks, but this is not an end in itself. Social media are not direct sales channels, they are communication channels with the target audience. You need to arouse interest in your project, gain the trust of subscribers, and talk about what excites them and causes an emotional reaction. Therefore, we need topics that will become the basis of the content plan.

Content Plan Categories

Categories of the content plan allow you to systematize the planning of publications and control the progress of business promotion. Downtime and gaps in content marketing should not be allowed. If readers trust you, they will wait for useful information on a regular basis. Any gap can lead to a loss of interest. Therefore, the content plan should have the function of informing project participants about the dates for which a new post should be ready.

Consistency is critical to the success of any content project. Creativity and exciting ideas for social networks are important, but without planning and teamwork, it’s hard to move in the right direction. Relying only on sparkling ideas is a bad tactic. Who quickly ignites, it quickly burns out!

Promotion in social networks is based on a constant and regular basis, taking into account headings (main topics). The more marketers plan, the more effective the target audience is, the greater the flow of potential customers.

Key Success Factors for a Content Plan

Regardless of how long you plan to publish (weekly, monthly, or quarterly: it depends on the pace of development of the industry in which the company operates), there are four factors that determine the success of promotion on social networks.

1. The content plan should be available to all project participants. And although not everyone will be able to edit the publication calendar, everyone should at least know what topics are planned. Remember, access to the content plan should be open to every project participant.
2. A content plan is a living document. It must change and grow in accordance with the important milestones of the business and the world around it.
3. There is no standard approach for creating a content plan. There are a huge number of techniques and templates. A company’s marketer can rely on his experience, but we will share our proven approach to promotion on social networks.
4. A content plan template should provide an opportunity for collecting creative ideas. You cannot focus only on weaving tasks that can be implemented immediately. Promising ideas should be preserved, so that later at a convenient time to return to them and try to implement them.

The factors that influence the success of promotion in social networks are simple and understandable. Now we need to figure out how to put them into practice.

How to create your own content marketing calendar plan in 3 steps?

Stage 1. Define how to automate content creation and reduce your workload

Continuous work to create new content will be time-consuming. It’s easy to miss important points in this stream of affairs. Therefore, promotion in social networks should be based on existing content. It makes no sense to start from scratch all the time if you have your own corporate blog, which allows you to give more detailed answers to potential customers.

Also Read: Content Optimization Keyword Research Tips

A regularly updated corporate blog is a valuable resource for planning. Pull out important fragments from ready-made articles, and use them as the basis for new posts on social networking pages.

Be creative when choosing a form for presenting information, and such tactics will increase the reach and engagement of the audience. 

How can I save more time on creating content?

• Slideshow: Make quotes from blog articles to create consistent slides. They can be used as the basis for video and gif-animation.
• Statistics: Create news and infographics from your statistics or analytical studies. It is always interesting and in demand! But be careful, observe ethical standards and confidentiality (you must selectively publish information relating to the “internal cuisine” of the business).
• Consumer experience: use the feedback of customers who have already used your service and rated it positively. Make it a blitz interview.
• Reports and studies: it makes no sense in social networks to publish large fragments if your subscribers are flipping through a feed on their mobile phone. Make a series of publications, this tactic will reach more people.
• Old posts: collect your notes. This tactic reminds you of the important milestones in your business. Make minor changes or combine several old posts of the same rubric into one new super post.

“Reproduction” of content avoids the situation when there is a constant need to generate millions of new ideas for posts. This approach will help fill in the gaps in the content plan. One unit of useful content can spawn multiple posts. Thus, you automate the creation of useful content.

2 stage. Create your own “TV show”

Impressions of thematic posts in social media feeds should be predictable. Your audience should recognize their benefit and each time count on a portion of valuable information.

Marketers should think like TV people and create a content plan in the image of a television program. 

There are three types of content that are required to be used in content marketing. Therefore, they must be present in the content plan and be the basis for promoting a business on social networks.

1. Primetime show. These are large-scale, constantly operating content projects that have the same theme and format. They should be focused on a large audience, otherwise it makes no sense to spend your time and extra effort. What formats are suitable for prime time shows? This can be streams, videos, a series of webinars, white papers, reports, etc. How often to use the show in prime time? At least twice a month. They should be the first to get into the content plan.
2. Special reporting. These content projects are planned on a quarterly basis. It should be about topics that concern the audience. This can be done in the form of interactive content or in the form of trend analysis, the purpose of which is to increase engagement and get feedback from subscribers.
3. Regular topics. This is the basis of communication in social networks. Emotional posts can be very different from the main canvas of promotion and have a situational character. An important criterion for publication is the relevance of the information. It is like a news channel in a television program that maintains a keen interest in a communication channel.

3 stage. Plan, organize, publish, promote, track, and analyze.

Regular meetings with project participants should be included in their calendar plans. Discuss the goals and objectives of the current moment. Each new publication should pursue clear and concise goals. It can be like, repost, comment, or click on the attached link. Collect statistics and compare rubric performance. Analyze the change in the number of subscribers and their interests, compare your advertising campaigns in terms of time: month, quarter, year.

Summary

Now you can create your own calendar of publications on social networks. The actual filling of the content plan will happen quickly enough, as soon as you decide on the rubrics and create a TV program template.

Good luck!!!!

Content optimization will never be a children’s game while Google continues to deploy new algorithms. If you want to achieve results in SEO, it’s important to keep an eye on innovation and look at existing opportunities from a new angle. In this post, we will tell you some tips for improving the ranking of your site in search results – without significant or significant effort outside the page (i.e. you won’t need a dozen links to infect your information).

Get your URLs and meta done

First, make the right optimization choice for both URLs (web page addresses) and meta-fields so that the relevant information is shown to both the user and the search engine.

URL Optimization Tips

A friendly URL is a must these days. Moreover, including keywords with exact matching and partial matching (and, to some extent, synonyms of keywords) – the URL of the page is likely to increase the relevance of the URL and, thus, improve the search ranking of the page. It is also believed that this method works well for domains.

For example:

Exact match domain:
Good: mylovelypet.com/cat-nutrition-feeding (optional synonym) 
Not so good: mylovelypet.com/cat-feeding

Partially coincidental domain: Good: cat-world.com/feline-feeding-advice (here we add a synonym) 
Not so good: cat-world.com/cat-feeding-advice (the same term twice)

The first URL provides the search engine with more relevant information about the content of the publication, providing other terms that mean the same thing, increasing search engine optimization.

Tips for optimizing meta tags

Page titles and descriptions can also affect search rankings. For example, placing the target keyword of the page content at the beginning of the page title can improve search ranking:

For example: 
Target keywords:  feeding cats 
Name of the page:  feeding tips for cats: nutritional recommendations

The meta description is a short piece of text that describes what the page is about – and it can plan a large role in the clickthrough rate on the search results page on the web page.

The rules for optimizing content for meta descriptions are simple:

• Describe the content of the page accurately.
• Make your description attractive so that it stands out on the search engine results page.
• Include targeted keywords.
• Stay within the meta description length limit (up to 320 characters at the time of writing).

Your keyword research

Have you ever heard of the Blue Ocean Strategy? In short, it is a theory that states that success comes to promising new markets, regardless of competition. Using this theory in the context of content optimization can be a reliable way to find new opportunities.

VariousSEOtoolsoffer great keyword research opportunities. A great idea is to use topic clustering and the SEMRush keyword tool.

Let’s go through the four steps to choosing awesome keywords so you can discover new content optimization options that can give you an edge over your competitors.

1. Select a keyword

Let’s choose “cat food.”

Image: SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool

2. Select a subtopic that will result in targeted keywords for the content.

3. Select keywords with the lowest competition.

All selected keywords are ideally suited for the Blue Ocean strategy: they have a low level of competition and they collect a significant part of the potential traffic. These keywords will become the semantic basis of content and are great for use in headings, headings, etc.

4. Distinguish all keywords in the group

Export a list of keywords, including highly competitive ones, so that the content matches both the category and topic of the article.

This sequence of informal steps gives you an accurate list of great keywords that differ from your competitors and gives you the freedom to create awesome content.

Content Optimized Creation

The next step in the journey is the process of creating content. Keywords have two main goals when used in an article. The first role is to determine the structure of the content. The semantic base you have chosen will give an idea of ​​the headings in the post, the content of each paragraph, and where the attention of the reader should be emphasized.

Also Read: 5 effective online marketing tactics for social entrepreneurs and startups

The second role of keywords is to give the search engine an idea of ​​the relevance of the content (based on the user’s search queries). This is the most interesting and difficult part of content optimization.

Here are some preliminary tips for using targeted keywords to optimize your content:

• Divide your keywords into several separate terms: cat, food, dry, wet, closed, how many, many, etc.
• Gather the main keywords with a set of individual terms and evenly distribute them in the article. The result will be an excellent text structure that attracts the reader and, accordingly, highlights the content for the search engine.

Although content can undergo endless changes and improvements before being published, here are three of the most important points you should consider before publishing:

readability

The way your user perceives content is critical: endless paragraphs, complex sentences, and oversaturated descriptions push the reader away. This leads to higher failure rates. Check readability manually or with tools such as 
Readable.io. It also checks keyword density to avoid over-optimization.

literacy

Even minor grammatical errors can damage your authority. The reader can simply close the tab and never return to the site. Freelance proofreaders or writing companies can fix minor errors and polish content.

uniqueness

If you outsource your content, it’s wise to check the uniqueness of the post. Google hates duplicate content, and you can be fined for publishing the same content that has already been published elsewhere. Use tools such as  Copyscape or  Grammarly Plagiarism Checker to make sure you are working with original content.

Amazing ways to optimize content without links

Without going into details of technical details, there are functions that do not directly affect the ranking but help your site grow faster. More importantly, with their help, you get an audience that not only reads your content but also admires your site and brand.  Becoming a bit weird, fun, and innovative opens up many new possibilities for use in content strategies.

Here are some amazing examples of how to create truly interactive content that pretty well summarizes what you can do to get your customers ’attention, ranks, and love.

American Association

People like to participate online. That’s why they take all these tests on Facebook. The American Heart Association, for example, conducts tests that help people determine if they are at risk for heart disease.

Of course, tests are useful for people who have health problems, but not the kind of content that will become viral. However, this particular link is ranked first in the search results and is a great example of finding an easy-to-reach keyword.

On the other hand, what if you could create some tests, such as those that gather thousands of participants, who then share them with their friends? So much the better if you can associate them with your product or service.

Philips Razors

Interactive videos have become even more popular. This is what Philips Razors found out when they created their video series, trying to draw more attention to their new electric razor. They created a video, combine storytelling and give visitors the opportunity to choose the type of shave for a young man. When they chose to shave, they got a story about a man who did not remember what he was doing last night.

The company’s goal was to attract a new audience – young people who didn’t necessarily have the “clean-shaven” look of their fathers — and show them that facial hair is cool and they can take care of them with a new electric razor. ,

The results were quite successful. Site visitors who participated in watching the video stayed on average three times longer and followed the offer to share the video through social networks. Over the course of the year, more than a million people watched the video, and the company’s sales goals for the new product were exceeded by 16 percent.

Ready, configured, optimized!

SEO is volatile, and this is what makes every SEO specialist stay fit. It is not necessary to be an innovator; sometimes looking at certain things from a different angle gives rise to new ideas and opens up new possibilities. Structuring a content optimization strategy, finding niche topics, and creating content that works for both users and search engines is the quintessence of content marketing.