I’ve been researching and analyzing data in the organic search sector for almost ten years. I’ve talked to a lot of agencies and clients about their marketing goals and the things that frustrate them.
The primary issues with the company’s content marketing performance were twofold: data and personnel. Money was rarely an issue. Why don’t companies publish content that would make them leaders in their markets? Here are the top 10 reasons:
I asked some successful digital marketers for their opinion on why digital marketing is effective to see if my reasons were correct.
This is what we came up with.
1. Improve Your Strategy
Your plan seems to focus on content strategy, the different channels through which content can be marketed, and landing pages. It also briefly mentions social media sites where content can be published. There is no stated requirement that the high-value content you publish should be relevant to what searchers are looking for or of a high quality.
This could be backed up with an objective.
Within 12 months:
- 90% or more of landing pages that have value of over 1,000 visits a month, and should be revisited.
- 50% or more of landing pages are considered to be equal or better than other pages designed to answer the same query.
I think you have the potential to do better than what you have done, but the above would be a great place to start.
Skinner, who is in charge of digital information technology at the British technology company Dyson Ltd, believes that strategic thinking is “essential” but that it is often neglected in many businesses.
He says that one of the challenges they face is that they have two core purposes for their content – driving conversion and explaining the technology. The main reason for this is that it helps to make the price more reasonable, and we’re really hoping that people will get as excited about the technology as we do.
Skinner states that Dyson focuses on the technology content of their products rather than the sales conversion. ” There is a conflict between our goal of selling more products directly through digital channels and the reality of the situation. We would need a way to measure quality as well as quantity. It is not known how effective this priority is in terms of revealing what users are looking for.
Skinner also suggests that:
- 100% of ‘dead’ pages (i.e. those with <x page views) should be removed from the site to reduce maintenance workload (and possible SEO penalty for poor content)
- A “conversion target” of x% is applied to focus attention on driving visitors to specific CTAs within landing (or other) pages
House is reminding us that the focus of search should be on the consumer. Companies need to appeal to their customers and understand their preferences more than ever before. This means that businesses must do their research on what potential and current customers want and making sure their products or services reflect this.
To have a successful content strategy, you need to be able to produce content that will be visible to your audience and that they will be interested in.
” He is eloquent in his surmise that “the internet is awash with naff content.” If you don’t set and track targets, you’ll just add more layers of confusion.
2. Say ‘no’ to Procrastination
We all put off doing things we should be doing in favor of what we think is an easier way to spend our time. Planning takes time and can be difficult if you want to get a lot of information.
You need to audit what you have and what’s missing, and then plan to fill the gaps, but this can be postponed. Content that is missing is not acceptable, but having content that is just “OK” is not acceptable either. Is creating truly great content really not as important as other things?
If you cannot accomplish something on your own, seek assistance from others.
According to Skinner, if you don’t have an audit today, the amount of issues and workload that an audit tomorrow will find will continue to grow until the whole thing turns into a giant, expensive project.
The House has agreed that it is time to take action and not just sit around and wait. “Just like the targeting, eating the elephant in smaller parts really helps to deliver – many businesses operate on ‘I want XX customers’ and translate that to smaller funnel targets, but breaking it down to this level means you can really start to nail down your goals.”
Morris has a more realistic approach and reminds us that, although we can never have enough hours in the day, we can always get support from other people if we have some money or if other people approve of what we’re doing. ” If you’re new to a role or company, auditing the content you have and how it’s performing is vital to understanding any gaps before you can start looking for them. Michel suggests that it may be a good idea to have someone from outside the company complete the project in order to save time and appear impartial.
3. Enhance Your Brand
Brands are precious things. We want to build our own and disrupt others. We appoint teams to help create and police guidelines. These guidelines include not only instructions on how to create graphics, but also how to use language in a way that is appropriate for the brand.
This means that brand agencies are often responsible for creating web pages, and their best copywriters write the copy to match the detailed briefs they are given. When published, they are exactly what the agency and brand wanted to say. So what’s the issue? Some websites are not designed well and do not show up in search engine results even though they may have what searchers are looking for. Even though CMOs expect them to compete, this doesn’t stop them from doing so.
If there is a disconnect between what a company is saying and what it is doing, this can cost the company in terms of traffic and brand equity. In my opinion, consumers care more about the quality and accuracy of the product than the persuasive advertisement.
Skinner argues that this topic is very closely linked to strategy. The most important thing for a brand is to decide whether its content is more for the brand or for the consumer, according to him. We would want to be found for the same keywords and phrases that our target market is using.” The obvious answer is that we would want to write to reflect what the consumer is searching for. This would ensure that we are found for the same keywords and phrases that our target market is using. But is every brand genuinely consumer-centric or user focussed?
House is aware of how much influence a brand’s history can have over its content, but they break it down to remind us that brands are made of the customers that use or want to use a company’s products or services. ” Not only do customers expect that the product or service will meet their needs, but they also expect that the experience around it will be awesome. He argues that good content is just as important as the product or service being offered.
4. Hook Readers With an Interesting Intro
Your headline was so intriguing that it made the reader want to click on your content. Now you need to persuade them to read on.
That’s easier said than done. Approximately 57 percent of time spent viewing a page is spent looking at the information before having to scroll down. Only 17 percent of people continue on to the second screenful of content, and even fewer continue beyond that.
This means that if your introduction does not interest your readers, they will not continue reading.
If you want your audience to keep reading, start with the content promised in your headline.
For example, if you are reading this article, it is likely that you want to write better content. This article is here to help you find a solution to the challenge you posed in the introduction.
Presumably, that intro worked because you’re still reading!
5. Write for Your Audience
An interesting introduction will help you keep your readers attention for longer, but it is not a cure all. You need to write for your specific audience.
Or, in other words, write for a small group of people, not for everyone.
An example of this would be if you were to compare an article on “content writing” with one on “great writing.”
I can assume that you are looking for content writing tips because you are searching for them. If this is the case, you likely use a lot of marketing jargon in your day-to-day work life. For example, if you work in marketing or create marketing-related content, you probably use a lot of marketing jargon in your daily work life.
Different types of readers will have different reactions to this article. If it is an article about “great writing,” then the reader could be a student or a novelist who is struggling with writer’s block. I would not be successful in writing for all of the possible audiences.
6. Narrow Your Article’s Focus
An article should have a single, clear idea from headline to conclusion.
This approach can help you form more logical arguments, write copy that flows more easily, and provide your readers with more clear takeaways.
If you don’t want your writing to be about a broad topic, keep your focus as tight as possible. For instance:
- Bad: How to improve your marketing
- Better: How to do better small business marketing
- Best: How to do social media marketing for SaaS startups
It would be difficult to produce a good article on that initial topic because the potential reader base is very large. The advice you give cannot be relevant to everyone, as it differs based on the size of the company, for example a one-person startup versus a multinational brand.
You could improve your value by specializing in a particular topic.
7. Be Engaging
Your headline might be enticing, but if your content doesn’t engage your audience right away, they will leave your page.
Here are some additional findings from BuzzSumo to further illustrate this concept. They used machine learning models to discover what makes content engaging.
The researchers looked at a lot of articles, but only a few of them performed well on both Facebook and Twitter.
Different types of content lead to different engagement levels on different platforms.
Then, there’s the writing itself.
Some people believe that writing marketing content well means using simpler language.
Although shorter sentences and words generally make content more readable, this does not necessarily mean that it will perform better overall.
This means that you should use language that your audience will understand and enjoy. This means that it is probably not a good idea to oversimplify or overcomplicate things for the sake of doing so.
8. Write in Your Unique Brand Voice
Why do some brands stand out more than others through their content?
Sprout Social has revealed that there are various factors that contribute to a successful brand, most of which are related to the brand’s voice or personality.
After you have determined who you want to write for and what will engage them, continue doing that. It’s all about consistency.
You need to have a central, easily accessible document that clarifies your brand voice with your entire team unless you have a single person handling all of your content writing and communications. If you don’t want different writers using conflicting perspectives and tones, make sure they are all on the same page.
As a minimum, your brand voice document should include:
- your brand’s core values and mission statement
- a description of your audience and the way they speak
- your ideal relationship with your audience
- examples of specific words and phrases you do (and don’t) use
9. Provide Knowledge That Readers Want
Wouldn’t it be great if there was an article about content writing tips that also had information about creating better video content? Well, now there is!
OR If, instead of telling you how to create great content, I just wrote 2000 words on why it is essential to have great content, would that be helpful?
If something happened that made you not want to come back to my site, it probably would not happen in the future.
It is vital to determine what individuals desire from your content before beginning to write it, via keyword research.
Fortunately, data isn’t difficult to get hold of. A tool like Ubersuggest can help you find popular questions people ask about your chosen topic.
I plan to write about SEO, but I have not yet chosen a specific topic. According to Ubersuggest, people are interested in learning more about SEO and why it matters. This tells me what to include in my article.
10. Include Actionable Tips
Your goal as a content writer should be to ensure that your readers learn something valuable from your writing. You’re more likely to get shared and come back if you do it that way. People might sign up for your mailing list or download content that is behind a paywall after reading your blog post.
The most effective way to teach your readers something is to provide specific, actionable tips that show them exactly how to do what you’re talking about.
You will need to be very knowledgeable in your area to do this well. I don’t write about brain surgery because it’s not something I’m familiar with. I write about marketing because it’s a topic I’m more knowledgeable about.
In other words, write what you know. Discuss how you tackle real-world problems step by step. The tools and processes you use are important, especially if you created them yourself.
Content Writing Conclusion
Great content writing starts with defining your target audience.
It is difficult to create compelling content if you do not understand who you are writing for and what they want to hear. While your words may be kind, they are not likely to generate sales or create new leads because you are not targeting the right audience.
If you write with your audience’s preferences and interests in mind, your content will probably be more successful.
Related posts:
