Are you creating content just for the sake of it? Learn how to create content with a purpose and improve your content’s overall performance.
Do you find yourself creating content just for the sake of having something to publish, rather than because it’s something that would be truly useful or interesting to your audience?
You may have been told that a good way to increase your chances of being found on a search engine is to regularly publish 500-word blog posts. This is because “Google loves fresh content.”
Perhaps you have always been in the habit of producing as much content as possible, meeting a requirement from above, with more of a focus on the number of pieces published rather than the quality.
If your “content strategy” only consists of the content you produce, then you need to take action now.
Stop it now!
Why?
You’re wasting your time if you’re just producing content without a clear goal. It’s not doing anything for your brand.
This also means that there is a high chance that a lot of this content would be classified as thin content with no value.
The good news?
You can easily break old habits by understanding how to put a purpose behind every piece of content you create.
The Purpose of Content
Ask yourself a question:
“As a brand, why do you produce content?”
Seriously. Go ahead, write down your answer(s).
What did you come up with?
Hopefully, you have a list of a number of different purposes. Some common answers include:
- To keep our blog looking active.
- Google likes to see regular content.
- Our director wants five blog posts published every week.
If you would only give these types of answers, then you are only producing content for the sake of it.
There is no clear purpose or goals for the content that is being produced.
This is a huge mistake that can lead to a lot of resources being wasted.
All content you produce must have a purpose.
The purpose of your content should be aligned with one or more of your marketing goals. You should be able to explain why you chose to write a certain blog post or design a certain infographic. The purpose of a piece of content can take on many different forms.
4 Simple Content Purposes
Typically (and there’s always exceptions), content will be produced for one of the following reasons:
1. To Earn Links
Could it be that you are using content marketing in an attempt to build links by creating content that is focused on stories and then having it be picked up and linked to by well- respected publications?
This will likely be produced in a way which is accessible to journalists:
- Data-driven infographics.
- Interactive tools.
- Survey results.
Linkable assets are pieces of content on your website that other websites can link to. This could be a blog post, an infographic, or even just a helpful resource. Creating linkable assets helps you get more inbound links to your website, which can improve your website’s search engine ranking.
This certainly isn’t exclusive, however.
Common types of content produced with the intention of earning links include:
- Infographics.
- Interactive tools.
- Surveys.
- Guest posts.
- Expert comment contributions.
No one content format earns links, and that’s OK.
The goal of a campaign should be to get links, so you can’t just stick to one type of content.
We don’t typically write long, 10,000-word guides. Instead, we focus on writing shorter pieces that are easier to link to and that include fresh, data-driven insights.
This means that the more links you have pointing to your website, the more likely you are to rank highly in search engine results pages. We know that links are one of the main ranking signals used by Google, which means that the more links you have pointing to your website, the more likely you are to rank highly in search engine results pages.
Without big links, you’ll struggle to gain visibility.
As a result, every brand needs to be creating content with the goal of acquiring links, whether they operate on a local level as a brick and mortar store or are an ecommerce titan.
Content that earns links needs to be amazing.
Not just good.
Not great.
Amazing.
Despite the difficulties of link building, it is possible to create content that is solely for this purpose if you have the right ideas and understanding of what your goals are.
2. To Rank on the SERPs
The higher you rank in organic search results, the more traffic you will earn.
It’s as simple as that.
These days, you can’t rank well in search engines by using poor-quality content. Panda put an end to that.
If you want your content to rank higher in organic search results and earn more organic traffic, it will likely be very different from content that is designed to get links.
It’s okay if you don’t want to do that. Just make sure that you understand the purpose of the content and adjust the way it is presented to match the goal.
Let’s look at an example.
If you have done keyword research and found that there is the potential to get a lot of traffic from ranking well for the term “free things to do in San Francisco”, this means that there is potential for marketing a travel brand for this term.
If the goal is to rank high on search engines, the content must be of excellent quality.
3. To Educate an Audience
Content is typically produced as marketing material.
There will always be content intended to educate an audience so that they will move potential clients and customers through the sales funnel.
There is often a lot of similarity between content that is created to improve search engine ranking and content that is educational. However, there are also times when these are done separately.
Before producing content, understand the questions your audience is asking, and compare your content to that of your competitors.
It’s all about ensuring that:
- When a potential customer searches for information relating to the products or services you offer, you’ve produced content that answers their questions – and it’s ranking.
- Once this user lands on your site, there’s further content that pushes them through the sales funnel.
Bottom line: such content can take many different forms.
As long as your content plays a role in your wider strategy, you don’t have to produce it solely for ranking or earning links.
4. To Drive Social Engagement
You can’t ignore social media.
Many brands find that social media is a great way to increase brand awareness and engagement. However, if you want your content to be successful on social media, you need to produce it specifically for social engagement, rather than just producing any content. This shows how important it is to have a goal in mind when producing content.
we all know that videos, images, quizzes, and other interactive formats do well on social media, so that’s what brands should focus on creating.
A guide that is written with the intention of ranking on the search engine results pages is not likely to do well on social media. This is because the content is not what social media audiences want to consume, unless there is something special within it that will make them want to share, like, or comment on it.
Just remember that it’s one piece of the puzzle A quiz or competition may only be effective on social media. When you’re producing content with a purpose, that’s fine. As long as it meets its goal, there’s no problem. Keep in mind the value of social media (you’d be crazy not to). Just remember that it’s one part of the puzzle.
Do not try to use content for different purposes if it is difficult to do so, focus on seeing great results from the main goal and then produce different content to meet other goals.
The Top 8 Content Marketing Objectives
There are 8 different content marketing objectives that your company could prioritize. They are:
1. Setup long term lead generation.
Google prefers to see regular updates to websites, and a blog is an easy way to do this. SEO should be a key consideration when deciding to start blogging as part of your content strategy. Google likes to see regular updates to websites, and a blog is an easy way to do this. If SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) constantly changed, it would be bad user experience for people trying to find things.
Google doesn’t change their SERP results very often, so you have a chance of keeping your important rankings.
In order to be successful with Google, you need to constantly release high-quality, SEO-optimized content. The sooner you do this, the better chance you have of getting to the top of the search engine results page. Once you’re there, it’s much harder for your competitors to knock you down than it is for them to get there in the first place.
As soon as there are new trends in your industry, you’ll want to publish blog posts about them to attract new readers.
Be sure to include multimedia such as images, videos, and quotes in your blog posts, and update them every 6-12 months to improve your ranking in search engines.
This means that you can optimize your content for search engines without having to use a separate tool.
2. Directly impact new customer revenue.
If your company is doing well in a certain area (such as remote work technology), then you should keep this in mind as one of your content marketing objectives.
You should take advantage of the extra attention you’re getting. now is not the time to implement long-term SEO plans for obscure keywords that bring in people who are not aware of your solution or the problem it solves.
Now is a good time to start marketing your company and explaining how it is different from other successful businesses.
3. Gain and nurture email subscribers.
If your company isn’t doing as well as Zoom or Loom, you can still gain email subscribers and nurture them until they’re ready to buy from you.
Collecting and nurturing leads is one of the top content marketing objectives. Here are some ways to collect leads:
- Quizzes
- Webinars
- Mini video courses
- Email courses
- Ebooks
- Guides
- Checklists
- Freemium plans
To nurture your leads, make sure you’re delivering the value they need. This could include advice from people in the same job role or business, as well as product updates.
4. Improve customer retention.
One content marketing objective that is often overlooked is retaining customers.
Make sure not to forget your current customer base while you are busy creating content for new customers. They need you just as much as anyone else.
The QuickBooks blog is continuing to provide value to customers by helping them stay in business. This content reinforces the idea that QuickBooks is a valuable resource for their customers, which means that customers are more likely to keep their paid subscription active.
5. Foster customer loyalty.
If you want your company to be successful, it’s important to make your customers feel good. Can your company give back to the community right now? How can you align senior leadership and content together to create a campaign that is inspiring and benefits everyone involved?
There are other ways to foster customer loyalty through content as well:
- Showcase simple ways your company is helping people in your target audience
- Humanize your brand with fun content that’s full of personality and puts your real-life team front and center (like our article on remote team building)
- Give away special extras such as temporary free or reduced-price access to premium features and services that will help your customers
- Offer a random drawing gift card or credit for your product or service
There are many ways to show customers that you are committed to the relationship and that you care about their needs. Try to be responsive to their inquiries and concerns, and let them know that you are always available to help. Be sure to thank them for their business, and let them know that you appreciate their patronage. You can also send handwritten notes or cards, or offer them special discounts or privileges to show your appreciation. By taking these steps, you can foster a long-term relationship with your customers that is built on trust and mutual respect.
6. Build interest groups for retargeting.
Some may even think it’s too good to be true Not everyone will buy your product or service right when they learn about it. They may not have the funds. It may not be the best time. Some may even think it’s too good to be true.
A good way to use content for marketing is to first build up an audience interest list, and then over time, market to this list again.
Using Facebook and or Google ads, you can remarket to people who have shown some interest in your content, people who have:
- Read your blog content
- Viewed your webinar registration page
- Watched a certain percentage of your Facebook video ad
Even though content may not always produce immediate sales, it is still important to plan ahead and figure out ways to grow your audience of interested buyers. This way, you can have more people in your retargeting campaigns, which have a much higher chance of converting than other campaigns because the people are already interested.
You need to be strategic about what you create in order to save an audience that is truly interested in your product or service.
7. Increase brand authority.
You can make your brand more authoritative by creating high-quality content. Showcase your brand’s expertise in your niche or industry.
There are a lot of different ways that you can pull this off:
- Use your marketing channels (such as email, social, and blog) to celebrate your positive press coverage in major outlets
- Co-market with respected influencers and non-competitors in your space to showcase your company as one that has “ins” with the most desirable brands
- Interview well known thought leaders in your space and/or invite them as guest collaborators
If you want to improve the success of your marketing and sales channels, use content to increase your brand authority. While it can be hard to measure the exact effects, the improvement is undeniable.
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