by Charleen Montano May 6, 2022
Content marketing has become a huge topic in digital marketing. The reason is that you can’t ignore it if you want to succeed online. It’s one of the most effective ways to attract visitors, build trust, and drive conversions.
But how do you know if your content is really working? And how can you create more of it?
We’ve got a video version of the same topic– Jose Silvera, the CEO of Strive Enterprise, makes videos that could help you grow your business– live weekdays at 9 AM and 3 PM PST on YouTube and Instagram!
The most important part of any marketing strategy is the content you produce. Whether it’s a blog post, video, podcast, or whitepaper, content is your way to connect with your audience and make an impression on them.
But what makes great content? How do you create a successful marketing campaign? And why should you even bother with this stuff in the first place?
Wait up! Let’s first define what we are talking about and the reason you are here: What is Content, by the way? I know you know the answer; let’s get the typical deference and see the denominator of what you know, and I know!
The definition of content in business can be tricky.
Content is the total of all information, data, knowledge, and intelligence that exists within a business or organization. The term is often used interchangeably with “content marketing” but subtle art exists between the two.
The term “content” can describe both physical and digital assets. For example, books, magazines, newspapers, and e-books are all considered forms of content. In addition, web pages, blogs, and social media posts are also regarded as forms of content because they share similar qualities with traditional offline media such as print publications in terms of their ability to convey information to an audience.
However, not all online content is created equal. Some types of online content perform better than others when it comes to driving traffic, increasing sales conversions, and boosting brand awareness among consumers.
Content is all about adding value to your audience. Right?
If you’re writing a blog post, you want it to be good. And by “good,” I mean that it will help your readers learn something new, answer their questions, or provide an enjoyable reading experience.
But what makes a piece of content good? There are many factors, but one of the biggest ones is simply whether or not it’s unique.
If you’re creating a piece of content for your company, you want something that will help differentiate your brand from others in your industry. But if you’re looking to get more traffic and leads from your blog posts, you need something that people won’t easily find elsewhere on the web.
Let’s start with the basics: What makes good quality content?
There are plenty of definitions out there, but I’d say they all boil down to these two things:
1). Useful content is easy to understand and act upon
and,
2). Content provides value to its reader.
Now, you might wanna ask, “How do I know if my content is good?”
Man, it’s a tricky question to answer because so many different factors affect the quality of content. So instead of trying to give you a single answer, we’ve decided to break down what makes a good piece of content into two categories: quality and quantity.
The quality and the quantity of content are the two key factors that determine the success of your website.
Quality Content: The quality of your content plays a crucial role in determining whether or not your website is going to be successful. The quality of your website will ultimately determine how well it ranks on search engines and how many visitors you get from each of your pages. If you want to create useful and valuable content, then you need to focus on creating original content that is informative, interesting, and engaging.
Quantity Content: While creating quality content is important, you also need to produce a considerable amount to reach as many people as possible. If no visitors are coming to your website, then there won’t be any conversions either. You need both quantity and quality in order to keep people coming back for more!
Even though quality vs. quantity of content is a debate that will likely never end, the Internet is full of articles that argue both sides, but the truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer.
In addition, quality content can be defined as anything that adds value to the reader and helps them achieve their goals. This could be in how-to information, product reviews, or even just entertainment.
Quantity content refers to the sheer amount of content you produce on your blog or website. The more you produce, the better chance you will rank well in Google search results (and any other search engine).
So, for me, there’s no need to argue anything about whether which is more important– quality or quantity; after all, it depends on what type of business you are running and what kind of approach you would like to have in creating the content for your business.
Every business needs content.
Content marketing is an essential part of any B2B business’s strategy. It can help you reach your target audience, drive traffic to your website, and increase leads.
But, if you are a small business, you might be wondering if it’s worth the time and effort to create it for your website and social media channel.
The answer is yes! You need to have content because:
Content helps you build trust with prospects. When you create useful resources for your target audience, they will see you as a trusted resource in the industry. This will help develop relationships with them, leading to more conversions and sales.
Content increases brand awareness and visibility. Content marketing allows you to spread your message across multiple channels and platforms like social media, blogs, and news sites without paying for it. This makes it easier for people to find your brand and product online.
Content increases traffic to your website through search engine optimization (SEO). When you create high-quality content around topics that people are searching for online, this will help improve your rankings on search engines like Google and Bing. This means more people will be able to find your website when they’re looking for information on specific topics or products related to yours.
Content improves customer experience and retention. Well-written content helps customers find answers to their questions quickly and easily– without having to wait on hold or talk with a live representative who may or may not know much about the product or service they’re looking for in the first place!
Business content is written to inform, solve problems and answer questions. It’s written with the intent of making a sale or getting a customer to do something.
So who are the audiences for business content?
The most obvious audience is your customers. If you’re in retail, then your customers are the people who shop in your store. If you’re in real estate, then your potential customers are those who are looking for a home. And so on.
But other audiences might not be obvious:
Internal employees– your employees need information from you because they can’t always access it themselves. They may not have time to search through your website or read all of your emails; they may not even know what they need to know. They need quick answers and solutions– and they have better things to do than wait around for them.
Potential employees– if you’re looking for new employees, chances are good that you have an employee retention problem right now. Why? Because there aren’t enough qualified people out there who want to work for your company! But if they could find out who you really are–what makes you different from other companies– they might be more interested in joining.
You’ve probably heard that the “customer” is the most important person in any business. But if you think about it, customers are actually only one part of the audience for your content.
Your employees are also an important part of the content consumption process because they’re often responsible for helping customers find what they need while they’re on the phone or talking with them face to face (or chatbot).
But, let’s face the reality that we both created content for the sake of the business and for potential customers to see it. That is the primary goal. ‘ight?
By now, you might be asking, “So, how would I reach the goal? How would I know that my content would reach the target audience?”
Well, it might be harsh to say this, but you don’t need as much content if no one sees it; after all, why would you waste your time developing all this content if you just have 1000 followers and a few Facebook friends.
As I mentioned above, it might be confusing that the more content you create, the better chance you have to be visible to your audience. However, on the contrary, if you are making your content for your follower on social media such as Facebook and Instagram (assuming you don’t have a bunch of followers yet as a new business), errr, you might be wasting your time producing such content.
It is said that, “in February last year, the average Instagram post reach dropped from 10% to 1 to 5%, and it’s been below 1% for years when it comes to Facebook company pages.”
Meaning that if you have 1000 followers, only 10 to 50 people will notice your message, and the users who engage with your business the most, such as friends and relatives, are unlikely to purchase anything.
But, no worries. I got you!
First of all, stop creating more content and instead focus on gaining more followers. Obvious right? Ok.
Supposed you’ve built an awesome social media account for your business, but no one notices because you only have a few followers.
People like following influential accounts on social media.
It’s just how it is, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But what if your goal is to build followers who are actually interested in your content? What if they want to hear what you have to say? What if they want to engage with your posts?
Building a following of like-minded individuals may take much longer than making a huge account overnight, but it is much more worthwhile in the long run, both for you and for those willing to follow.
So, how do you grow your followers on social media for your business account?
Here are the tips from Jose, according to his live video.
Ask for the follow to your target audience. Find their profiles on the Instagram search or look for followers that follow other businesses like yours.
If you are a B2B company, you can find some potential customers by searching for accounts that follow similar brands in your industry. For example, if you sell fashion accessories, search for accounts that follow other fashion brands and then reach out to them via DM.
Follow them, so they follow you back, then unfollow them. You can only follow 30 people per hour for 8 hrs.
You can also use hashtags on social media. Use hashtags relevant to your business or industry, and make sure that the content you post is valuable and informative.
Like and Comment on targeted audience prospects’ posts until they follow you.
This will take time and effort, but it’s worth it in the long run. Once you have an established presence on Instagram, it will be much easier to grow your following and connect with other like-minded individuals.
Do the same in their stories and lives.
Tell everyone you know to follow you.
Ask your followers, who they know that would like to follow them, then go and ask for the follow using these person’s names as a reference.
Lastly and the best of all, you must pay for the advertisement.
If you want to get more followers fast, then paying for advertising is your best choice. This can help you get your business in front of the right people, so they see your posts, which will lead to more followers.
Paying for advertising isn’t cheap, so make sure that your efforts are worth it by tracking their effectiveness over time.
“If you just create content like crazy, forget it, you won’t be able to grow your account, and you will waste your time and money, and you have probably been doing it all this time, I’m sorry to say it, but I promise you that you can improve your situation, I understand your frustration, but you must keep working hard and smart.”
It’s simple concept: the more followers you have, the more people see your account and content. As we’ve outlined above, there are plenty of steps to follow to build your social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Google+. Remember that your profile has to be presentable while being filled with valuable content—not just constant solicitation.
The most important thing to remember when writing content for your business is that your company’s voice and its brand are the most essential things, regardless of what type of business you are.
When it comes to creating great content, you need to be able to understand who your customers are, what they want to hear, and also what kind of stories will put them in the places where you want them to be. The more familiar you become with the people you want to work with, the more effective and powerful your messaging will be.
As you can see, no one said that creating content for a business is a piece of cake. You’ve got to be creative, to constantly seek inspiration and new ideas, improve your skills on a daily basis, and make original work that will bring desired effect to your customer.
It’s a challenging task, but someone has to do it.
So, if you finally got the homework that describes how to make content for your business— welcome to this wild ride of making it production-ready!
Have an awesome day!
