Don’t Fall Asleep behind the Wheel: Innovate how you Approach Content Marketing to Maximize Value

Woman a sleepIt is unfortunately way too common in content marketing to settle into a single approach that may work well initially but, over time, may stifle growth. Always, content marketing should be evaluated to see where there are opportunities to potentially evolve the way content is being created and released. 

Quantity or Quality; there are Arguments for both

Among the most common questions clients have about content marketing is how often to release content. The answer begins with consistency. Whether content is being released once a week, monthly, or quarterly, the most successful content marketers adhere to a consistent schedule. Secondly, it is important not to saturate the content market so ideally a release schedule should have dates spread out appropriately. Thirdly, it is true that less is more – usually. Instead of writing and releasing fifty average-sounding blog articles, focus on five or ten unique and exceptional pieces that will attract views. To this point, finding niches that resonate with your audience can help in elevating the quality of pieces and in finding readers on social media.

There are a number of strategies some of our clients have used to heighten the effectiveness of their content marketing quality. For example, instead of spreading paid ads for a content piece over the course of days or weeks, one client invested their entire budget in a single day helping to increase the trendy-ness of their story. Another client who was in a content-heavy corner of the marketplace with lots of competition released several pieces of content in small batches, flooding the local market and establishing themselves as an authority in their field. As evidenced, there can be different approaches to weighing quantity and quality.

Content is not about getting the story right, it’s about exploring ideas

Constantly tweaking and adjusting content can go on endlessly. No one should be paralyzed by perfection. At the end of the day, it’s about getting the content out there. Instead of approaching a piece of content as if it’s your one and only chance to touch upon the subject, treat it like an exploration of an idea. Publish effectively, yes, but there’s no rule saying that you can’t revisit a subject down the line from a different angle. When writing, it can seem like an idea is never finished but for the reader’s sake, a period needs to be put on the end of the sentence somewhere. Therefore, remember to consider content as an iteration of an idea and not as a definition.

Use original research to build a database of marketing content

Investing in research is not only healthy for your company’s bottom line but can provide data on which to build content. According to a recent study, 74 percent of business-to-business buyers consider original research to be among the top influences in the buying process. Despite this, only 37 percent of B2B marketers use original research as a key component of their content marketing program. We think this is a huge missed opportunity on behalf of many content marketing companies. Also, original research is share-friendly and likely to net some backlinks. It can be as simple as a consumer survey. Finding the time to create and process original research is a time-tested strategy that every content marketer can explore.

These are just some of the ideas we have seen in how to build and innovate on effective content marketing plans. Remember, content marketing is always changing. As online marketing continues to grow, surely, new ways to innovate will emerge and we look forward to seeing what’s around the corner!