content marketing in 2017

As 2017 looms just around the bend, it’s easy to predict that content marketing will seriously be on the rise.  In 2016, we saw big moves in favor of content marketing: growth of the industry as a whole, and national brands opting for content marketing over traditional ads and media. Content marketing is already more impactful than traditional advertising – it costs 62% less, and generates 3x the amount of leads that traditional ads do. Influencer marketing was realized when, in 2016, CNN made the move to buy a YouTuber’s entire presence, channel and mobile app (Casey Neistat, who had amassed 6 million organic followers), for a cool $25 million. Buying influencers and exclusivity to their engaged audiences will be happening more in the New Year, as predicted by top expert Sam Hurley in our expert predictions roundup. If you’re a serious content marketer, you can bet that your skills, audience, and presence will grow in value in 2017 – you might even be approached for a major buyout! So, with content marketing growing as a mainstream form of brand marketing more than ever, how can you go into 2017 putting your best content foot forward? Fortunately, we’ve got your complete road map right here. Read on to learn best content marketing tactics for the New Year (and beyond)! 8 Proven Ways to Win at Content Marketing in 2017 & Beyond Whether you’re looking to enhance your content, earn more visibility and serious ROI in the New Year, or focus on attempting to rectify a less-than-perfect user experience, these eight tips can make your content more successful in the coming year. 1. Combine your written content with compelling visuals Sure, adding a photo to your blog post makes it pretty, but it also does so much more if you take that visual and go the extra mile. Recently, at Express Writers, we’ve started asking our lead designer to come up with handmade Adobe Illustrator designs for all our featured blogs (like this one). The difference? More social shares, mentions of, and traction on all of our blogs. Here are a few quick stats about the benefits of adding visual content to your written pieces: Adding colored visuals to a post makes people 80% more willing to read it People remember 65% of what they see and only 10% of what they hear For 34% of marketers, visual content is their most critical asset When content has a relevant image, it earns 94% more views Remember that today, “content” doesn’t just mean written content. Instead, it’s a broad term that also takes into account visual, audio, and video material that can enhance and improve the written content you publish. With this in mind, find creative ways to start adding visual content to your written content. For example, publish an information-dense infographic in place of your standard weekly blog post or add a tutorial video to your next how-to post. Use video content to review products, provide customer service, or showcase new offerings, or include a series of in-depth screenshots in your next piece to educate and uplift readers. You can even grab a GIF or two to emphasis a point with a movie scene that everyone relates to. In addition to enhancing your conversion rates, this creative, engaging, visual approach will also make your content more exciting and valuable to your readers. 2. Target your content more appropriately to specific audiences Many people mistakenly believe that broader content will perform better online when, in fact, the opposite is true. The more targeted you can get with your content, the better. You’ll be able to use long-tail keywords, which are easier to rank for. And, as a whole, more targeted content appeals to a smaller segment of the audience. While this may seem like a negative thing, it’s a fantastic way to bring in more qualified leads and make more sales. When your content is directed at a particular set of people, rather than anyone who passes your way, your conversion rates will naturally be higher, and your content will naturally be more successful. What’s more, you won’t face such stiff competition from the “content sea” – the millions of pieces of content available to the public on a daily and weekly basis. With all of this in mind, develop target personas to specify who you’re writing for, and keep them current enough that they reflect the outlook and problems of your actual audience segments. Update them as needed for maximum accuracy. 3. Make your content powerful enough to retain readers for life Great, you have readers. Now what? You have to work hard to retain them, with better and better content in their niche interests. This is a 10x goal of content you should be striving for. Sure, it is a big one – but if this is your goal, you won’t be publishing sub-par content. Even if you’re publishing compelling and relevant content, it’s not worth much unless it’s inspiring your readers to stay with your brand for life. In 2017, the single best way to win at content marketing is to focus your efforts on user retention. Here’s a fun fact to inspire you further. In addition to the fact that it’s easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to sell to a new one, loyal customers are worth ten times as much as their first purchase, which means it’s absolutely in your best interest to keep them around! With this in mind, do the following things to boost your customer retention rates: Post quality content on a regular basis Engage with your readers by responding when they post, share, comment on, or like your content Develop an easy way for your readers to subscribe to your content Showcase old posts and favorite posts in a convenient manner so that readers can access them quickly Offer incentives for your readers, including free content, giveaways, and prizes Use a targeted and specific email marketing campaign to help your readers develop a relationship with your content 4. Encourage your readers to submit content (user-generated content) What better way to focus … Read more