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#ContentWritingChat May 24 2016 Recap: How to Adapt to & Succeed in Modern Content Marketing

#ContentWritingChat May 24 2016 Recap: How to Adapt to & Succeed in Modern Content Marketing

by | May 27, 2016 | ContentWritingChat

Did you miss this week’s #ContentWritingChat? There’s no need to worry, friends! Dive into our recap of Tuesday’s chat and learn all about successful content marketing.

#ContentWritingChat May 24 2016 Recap: How to Adapt to & Succeed in Content Marketing

This week, our guest host was Sujan Patel. Sujan is a growth marketer, entrepreneur, and the co-founder of Narrow.io and ContentMarketer.io.

Q1: How important is content marketing to businesses in today’s era?

Should businesses have a content marketing strategy? If so, how important is it in this day and age?

As Sujan said, content marketing is the most effective way to do SEO and to build your audience and brand. Content marketing can also help you generate leads. Just look at the results Sujan has had with his personal website!

It’s no secret that content is king! You need to know your audience so you can create the right content to attract them to your brand.

Sarah from ThinkSEM was spot on with her answer. Write content that speaks to your audience.

Zachary questions how anyone could be in business without having a content marketing strategy. Do you agree?

Jim says it’s the glue that holds your community together. Focus on providing relevant and shareable content for your audience.

Great answer from Hannah! Invest in data-driven content.

Our CEO, Julia, chimed in: you can’t have good marketing without content marketing!

Q2: What are key first steps in building a successful content marketing strategy?

Now that you know how important content marketing is, how do you develop a strategy that gets results?

Sujan knows it all starts with getting to know your target audience. What do they need and want? What are their struggles? What makes them happy, sad, angry? Then, conduct some keyword research to find the top keywords for your content. And don’t forget guest posting! It’s a powerful way to get in front of a new audience.

Netvantage Marketing and Elexicon agree: get to know your audience. When you understand the needs of your audience, you can create exactly the content they’re looking for.

Always set goals and keep them in mind as you work. When you have a clear idea of what your goals are, you can create a plan to help you achieve them. Nice answer, Sarah!

Chris knows the importance of engaging with your audience. If you want to see results, start connecting with people. Building relationships makes a huge difference.

Research the platforms you’ll use, get to know your audience, and be aware of trending topics. These things are so important in a successful content marketing strategy.

Great answer from Zala! Know your why, know your target audience, align their needs and your offerings, then make a plan.

Know why you’re creating content and who you’re creating it for. This is so true, Brittany!

Alberto said you should also consider the content format and focus on building an email list. An email list is always a great idea.

Cheryl said to get to know your audience. Know what they’re looking for and where they spend their time online. You want to create the content they’re looking for and share it across the platforms they’re actively using.

Julia knows the importance of research. Get to know your audience and figure out what they want to hear. At Express Writers, we love to use BuzzSumo for this.

We love this answer from FreshSparks! You want to make sure you set SMART goals, create valuable content, and measure your progress. Measuring your results is so important so you can see what’s working and what’s not.

Q3: How can you determine what will resonate with your audience?

To determine what kind of content will resonate with your audience, you’re going to have to do some research! Check out these tips:

Don’t be afraid to just ask! Start conversations via social media, email, etc. It’s a simple, but effective, way to get to know your audience. After all, they’re the best ones to tell you what they want.

Take a look at the bounce rate in your analytics. It’ll give you a good idea whether or not your content is actually being read and if people are staying on your website.

Varun knows that social listening can yield some great results. Tune into what your audience is saying via social media. What are they talking about? What do they need help with?

As Jeremy said, figure out what matters most to them! When you know what they want, it becomes so much easier to create the right content for them.

Kristen suggested creating a survey to get to know your audience. Send it out to your readers or to your email list to gather responses.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with your content. Alberto said to try different formats, media, publishing days and times, etc. See what works the best.

Make sure you’re addressing their biggest problems. As FreshSparks said, use your content to teach, guide, and consult.

Kavita knows research is key! You won’t learn anything about your audience if you don’t put in the time and effort for research.

Q4: How can you use your content to establish yourself as an authority figure in your niche?

If you want to establish yourself as an authority figure in your niche, make sure you’re consistently publishing great content. And implement these tips as well:

We love this answer from Sujan! If you teach people, they’ll remember where they learned it. Focus on adding value to your audience.

Great answers from Kristen and Brittany! Is there a topic your competitors aren’t addressing? You should consider writing about them!

Providing valuable, quality content is so important. When you offer quality content that solves a problem for your audience, they’ll want to keep coming back for more.

Sarah said to write what your audience loves, shares, and promotes. Figure out what resonates with them and create more of that.

Great answer, Maureen! Create content that refers to external expertise. It can add credibility, which is essential.

Don’t just share your content. Chris said you should be part of the conversation with your audience! Start talking to them on social media and get to know them better.

Host discussions and talk about the hot topics. It’s a great way to engage your audience and build a community.

Strive to get published on other websites to get noticed by a whole new audience. Guest posting is a fantastic way to grow your audience, but it also helps build your credibility and can establish you as an authority figure.

Q5: What content formats should you incorporate into your content marketing strategy?

What content formats should you be using? Check out what our chat participants had to say:

Sujan’s favorites include video, images, and written content. Content upgrade downloads are great as well. Make the time to test and see what’s actually working for your audience. Don’t forget to repurpose your content in other formats.

Maureen and Kavita agree on this one. Figure out what your audience enjoys and produce more of that! Do they like long blog posts? Are they into podcasts? Create the content they’re craving.

Tim suggested using short, snappy videos. Video content is always a great way to engage your audience. If you keep it short and sweet, they’re sure to tune in.

Amalia said to incorporate videos, infographics, and quality articles in your content marketing strategy.

No matter which content formats you choose, Jim said to include visuals. A great visual will catch the eye of your audience and get them to pay attention. Visuals are also highly shareable.

Q6: How does storytelling play a role in content marketing?

Take a look at some of the storytelling tips we received during Tuesday’s chat:

To put it simply, storytelling works! Sujan said it helps people resonate with you/your brand on a personal level. It’s all about forming that connection.

Sarah shared a quote from Ann Handley. “Good content isn’t about storytelling. It’s about telling a true story well.”

As Kavita said, stories are memorable and can help get the point across to your audience. You should definitely make sure storytelling is part of your content marketing.

Dave said that people want to know how you got to where you are. Incorporate that into your story and take your audience on a journey.

Storytelling allows you to connect with your audience on a new level. We agree!

FreshSparks said to use a conversational tone when storytelling. It’s a great way to keep their attention.

If you aren’t using storytelling, you risk losing your audience’s interest. Hook them from the start!

Storytelling humanizes your brand. Kevin also said you should end by helping your audience.

Great answer from Zala! Telling a story to your audience is like reading/writing a great book that draws you in. Grab their attention and keep it the entire time.

Storytelling allows you to show the personality and uniqueness of your brand. We love this answer!

Q7: How can you measure the success of your content marketing?

You have to measure the results of your content marketing efforts to know if it’s working for you. Here’s how:

Sujan said to measure traffic, mentions/links, leads, email opt-ins, and search volume. You also want to measure the money and leads coming your way. As he said, it’ll take some time to see those results rolling in.

FreshSparks suggested keeping an eye on website traffic, opt-ins, engagement, inquires, and sales. Make sure you set your goals first so you know what kind of results you want to see.

Sarah said to measure/monitor the right KPI. That’s key!

Measure the conversation your content has sparked, but don’t forget to measure conversions as well. Great answer, Varun! Keeping an eye on the conversations that come up as a result of your content is very important.

Amalia said to measure conversions, goals, clients, and followers.

As Tim said, you should track how many people moved to the next stage of the buyer journey. Are they signing up to your email list, getting in touch, etc.?

Engagement is always important to measure. Is your content receiving likes and shares? Is it generating conversations?

Referring back to last week’s chat: measure conversions right down to leads, customers, and income.

Kristen is thinking outside metrics. She said if you inspired someone to take action, think differently, or solved a problem, that’s a success. We agree!

Q8: Where do you think the future of content marketing is headed?

What’s in store for the future of content marketing? Here’s what some of our chat participants had to say:

Sarah thinks content marketing is going to get even more personal in the future.

It sure isn’t going anywhere! It’s just going to keep evolving.

Tim thinks there will be an increase in short lifespan content such as Snapchat.

Julia thinks we will see an increase in innovative content types. There will be more video and live interactions, which are great ways to connect with your audience.

Brittany said content marketing will become more personal, nuances, targeted, and effective.
We look forward to seeing you at the next #ContentWritingChat! Mark your calendars weekly for Tuesday at 10 AM CDT for great chats centered around content writing and marketing.