In most companies, content marketing is either considered a blessing or a curse.
Organizations that have access to professionals who can strategize and create proper content know it’s a blessing because they’re establishing thought leadership, brand awareness, and relationships with prospects. But for the companies that don’t have a content strategy in place—or a specialist to actually carry it out—it can feel like you’re cursed to play second-fiddle to your competitors forever.
But what exactly is “proper” content? How do you create the right strategy?
The word “content” itself is actually the perfect way to break it all down. Here’s how you can spell out content marketing success:
C = Compelling
If you combine valuable facts with an engaging brand voice, you’ll end up with compelling content that readers want to gobble up until the very end. Even better, they’ll want to go read other pieces of content that you’ve created. Just like that, you’ve started to build a relationship that has the potential to be profitable.
O = Orderly
Remember those fairy tales you read as a kid? Each one had a beginning, middle, and end. They were organized in a specific order so that you had no problem following the flow.
Your content needs to be the same way.
Internet searchers are kind of like those little kids who read fairy tales. They want information, and they want it now! People are busy, so they don’t have time to re-read sentences or try and figure out what you meant in the second paragraph. If your content doesn’t have a proper flow, readers will close out your window and head to one of your competitors for the information.
N = Noise-Cancelling
A major challenge that content marketers face is trying to stand out over all of the noise that exists online. Each search on Google generates hundreds of thousands of results (oftentimes hundreds of millions of results!), and each listing is noise that you have to cancel out.
How do you do that?
Start by creating compelling content that’s organized the right way. For more SEO success, weave some carefully-chosen target keywords into your content so that it’s interesting for both readers and search engines. The more addicting your content is, the less likely your readers are to be distracted by noise.
T = Trustworthy
If your readers don’t trust you, they’ll never buy from you. Period. Online, it can be harder to build trust because there’s no face-to-face interaction. People have their guard up because the slimy snake oil salesmen can hide behind monitors and keyboards. Unfortunately, the bad apples make it harder for the good apples to thrive.
How can your content build trust?
Offer legitimate value. If every piece of your content includes a hard sales pitch, your strategy isn’t right. Educate your readers and show them that you have the answers and solutions that they need. Once you’ve proven that you have their best interest at heart, you can move on to a hard sales pitch.
E = Effective
Great content inspires people to take action. That action comes in a variety of forms, like clicking on a CTA button, filling out a form, sending a reply email, making a phone call, or simply checking out the other content you have to offer.
If your content is “one and done”—meaning people read it, then move on to something else without taking any kind of action—your strategy isn’t working.
N = Natural
Great web content makes readers feel like you’re having a one-on-one conversation with them. They can tell that you understand their needs and wants, and they can see that you have the right solutions for them.
Approach each piece of content like you’re meeting a friend for lunch. If your friend asked for advice, how would you respond? Take that response and offer it to your readers.
One of the biggest content marketing mistakes people make is to use big, fancy words that readers don’t understand. While some industry jargon may be necessary, make sure that it’s easy for your readers to understand the context.
T = Top-Notch
On the web, the cream really does rise to the top. In order for your content to make an impact, it has to be top-notch. Your headline needs to grab attention, the body of your content needs to maintain that attention, your brand voice needs to be consistent, and your facts and figures need to be valuable. Also, your spelling and grammar have to be top-notch. The last thing you want is for a reader to see a misspelling and think, “That’s sloppy. Where else do they make mistakes and cut corners?”
One final point: Your content is the only way to engage with leads and customers online. If it’s not great, your results won’t be, either.
