Content Marketing Strategy
01
Do Your Research
You can never enter the battle unprepared. This is why our first tip is to do the homework and find out everything you can about the next topic. Begin with simple audience analysis. The goal is to create an accurate reader persona using the following set of traits:
- Location, gender, age, and other demographic characteristics
- Education level and annual income
- Marital or relationship status
- Personal interests, beliefs, and values
- Online behavior and habits
If you’ve been focusing on a highly specific topic for a long time, we recommend you to use Google Alerts and follow the subject long-term. That way, you will have more than enough information about the topic to write a high-end article.
02
Find the Best Keywords
The second strategy goes hand in hand with the previous one, but it deserves a separate place on our list. You are probably very familiar with the concept of search engine optimization (SEO), and for good reason since 93% of all traffic comes from a search engine.
In such circumstances, the only surefire way to improve ranking in engine searches is by finding and using the best keywords in your posts. There are several ways to do it, but the quickest solution is to rely on professional keyword research tools.
Many authors use Google Keyword Planner to identify the finest search terms and phrases, but you can find a lot of other highly reliable platforms online.
03
Come up with Eye-Catching Headlines
Now that you’re done with preparations, it is time to start writing a new post. A headline is the place to start here, but don’t rush it and treat it as if it is just a formality. On the contrary, titles deserve special treatment because 80% of readers never make it past the headline.
How come?
Well, a typical website visitor doesn’t want to read a post if a title is not compelling and eye-catching. This is exactly why you need to do your best and come up with a standout headline. If you are not sure how to do it, perhaps CoSchedule Headline Analyzer can give you some nice hints.
04
Pay Attention to the Style of Writing
Successful authors pay attention to the style of writing because they know that being unique is the basic precondition for building an army of loyal readers. However, you need to remember that the target audience dictates your style.
For instance, tech-oriented writers who want to sound trustworthy and authoritative prefer data-driven articles. Their style is often plain and direct because that’s what the audience demands. On the other side, authors looking for younger readers usually rely on humor as the means of communication.
When you discover the most appropriate writing style, you should also make sure to use it consistently. It will make you a memorable author and your audience will know what to expect with each new post you publish.
05
Solve Real-World Problems
While it is always a good idea to make an overview of broader concepts, you shouldn’t waste too much time theorizing. Namely, modern readers expect content creators to solve real-world problems and focus on one issue at the time. The easiest way to achieve this is by using the following standard article structure:
- Introduction:Present your main idea and the problem you are discussing.
- Body:This is where you explain everything there is to know about the problem and tell readers how to deal with it.
- Conclusion:Make a brief overview of your post and remind readers of the key messages.
06
Write Longer Posts
How can you distinguish your content from anyone else’s if you are writing brief 300-word posts? Well, you just can’t. It takes a lot of text to present your opinion and analyze subjects from every relevant point of view, so do your best to write longer posts.
According to the report, the average Google first page result contains 1,890 words. It’s a genuine signal that people and search engines appreciate high-quality articles, which is not something you can craft in only a couple hundred words.
07
Go Easy on Your Vocabulary
Another thing you have to take into account is that users don’t appreciate heavy vocabulary. In other words, they don’t like jargon or industry buzzwords that essentially don’t mean anything. Besides that, a typical content consumer doesn’t like complex sentences and paragraphs because it’s easy to misinterpret.
Instead, you should try to write actionable texts using a simple and common language. The best option is to keep it conversational and actionable, leaving no room for possible confusion and misunderstandings. Anything more than 20 words per sentence is considered to be too much in the online universe, so go easy on your content and simplify sentences whenever possible.
08
Use Writing Tools to Improve Your Content
Content writing is a challenging process, but you don’t have to do all the work manually. After all, the Internet is packed with digital platforms that can speed up your efforts and make the final product better. Here are a few examples:
- Grammarly: The most popular proofreading plugin checks content for mistakes and suggests corrections in seconds.
- Evernote: Use it to write down content ideas and organize your writing activities.
- Hemingway App:This platform proofreads and edits textual posts, but it can also evaluate the overall readability of the post.
- Thesaurus:If you need to replace certain words with synonyms, you can find them all on Thesaurus.
09
Repurpose Quality Content
No matter how proficient or creative you may be, there will be times when you just can’t think of a new topic. Everyone faces a creative drought sooner or later, so you better use content repurposing as a way to get out of trouble.
A study reveals that almost 30% of leading marketers systematically reuse and repurpose content. You should do the same thing and reuse evergreen articles that proved to work well with your audiences. All you have to do is add fresh information, stats, or images to old posts and make the article relevant again.
10
Follow Competitors
The last strategy is to follow your niche rivals and see how they approach content creation. The goal is not to steal their ideas or write about the same topics, but you do have to keep an eye on their stories because there might be something very important that you failed to acknowledge. Besides that, you are not the only creative mind out there, so why wouldn’t you follow the work of your competitors and learn something new from them as well?
Writing top-notch content is not easy, but doing it consistently is even more difficult. If you want to stay competitive in the long run, make sure to follow the latest content creation tricks.
We showed you the top 10 content writing strategies that successful writers would use in 2020. Are you familiar with some of these tips already? Which one is your favorite? Feel free to leave a comment—we would love to see your opinion about cutting-edge content creation ideas.