WHY CONTENT IS THE CURRENCY YOU NEED TO BE DEALING IN

So you’ve got an awesome new work, your website is live and looking good, and your social media is all ready to fire off. Now it’s all about getting the word out to the world. So what’s the best way to do that? Two words: CONTENT MARKETING. When it comes to marketing your brand, content really is king and should be the cornerstone of any marketing plan. If you’re new to the content marketing game, these are some tips and tricks that will help you develop and distribute killer content.

 

 

WHY CONTENT IS THE CURRENCY YOU NEED TO BE DEALING IN

 

Why is Content Marketing So Important?

 
While strategically placed ads and word of mouth may get your message across to a small segment of the population, it’s your content that’s really going to attract new traffic and business to your site and keep your existing customers interested and coming back for more. When you have great content people are far more likely to share your posts, engage with you and your business, and follow you to see what you’ll come up with next.

Content is also the key factor in good SEO because search engines reward websites that publish quality content on a consistent basis. The more unique, relevant and valuable content you publish, the more a site like Google will be likely to place you higher in their search rankings. In addition, people love re-posting great content, which in turn creates links back to your site. When Google picks up on those links they see it as another indicator that you’ve got a good thing going on.

 

What Makes Good Content?

 
Take a quick scroll through any random website, Facebook page or Instagram feed and it’s pretty obvious that almost anyone can produce content in the form of a blog post, photo or inspirational quote. But how much of that information actually draws you in and makes you want to go back for more? Do you really want to see another photo of a cute cat or read a generic list of how-to information that you can find on any old site?

The key to quality content is providing information or inspiration that is valuable to your readers in some way. This will draw people in and give them a reason to stay on your site and share it with others. In addition, your content is your primary means of developing your brand, positioning yourself as an expert in your field, and increasing brand awareness. With this in mind, you want to provide people with great writing and images that they will actually speak to them.

 

Tips on Creating Great Content

 

Know Your Audience

 
The first thing you need to think about when developing your content is what your audience is actually interested in. This involves market research and a deep understanding of who your clients are or who you want to attract to your site. Try to put yourself in their shoes and think about what you would want to know, see or read if you were them. If you’ve already got some content published, check your stats to see what people are responding to the most and then create more content along those lines (but of course something new and fresh). You can also ask your audience directly what they would like to see more of.

 

Create a Compelling Title

 
Let’s face it—in this day and age people skim through web searches and social media feeds faster than a bird over water. It takes something really juicy to make people drop in for the catch. A vibrant photo will definitely catch the eye, but you also want to have a compelling caption or post title to encourage people to click through. Try to come up with a unique title that makes use of your keywords and triggers a response, yet is still straight to the point and clearly explains what your content is about.

 

HACK: We really like this nifty Headline Analyzer tool which helps you write catchy blog post titles.
 

Make Your Post Easy to Read

 
Again going back to the fact that people tend to skim over everything, you want to make sure that your post flows well and is easy for people to absorb. If you’re posting on social media, try to make your title or caption around ten words max. If it’s a blog post, try separating large chunks of text into easier to digest sections using a mix of sub-headings, numbered lists or bullet points to break it up a bit. Also, unless you’re a journalist looking to wow people with your fancy vocabulary, try to use language that is accessible to everybody including non-native speakers.

 

Deliver What You Promise

 
It should go without saying that your title, caption, photo and links should accurately represent your content, but you’d be surprised how many people try to mislead or trick people into clicking through to their website. This is called clickbait, and although it can be used in a good way, many people use it in a shady way to coerce people into clicking through to a spammy page or half-assed content. You can avoid this (and avoid being penalized by Google for doing this) by creating original content that provides value to your readers and marketing your content for what it actually is.

 

Create a Content Calendar

 
Now that you’ve got some great ideas and content to start posting, it’s time to think about when you should post, where you should post and how often. Opinions differ, but in general, it’s a good idea to post at least two blog posts a week on your website and hit up Facebook and Instagram at least every day or every other day. With Pinterest, some say between 25 – 70 pins a day is a good number (don’t worry you can automate pinning on Pinterest). You’ll also want to be posting at prime times when your audience is most likely to see your posts. Obviously, you can’t spend your whole life sitting in front of the computer and posting all day long (or maybe you can, in which case props to you!), so this is where a content calendar comes in.

 

What is a Content Calendar?

 
A content calendar is a tool you can use to help you organize and plan your posting. Basically, this is a way to make things a little less overwhelming and time consuming and allow you to see the forest over the trees. It also helps you become more consistent in your posting, which is good for your readers and your search engine ranking. At Creative Founders we plot out our content calendar in a Google Docs Spreadsheet then once we have published our posts we either schedule directly on Facebook OR we are loving Planoly to organise and schedule our Instagram feed.

 

Here are a few related posts we think you may like:

 
Why You Need To Be A Storyteller To Sell Your Art

Our Complete Guide To Marketing Your Art On Pinterest

FREE DOWNLOAD: The Art Of The Perfect Blog Post Checklist