by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 20, 2013 | Blogging, Marketing, Small Business, Social Media
Content attracts
Marketing has drastically changed over the past several decades in terms of the delivery methods but no matter how you look it, it is still content driven and always will be. It used to be solely about print media and ad space but now it is more about vying for attention from your online audience. This can be the biggest constraint but with the right content, geared toward the right market, you have an opportunity to be seen and heard.
Consumers consume content: Feed them a healthy rich diet.
“The single most significant trend is the continued emergence of content marketing as a standalone discipline. Content, in all its shapes and forms, is core to everything we do as marketers.” Econsultancy.
You need remarkable content. Just what is that?
Remarkable content is written for your buyers and their needs. You are here to provide solutions to their questions and problems. When you can do this, you will see a higher conversion rate. You have the opportunity to attract your audience with compelling content and images through your blog posts, website, e-newsletters and online discussions.
How will these statistics influence your content marketing strategy? (courtesy of WSI)
- 79% of marketers report that content is more effective than paid advertising.
- Blogs have 434% more indexed pages
- 90% of consumers find content useful
Research:
- Your audience, your buyers and their key drivers of what makes them tick.
- Where do they hang out?
- What interests them most?
When creating your content, think about some of the common questions you have been asked.
- What problems does your product or service solve?
- How will your product or service help them improve their career, their daily lives?
- What makes it difficult for them to do what they need to do on a daily basis?
- What are their obstacles to success?
Your solution based content can produce reactions and needs to your offerings. Help your readers thrive and flourish.
Feed their hunger.
Invest in your content: 60% of the sales cycle is over before the buyer speaks with your sales team says HubSpot. This means it is up to your content to drive the message home with your blogs, ebooks, webinars and any other online content. “People don’t need to be told how awesome you are, let them come to you.” @sbedrick #BDNMaineWhatsNext
Content is more than text: Use images. They capture attention, invoke emotion, are more widely shared and help to simplify your message. Share the images on your social networks like Facebook and Pinterest. Articles with images receive 94% more views.
“Harnessing the power of images and visuals will make your marketing more powerful and more memorable.” Anita Campbell.
In a 2012 study by ROI Research, they found that 44% of respondents were more likely to engage with brands who shared pictures. This is a pretty big number that shouldn’t be overlooked. Visual content is fast becoming an important force for online communications. Pictures communicate your message quickly and succinctly. Consider the rise of infographics! This is a huge market to disseminate a variety of information, share data and statistics. Fav 5 Infographics
Here is an informative overview about the tools and benefits of visual marketing: How to Optimize Your Marketing for the Visual Marketing Revolution
“Blog posts became Facebook updates and Tumblr posts, which shrunk to Tweets and finally to Instagram or Pinterest. Here’s how smart brands are navigating the new visual social-media era.” Ekaterina Walter.
Share your “remarkable” content on your social media channels. Make sure it is a mix of third party articles which are industry specific and rich, some of your content and blog posts that are solving problems and answering questions and finally your company’s landing pages which is for the final lead conversion process. Your goal is for your audience to not only read and visit your site but to also share your content and materials.
Is your content:
- Sticky
- Useful
- Engaging
- Educational
- Problem-solving
- Insightful
- Branding
- Experiential
When you post poor content, you don’t get visitors.
When you don’t get visitors, you lose money.
When you lose money,
You close your doors.
Don’t close your doors, write rich compelling content.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 6, 2013 | Blogging, Social Media
Blog syndication provides a distribution channel to enhance your readership and exposure. You can’t just write a post and hope that it is found. In our last post: Why Should Your Business Bog? you learned about the purpose of a business blog as well as some core best strategies.
You have heard “content is king.” It is your currency to drive engagement, authority and conversions. After you have written such rich and educational content, share it on your social channels and start the buzz to develop your quality relationships and branding.
“Not only are bloggers suckers for the remarkable, so are the people who read blogs.” Seth Godin
Social media and SEO are related as you have seen in your social searches and Google has validated this as well with Google+ and Google Authorship. Content that is relevant and can be trusted as authoritative will help drive both search engine and social media marketing. Content that is shared on your SM channels is prioritized and has a great deal of influence with search engines and your audience. When people see that your content has been liked and shared, this becomes “social proof” and they are more apt to visit your website and read your content. Content that has a social connection is presented more often in search results, giving you the opportunity for a higher ranking. Your social shares help to promote more inbound links, increases page rank and influences SEO with your use of keywords.
“Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation. This effect is prominent in ambiguous social situations where people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and is driven by the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation.” Wikipedia
How and where can you promote your blog?
- Leverage the power of your website with a link in the navigation bar
- Link internally to other posts
- Use sidebars to promote popular posts
- Add a link in your email signature
- Include your blog in your email marketing newsletters
- Create a weekly or monthly digest of your most popular posts and email this to your opt-in list
- Add a blog link to your business card
- Include your blog on your social media profiles
- Share your posts with your network
- Become a guest author for other industry thought leaders
- Include social share options on your posts
- Add an RSS and Feedly button at the top of your blog
There are many other sites and different types of blog and article directories to help push your content for further exposure and notoriety. While the list below is short, it is a baseline to start the process of promoting your posts.
Here are some other resources and articles you may like to read:
TopRank Best List of RSS Blog Directories to Submit Your Blog and Feed
Link Building Strategies – The Complete List
The Content Marketing Conversion Funnel [Infographic]
YOU are at the center of The Conversation Prism
What steps do you implement to promote your blog content? Do you have any favorites that have considerably driven your engagement or met your goals?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Jul 31, 2013 | Blogging, Small Business
Your business blog is an essential tool for your inbound marketing efforts in terms of SEO, creating a community, becoming known as a thought leader and generating visits, leads, conversion to customers and brand ambassadors.
As THE most valuable piece of company real estate, your blog content should speak to your audience and prospects first and then the search engines. Your blog content should resonate with your prospective buyers, meeting their needs and answering their questions. Make it rich, valuable and educational.
WHY?
People are searching for answers to their problems and pain points every single day and you have the solutions.
Hubspot: Companies that blog have 55% more visitors and generate 70% more leads than companies who don’t.
If you are writing content and optimizing your site and pages to answer the questions of your buyers, then you will be discovered, valued and your content will be shared. Don’t just push product and services. Answer questions with exceptional content that is worth talking about. When they talk and share, this creates more inbound links. The more inbound links you have, the higher the rate of getting found in organic searches. 97% of companies that blog have more inbound links.
Laboring over content and strategy can present a challenge for many. Think about what you want to say to your readers. What solutions you offer. Research trending topics, keyword searches, case studies, statistics and other industry related materials. Set aside time each week for research and writing. Your blog content strategy is simplified and better organized if you create an editorial calendar containing columns for:
- Theme
- Posting date
- Social media channels
- Title
- Keywords
- Tags
- Meta description
- Links
- Statistics
- Guest authors
When considering your keywords and descriptions remember: Blogging impacts your SEO!
HOW does a blog influence your SEO??
- Each and every new blog post you write is actually an indexable “site” of its own.
- Each page gives you an opportunity to be found by search engines.
- The more pages you have, the more indexing you receive: the greater opportunity to move your site higher up the ranks.
- You can optimize each post with strong keywords that your target market is searching.
Keywords are just as important as your content. When creating your post, consider what probing question (s) you want to answer and use these in your title, meta descriptions, image file name/alt tags and body of text. Long tail keywords are much more powerful and targeted than just a single word. They help to drill down to a slimmer defined market of those in need. It trims the fat and returns much better results.
“The long tail contains hundreds of millions of unique searches that might be conducted a few times in any given day, but, when taken together, they comprise the majority of the world’s demand for information through search engines.” Moz.com
Your blog is a cost effective inbound marketing tool to generate new interest, business and web traffic.
- Keep it rich, enticing and educational for the greatest return.
- You are writing for your audience.
- Content that is relevant and can be trusted as an authoritative resource will drive search engines to crawl your site.
- Make your content personalized for your visitors, answering their questions.
- Use long tail keywords
- Create internal links to other posts on your site
- Blog consistently
- Monitor your brand’s online chatter
- Submit your posts to online blogging directories and business sharing communities
Are you ready? Now set aside the time right now to work on your editorial calendar and content. If you need help overseeing your blogging efforts, just send us an email to schedule a consult.
