Content marketing seems to be buzz word of the year with marketers, not to mention the supposed answer to all our marketing woes. Have a great content marketing strategy, and the leads and revenue will follow, right? Not so simple.
In a previous post I outlined the key reasons content marketing fails, and now I want to focus on the positive side of things and discuss how we can use content marketing to build community.
Content marketing should be approached with the mindset of building trust, relationships and, most importantly, a community with your readers.
Good Content Inspires a Community
Good content and, more importantly, shareable content resonate deeply with a particular community.
Content becomes “shareable” when it:
- Reinforces a belief or challenges an opposing argument
- Sparks a passionate discussion or debate
- Is in someone’s financial best interest
- Makes the sharer look smart
- Is average quality content, but there is a strong community behind the creator of the content
When deciding on a topic for a blog post or other content, ask yourself which topic will most inspire the community you care about. Whether it initiates a debate in the comments section or pulls at the readers’ heartstrings, evoking a response in your readership is key to creating shareable content.
For content to be shared, it must be amplified
It’s really interesting to me that so many writers don’t amplify their content. They spend hours on end writing valuable and actionable content, and then they just stop. No amount of wishful thinking or finger crossing is going to make a blog post go viral. If you’ve already done the hard work of busting out an awesome blog post or e-book, finish the race strong by making some noise about it!
Here are the right steps for amplifying content:
Step 1: Find successful content in your niche, where it’s being shared, and who is doing the sharing. BuzzSumo is an incredible way to gather this information (seriously, I have developed a deep obsession with this app).
Step 2: Copy what is working for the people who are successful. A tool like Followerwonk can help you target and identify these people.
Step 3: Build relationships. Build relationship with people who can help amplify your content in the future. Remember, relationships work both ways, so be sure you do your fair share of sharing as well!
Step 4: Wash, rinse and repeat! Always measure your successful and unsuccessful amplification attempts. It’s okay to have failed attempts, but not learning from them and understanding the reason for substandard results will just set you back. Keep experimenting and measuring until you figure out what works well.
SEO is really, really important
Think about it, when someone is browsing through their Twitter feed they have no real goal. When someone does a Google search, however, they are on a mission to accomplish a defined goal. This is why SEO is so valuable. Additionally, with the limitless amount of content you can publish, there is an enormous opportunity to obtain links that result in domain authority and rankings.
Don’t Give Up!
Even when you don’t see immediate results or you’re super frustrated and want to throw your computer against a wall, don’t give up! Like I said earlier, it takes patience and hard work. But if you keep it up, content marketing will pay off!
