First Things First - Why Content?
Content is king, and it has been for more than a decade, now. No matter how the web changes, no matter how SEO shifts, and no matter what new flash-bang tactics digital marketing adopts, content remains a critical component. The vehicle for and support pillar of good online marketing, content is the thing that helps you connect with your customers, differentiate yourself from your competitors, and make an authentic difference for the people you come in contact with.
Please don’t take our word for it, though. Check out these 2019 content stats to prove the point:
- 56% of businesses report that they intend to increase content creation spending in coming years
- 61% of marketers say they want to improve their ability to analyze and measure content marketing efforts
- 92% of marketers view content as one of their primary business assets
- 62% of companies with 5,000 employees or more create and publish content daily
- 51% of content consumption comes from organic search
- 84% of people want brands to create content that is entertaining, informative, and valuable
- 91% of consumers enjoy working with brands that provide authentic content
- By 2022, mobile traffic generated from smartphones is projected to increase 10x from where it is now
- Infographics, photos, charts and other image content have grown 56% in the B2B market in recent years
- B2C marketers dedicate about 26% of their total marketing budget to content marketing.
3 Content Tactics to Ace Even on Your Busiest Days
You want to succeed in content marketing, but you also need to be efficient about it. With that in mind, here are three of our favorite content tactics for busy entrepreneurs like you:1. Use Templates
Templates are a beautiful thing. Ask any sales team, and they’ll tell you that templates save them countless hours of duplicating pitches, manually entering information, and rebuilding the wheel (so to speak), over and over.
Fortunately, this is one of the easiest places to save yourself some time. Instead of rewriting every email campaign, designing every social post from scratch, or drafting every blog post from the ground up, make use of templates. Templates use the same format for different pieces of content, thereby making it much easier to create high-quality content while also saving boatloads of time.
Looking for something to help you get started? HubSpot offers a stellar library of free content marketing templates you can download and apply to your business.
2. Create Videos
If you want to work smarter, not harder, videos are a great place to start. There are a few reasons for this. For one, video content is easier to consume than a blog post. Like an infographic or another visual asset, video content provides a vast amount of information in a super-digestible format. It’s a win-win for both customers and companies. If you’ve never incorporated video marketing into your content strategy, now could be an excellent place to start.
When it comes to producing videos, you have two primary options: you can build them yourself, or you can hire an agency to do it for you. While some teams have a video design expert on staff, it would be smart to hire an agency in most situations. Unless you already have someone equipped to create videos, you’ll waste a bunch of time and a big portion of your marketing budget trying to figure it out.
3. Flex Your Social Presence
Social media and other channels are a great way to give your content a super boost. In addition to helping you expand your reach beyond organic search, these social platforms make it easier to access other relevant distribution channels, as well. Take a look at Reddit, for example, which is a great way to access attentive niche audiences that are hungry to devour your content.
Even better? Using social media is a great way to make your content work as hard as possible, without investing a considerable amount of additional time or energy. Use your favorite platforms to repurpose content you’ve already created - turn a blog post into an infographic, for example, or transform a course into a webinar. It’s easy, fun, and accessible to everyone.
