Traditional marketing has been around for quite a while. So much that most of it is already obsolete. It no longer coincides with what people want and how they want to be treated. To put it simply, it is not the best marketing strategy out there.
Every year, new marketing strategies and mediums are sprouting out. A decade ago, online marketing made big news and years after, social media marketing followed. It’s one after another, but despite the variety of options available, most people still stick with traditional marketing.
If you are wondering why traditional marketing doesn’t seem to hit the grave, the answer is simple, it’s culture. How many times have you heard about investing in traditional marketing strategies just because it is the standard?
Apparently, people find it hard to stir away from the traditional because they think it is a must. It has always been there, therefore, it should be there. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Statistics has shown that 86% of people skip TV adverts, 44% ignore direct mail marketing, and 91% unsubscribe to company email subscriptions.
So, if that’s what is happening, what should be your top marketing strategy approach? The answer is content. Content marketing is providing useful content to your consumers to stimulate interest and attention to your overall brand.
The question is, why is this the best, especially if you are a small business?
Content Speaks Volumes
Traditional marketing invokes feeding your customers with information they didn’t ask for. For example, TV ads, radio ads, and even those ads on Youtube that you cannot skip. People didn’t look for them and therefore, have no interest. What happens is that you are investing on trying to have people look at something which they are likely going to ignore.
Don’t think that is entirely true? You will be amazed with the statistics. In 2015 alone, an estimated 200 million people used ad blockers. Five years after, that number has reached to 615 million devices. That’s more than triple. Year after year, more people are trying to evade obstructive paid traditional marketing strategies.
As a matter of fact, 11% of the global internet population right now are blocking ads. So, while you are investing your money and doing your best, people are doing all that they can to have none of it.
Content marketing entails creating and providing useful content. It is not just talking about your brand. It is also about curating articles that are objectively helpful that will be sought out regardless if a person is in need of your product or service.
In content marketing, you don’t reach out to your consumers. Instead, people look to you for answers and they potentially become leads.
What Do the Numbers Suggest?
You might be skeptical. You might be asking how much better is content marketing against traditional marketing? In the end, is it really the better choice?
The answers to your questions are simple. The difference between the two is so big that no matter what compromise you do with traditional marketing, content marketing will still reign victorious. So, how huge is the gap?
Statistics show that content impacts the decisions of consumers greatly. 53% say that offering free content on a topic that they are interested in is effective in getting them interested on the brand. 82% of consumers find a brand more enticing and trustworthy after reading custom content they have curated.
It is not just about how content influences the decision of customers, it is also what people general prefer. In a survey, 70% of people say that learning a company through an article is more preferable, if not better, than any kind of advertisement.
So Many Great Things, But How About the Cost?
There are so many great things about content marketing, so does it come with a cost? That’s the great thing, despite how much significantly better it is, you don’t necessarily have to pay more. As a matter of fact, content marketing significantly costs less.
The cheaper price can be attributed to the fact that you don’t have to subscribe to paid ads. Implementing content marketing is all about curating articles, blogs, and videos on your website. The only thing you have to pay on a regular is to keep your website running. That is why your expenses take a significant nose dive.
However, you also have the flexibility to invest a little more if you want to. Google ads, for example, might be paid ads but they only come up when someone is already searching for it. You just make sure that your content comes out first out of all the rest.
Can you put a number on how much cheaper content marketing is? Definitely. According to a survey, on average, content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing. For the cheaper price, it is more effective in generating leads at 3 times more per dollar spent.
Are You Alone in This?
You might not have heard about content marketing from your friends, family, or even business associates, but it is definitely out there. As a matter of fact, 73% of brands have been reported to have hired someone to manage their content marketing strategy.
As content marketing proves to be the better alternative, that percentage just keeps on increasing. It is showing no sign of going down and for good reasons.
Have you heard about a company called Groove? It is a software startup and pivoted their marketing on content. Guess what happened? Through guest posting and other similar approaches, the audience reach of the company easily went over 1 million.
Is Content Marketing Really King for Small Businesses?
The biggest challenge among small businesses is operating costs. Most are still starting out and cannot shell out too much on keeping the business afloat. On average, 25% of budget goes to marketing and that significantly puts small businesses on a tight spot. Decreasing marketing expenses by more than half can bring a business quite far.
Another point to look at is the need for a fast return on investment. In order to make this happen, your business needs to find a market and an avid audience. With content marketing being three times more effective, it helps in reaching that target faster.
If you are still not sold, remember that 88% of consumers search online to seek information. A huge population do not depend on traditional marketing, but instead on their capacity to search. Just by curating custom content, you are opening yourself to a huge audience effortlessly.
We do understand that content marketing is not a walk in the park. There are things you need to learn and you got to do it fast. If you don’t have the time and resources, you need not worry, there is always help on its way. What you need is the assistance of the best online marketing agency. Contact us today for a free strategy consultation.
More people are flocking into stores during this month than any other day of the year. Understandable given the gift giving convention. As a matter of fact, an average person is likely going to buy three to four presents. Multiply that with the total population and you get a huge sum of potential consumer demand. To rake in the most profits, you need to find a way to point all of those people to your store. To do that, the secret lies with holiday marketing strategies.
Holiday Marketing Ideas
The hardest part about digital marketing is that it is a vague concept. You hear it not just once or twice, but a dozen times with fingers pointing to different directions. One says it works like this and then another would say otherwise. It can get overwhelming to say the least. However, you can stop scratching your head with these tested and proving holiday marketing ideas.
1. Website and Social Media Page Optimization
Starting with the most obvious, optimize your page and website for the season. For starters, redesign it with Christmas elements. Not just the format, but your product photos as well.
While it may seem something small, it actually makes a huge difference. The Christmas-y of your platforms influences buyers on whether or not to make a purchase. Put it this way, the Christmas theme reminds them of buying gifts which gives them the motivation to push through with a purchase
Though, talking about optimization doesn’t end with that. You are going to want to have everything necessary during the holiday season shopping rush. Highlight your products, emphasize on Christmas specials, discounts, and free shipping. In short, make it the shopping heaven for people who want to spend.
2. Invest on Social Media Ads
Social media ads are a timeless approach on marketing. Though, during the holiday season is when they get more effective. When people are desperate for answers on the best gift, the first place they go to is social media. They post, ask questions from groups, or from their collection of friends. During this time of desperation, they are more likely to be susceptible to ads.
Who wouldn’t? When you are looking for a gift, any suggestion on the side of your social media page will catch your attention.
3. Create and Use Hashtags
Hashtags work like SEO keywords, but for social media. With that being said, they can help get you seen. Spreading your digital footprint makes all the difference to generating sales. The more people that are aware of your products, the more potential customers you generate.
You can create hashtags for your products or for your store. Remember to keep them simple and easy to keep in mind. When people search for it, they are presented with the existence of your store and everything you offer.
Hashtags don’t necessarily function the same in all platforms. They work fairly well and effective for Instagram and Twitter. However, it is not as useful in Facebook. This doesn’t say that you shouldn’t. Hashtags are never bad, but you might want to concentrate your attention and effort on things that are going to matter the most.
4. Target Customer Niches
Customers are not all the same. For instance, each have different needs and preferences. Younger generations have different perspectives when purchasing gifts as opposed to older people. Culture, ethnicity, and social status are also going to be factors affecting their purchasing decisions.
With this being said, you can’t create marketing material that is right for everyone. Instead, identify your target audience for a specific ad. The sooner you understand that marketing is all about understanding and curating the right content for the right people, the faster you can convert them to customers.
5. Video Marketing for the Season
Don’t settle with photos, extend your marketing medium to videos. A short clip about the holiday season is one way to appeal to the emotions of potential customers. Everyone wants to be a part of the festivity and buying from a store showing dedication to the season is one way to do it.
Video marketing in other months are given the same amount of attention as photos. If anything, they even get skipped and ignored. The same cannot be said for the Christmas season. There is a higher chance for an individual to watch the entire Christmas spirit video, therefore, reaching the end of it where your products will be strategically placed.
Holiday Marketing Campaigns
Christmas season is the longest running holiday season in the entire year. As early as November, people are out decorating and shopping. This goes to say that a single marketing approach is not going to suffice for the impending weeks ahead. What you need is a well-planned and strategic marketing campaign.
1. Social Media Marketing Campaign
People are very active in social media. One viral news and it spreads like wildfire, reaching far and wide within a day. In other words, social media is a fast-moving medium. If you post one thing today, it will immediately be buried deep down by other posts tomorrow. You need to be always seen and for you to do that means consistent activity.
Whether it maybe new products, curating photos and posts, or simply sharing useful articles, it helps get you seen. It shows that you are still relevant in this time when people are looking for the best stores. Your activity shows that you are an alive and thriving business. So, make it apparent that you have a social media marketing campaign at hand.
2. Content Marketing Campaign
If you really want to appeal to your audience, give them something worth giving attention to. Content is a great way to deliver information and stir curiosity. For example, if you are a clothing store, curate articles about fashion. Put in some essential facts here and there and you become the go-to store.
Content plays a huge role in making people come back to your website or social media pages. They first come for the information and usefulness, and then later, for the products. However, people are picky when it comes to content.
Not all forms of content are going to appeal to everybody. In regards to fashion, not everyone just wants shirts and pants. There are women who wants dresses and men who prefer cargo shorts. This is where the content marketing campaign gets in the picture. Make sure you provide content consistently and to a wide niche of audiences. Also, follow up previous content with something that will support and expound it.
3. Omnichannel Marketing Campaign
Omnichannel pertains to having all platforms coherently working together to provide a consistent experience to the customer. With various social media platforms, it is possible for a customer to experience something different from Twitter and Facebook.
When this happens, it makes the entire shopping experience tedious. When a customer messages on Facebook, he shouldn’t have to explain everything again when reaching out on your Instagram page. The more unified and simplified the entire experience of shopping is, the more a customer will push through with a purchase.
Holiday Marketing Emails
Another thing to put your attention on is email marketing. While creating posts and waiting for people to see them helps, targeting content to specific individuals is a lot better. Put it this way, you can target your marketing more effectively, thus, creating a loyal customer in the end.
How to Get Customer Emails
Email marketing doesn’t work if you don’t have the emails of the people you are marketing to. Though, there are different ways to get them and it doesn’t have to be that hard.
Content Offer – Every time somebody visits your website, offer them with content. Make them give their emails so you can send them your materials.
Discounts and Promos – Who can resist a discount? Give them out through email. So, customers have to give their emailing details first.
Newsletters and Updates – There are going to be people who want to stay updated. Make sure you give them this option because it is one of the most effortless way to gain their emails.
Benefits of Holiday Marketing Emails
Now, you might be wondering if this is worth the effort. To answer that question, look at the benefits and let it speak for itself.
Better Brand Recognition – When you are communicating directly to the inbox of a customer, you are able to maintain a personal relationship. You provide accurate content and service them effectively. It then reflects to what kind of brand you are.
Boost Sales – Providing specific content that will cater to the needs of your customer ensures that they are more likely to be influenced in making a purchase.
Builds Strong Relationship – Email marketing creates a strong link between seller and customer. They don’t just end up making a single purchase, but become long term and loyal customers.
Creating A Holiday Marketing Email Campaign
It may sound easy, but a holiday marketing campaign can get challenging at times. You need to know where to begin and when to end. So, here is a step-by-step guide to make the entire process a lot easier.
Start with a plan – The functional word here is “campaign”. You are not just sending one email, but a number of them. Make sure you have a plan on what to send first and the rest that follows. It should be systematic to be effective.
Create your email content – Once you have laid out your plan, it is time to start creating content. Compose your emails beforehand and use a scheduler to send them out. Make sure that you are following a schedule. Don’t just send out randomly.
Track progress – See which customers respond to which. You will be able to determine which content works and which one people have no interest in. Understanding your progress gives you an idea on what to work on next.
Repeat – If your campaign has come to an end, just repeat the entire process. While it may get tempting to take control on your own terms, resist the urge. Consistency is what makes email marketing effective. Too much and it turns to spam, too little and people forget you are even there, too random and gets tedious to follow.
Holiday Marketing Tips
Sometimes, it’s the little details that makes a holiday marketing campaign fail. Overlooking a customer niche? Failing to follow marketing frequency? It can all come spiraling down. To prevent an impending failure, remember and follow these common tips.
1. Start Marketing Early
The sooner you begin your marketing campaigns, the better. Give yourself some time to settle in the market. Don’t expect that as soon as you release your first wave of posts and initiatives, it will immediately catch on. In other words, there is a slow progression towards reaching your goal of getting seen and heard.
At least when you start early, you will be in a much better position by the time the shopping season peaks.
2. Optimize Ad Extensions and Meta Descriptions
If you are running paid ads, make the most out of it. Check your ad extensions and put all the necessary information. Don’t leave any field behind. Same goes for your meta descriptions. You might think that nobody checks them, but you’d be surprised.
When people are making a search in Google, they read the meta description before clicking the link. The meta description is what gives them the idea if the website contains what they need. If you skip it, then you are losing potential customers. The same concept applies with ad extensions.
3. Don’t Rush Your Content
With Christmas getting closer, you are left with lesser time to conduct your marketing. While you may be in a lot of pressure, don’t ever underplay the value of quality content. Good grammar and right spelling can make all the difference in ensuring that you are a trustworthy business.
If your blog or post is filled with errors like misplaced symbols and wrong spelling, it can easily raise eyebrows. It gives off the impression of a low-quality store which can urge potential customers to go somewhere else.
4. Reply to Inquiries
Make sure you have an inexhaustible amount of patience to answer inquiries. Remember, this is the Christmas season. It only happens for two months every year, it’s not a daily kind of thing. A lot of people are still going to be adjusting to the new offers and promos you are running. So, when you receive a question, answer them.
To put it simply, shoppers are going to multiple online stores at a time. They are weighing which one is better than the other. If you don’t reply to an inquiry and the rest do, you are immediately off the list of choices.
Skipping the Holiday Marketing Trend?
If you are thinking about going lowkey in online platforms, then you are making a huge mistake. Business is an everchanging industry. You find ways to appeal to your audience. In this generation, people have a higher affinity towards comfort with the help of the internet. To put it simply, everybody wants everything to be on the internet. When your competition is providing it and you are not, then you are guaranteed to lose customers.
Online marketing is the standard today and for the future. However, if you think that it is something too much that you alone can handle, then you need the help of the best online marketing agency. Contact us today for a free strategy consultation.
According to a survey done by Sprout in 2016, approximately 75% of people who made a purchase done so because they saw it on social media. Around 60% of that population saw the product around 2-4 times before they were convinced. With these numbers, there is no doubt that social media presence makes a huge impact on people’s purchasing decisions. So, if you are running a restaurant, social media marketing for restaurants is not an option, it is a requirement.
Can Owners Afford Not to Do Social Media Marketing for Restaurants?
With the internet being the biggest marketing medium in today’s generation, people are starting to ask if it is possible to not make the transition. While some restaurants may have survived, the general consensus is that it is unlikely. Almost everybody is on social media, let alone on the internet. Not getting seen in the social media world is a huge market lost.
In addition, most people now source their information from social media. If you aren’t in the platform, there is little to no chance that you will get seen. The logic is that, people can’t buy what they don’t know exists. With features like commenting, messaging, and sharing, social media is the most ideal place to have widespread reach. If you aren’t there, your competition is definitely outweighing you.
So, the question is not if you should be getting into social media, but rather how should you get started. You hear it again and again, but the topic is so vague that you don’t know where to start. It may sound simple, but with the wide range of possibilities, it is easy to get overwhelmed. Fortunately, here are 10 social media marketing for restaurants tips that everyone should know.
Tip # 1: Know Your Platform for Social Media Marketing for Restaurants
As you would know, there are more than one social media website. You need to look for the ones suited for you the most since not everything is created the same. Using more than one is ideal, allowing you to have a wider reach. However, how do you know that a social media site is the right one for you?
Understand your market
Who are your potential customers? Who are you marketing to? Knowing the marketing preferences of your audience gives you an idea which platform is more suited for them. If they are into content, then go with Facebook. Photos? Instagram. And so on.
Your Knowledge
Use a social media platform which you are knowledgeable in. If you are not able to utilize a platform’s features, you are not using it to its full potential. Facebook for example has a wide suite of post scheduling, audience reach features, and data tracking. Begin with the ones you are capable of using and then learn your way up on other platforms.
Tip # 2: Social Media Marketing for Restaurants Capitalize on Content Activity
Mercado Little Spain
Social media marketing is not just about showing your audience what you have to offer, but to consistently engage them. If you want to keep their attention and loyalty, constantly give them something. If you don’t have any more products to advertise then write articles, post business-related photos, and so much more. The core principle is that you are becoming a part of their lives, making it hard for them to separate from your brand and restaurant.
Tip # 3: Use Quality Photos for Your Social Media Marketing for Restaurants
Photos from Upland NYC
Just like the words you use on your posts, make sure that your photos are of quality. Don’t just take mediocre images that seem they are out of an early 2000’s camera phone. Use proper lighting, angling, and color science. How appealing your photos are reflect your appeal towards your audience. If possible, hire a professional photographer. Whether it may be product photos or behind the scenes, images should be properly made.
Tip # 4: Engage with Your Audience
Remember that you are using social media, there are a lot more features than just marketing. Make use of them such as messaging, replying to comments, and so much more. If you want your followers to stay, you need to make them feel that they are a part of something more. Ignoring their engagement could potentially lose their trust. Remember to:
Reply to messages and inquires.
Answer negative comments in the comments section as best as you can. Reverse a negative impression with how you deal with it.
Conduct surveys and engage with interactive questions.
Tip # 5: Allow User-Generated Content
Your social media content shouldn’t be always about you and what you have to say. If there is something that potential customers are likely to listen to, it would be the sentiments of their co-customers. What this means is that allow people to leave a review or a feedback and make sure to highlight it as content in your page.
Tip # 6: Digital Promotions is a Must for Social Media Marketing for Restaurants
Odette Restaurant
Remember a time when businesses used to give out printed coupons to passers-by? The problem with that is most of them end up not using them. You are marketing to a population that is not even interested in your restaurant. Now that you have a social media page, transition from that to digital promotions. It is likely to gain more engagement, have a wider reach, and your marketing penetrates the most vulnerable population.
Digital promotions are so effective that you can see them with almost every business. Discounts that can only be claimed through their social media pages, online raffle promos, and so much more.
Tip # 7: Get Involved with Trending Topics
TGI Fridays
Certain topics become trending for a reason: people are interested with them. When you get involved, you are participating in a huge potential market. Other than customers being susceptible to your marketing materials, your posts become more visible. Trending topics can range from viral videos, new trends, or seasonal events such as Christmas and Halloween.
Tip # 8: Pay For Ads
Your reach can only go so far. People will share and like your posts as much as they can, but it has its limits. If you want to further widen your reach, you need a little help with the use of paid ads. Depending on the platform you are using, you are going to have a wide array of payment options and implementations. Facebook for example allows for ads to be shown to audiences that are near and have a high susceptibility for your product.
Tip # 9: Complete Your Details
Tartine Manufactory
Most business don’t see the importance of a completely filled out social media page. Having your name and logo shouldn’t be where you stop. Make sure that you put in other specific details such as location, schedule, and so much more. Remember, people are going to your page to know more about your restaurant. If they can’t get the answers they are looking for, then you might as well say goodbye to a potential customer.
Keep in mind that when people are looking for a place to eat, they have a lot of considerations and questions. They wonder if it is open, the menu, is it nearby, and so on. Not having this information readily available causes a potential customer to immediately venture towards something else.
Tip # 10: Showcase What’s Behind the Scenes
Localis
If you are out of content to publish in mind, then showcase what goes behind the counter. As a restaurant, guarantying safe and quality food is going to be what you want to guarantee. Show to your audience what is happening inside the kitchen, the process of preparing dishes, and the level of sanitation you follow. All of these doesn’t just keep your social media activity going, it provides assurance to your customers of the safety and cleanliness you deliver, especially that most people would rather prefer sanitation over anything else.
In conclusion
There is no single instruction manual on how to conduct social media marketing for restaurants. There are different ways to approach it and in turn, there is no guarantee that one thing is going to work better than the other. However, these tips will get you started on the right path. Along the way, the only thing you need to do is learn and adapt according to the factors and situations that surround your industry.
If you think that all of these are too much to handle, there is a shortcut which guarantees results. You are going to want to seek the help of the best marketing agencies as a result. Contact us today for a free strategy consultation.
Demand for hotels is always there, but even then, with the market being saturated by a number of options and choices, you are going to need to be competitive to stay afloat in the industry. In today’s generation, there are a lot of things you can do. Out of all of them, the one you must first venture into is social media marketing for hotels. It is cheap and does not require any extensive technical expertise in order to implement it. The question is, what should you be doing?
1. Identify Your Social Media Preference
The first step in social media marketing is knowing the platform you will be using. There are a lot of choices and the top three are Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. One has its benefits over the other. Choosing which one to start on is going to be overwhelming. In addition, you also have more choices beyond those three. They may not be the top social media platforms but depending on your market, they can be as effective such as Pinterest and LinkedIn.
You can opt for more than one social media platform. As a matter of fact, the more the better. Increasing your digital presence is never a bad thing. The more you put your name out there, the more likely for your hotel to be found and considered as a choice. Just make sure that enough detail and attention is given to provide quality social media experience to potential customers.
2. Understand Your Market
Resorts World Sentosa
Not all hotels are the same. One has a certain theme and aesthetic along with having specific services and amenities. You don’t have to win every potential customer, you just need to make sure that those who are in the market for you, actually find you.
Capitalize on what you have to offer as a hotel. What is your aesthetic, whom does your services specifically cater to, and so on. The sooner you understand who you should be marketing to, the easier it is for you start creating your marketing material. Mold your posts based on your target audience.
The problem with most social media marketing campaigns is that it is usually very vague. Hotels want to win as many potential customers as possible, so they market their prices and offers instead of the hotel itself. Remember that travelers look for the best experience for them, the budget is only a second consideration.
3. Social Media Marketing For Hotels is About Showing Off
Marina Bay Sands
People who are looking for hotels want to know what they are getting into. The most dreaded part for every traveler is realizing that a hotel is not what they expect it to be. Most of the time they find the place too small or aesthetically unappealing. Things are a lot worse for families when they see that the place is not as family-friendly as they expect it to be.
You don’t want to create a bad experience for your new customers. In addition, you want to assure potential customers of what they are paying for. So, what you are going to want to do is show off your hotel. Post as many photos as you can. If possible, do a video walkthrough of your rooms and amenities. If you have nothing to hide, you can show off your hotel as it is.
The better the image that a customer gets about your hotel, the more confident they get. They are able to know what they are paying for. Ultimately, they make an informed decision when choosing your hotel. Creating trust and exposing the great things you have to offer is a guaranteed way to win the hearts of potential customers.
4. Use Reviews to Leverage Your Credibility
The Bellevue Resort
Finding things to post on your social media pages can get exhausting. There are just going to be days that there is nothing else to show off. During times like these, it is best to use the feedback of prior customers. As a matter of fact, you should make it a habit. Potential customers are likely going to trust what other people are saying about your hotel than your marketing materials. If a lot of people are saying that you have great service, that is more likely going to influence the decision of potential customers.
Your credibility is entirely based on the feedback of your customers. As a result, never underestimate whatever they have to say. Promote good ones and address the negative. Depending on how you respond to negative reviews, it can possibly turn into a positive selling point for your hotel.
5. Social Media Marketing For Hotels is About Being Active
The hardest part about social media marketing is always being active. When you are not creating a post for an entire month, it could mean badly on how potential customers view the business. It creates the impression that it is not prominent and is not able to cater to the needs of the customers. As a hotel owner, you should accept the fact that the activity of your social media platforms delivers a sense of luxurious and quality experience.
6. Improve Your Followers
The Ritz-Carlton
When people see your total number of followers, it also influences their decisions. The more there are, the more credible you become in their eyes. Apparently, people associate followers with the impact of a business to a population. What this means is that if you don’t have many of them, it creates the impression that you are not prominent and not worth taking a look into.
It is common sense. The more followers you have, the more prominent you are in the hotel industry. It is something that a lot of customers look into. As a matter of fact, nobody wants to put money on a business that has not yet proven itself.
7. Be Accommodating and Reachable
Social media is a platform where people can connect and is not specifically intended for marketing. What this means is that there are a lot of uses for it. Be versatile enough to use all the avenues that are available for the platform of your choosing.
Take for example the messaging feature. Don’t ignore it. When people have concerns, message them. If they leave you a message, make sure to reach out and give them the answers they want. There are a lot of situations that potential customer just needs something. The sooner you answer, the bigger the chances that you secure their decision.
Most people look at social media pages of business as a way to reach out to them. It has been like that. If you don’t play along with the standards set by society, you are going to trail behind the competition. People expect businesses to answer inquiries, if you don’t, the next one is guaranteed to be better than you.
8. Market the Place, Not Just the Hotel
Shangri-La Hotel
There are a lot of things you can include in your social media marketing for hotels. You can talk about the location and the different things that can be done in the city. In this way, you are appealing to a specific audience which would be travelers and adventurers. These are people who are finding places to go to and things to do.
9. Small Details Matter in Social Media Marketing For Hotels
Radisson Blu
Even the slightest features in your hotel can make a huge difference in attracting customers. Small details such as design and whether or not you have a restaurant or bar can make you stand out over the competition. When marketing in your social media platforms, you don’t necessarily have to show off only the big things. Keep in mind to value even the smallest details, even to the tightest corners of your hotel. You never know that the views and aesthetic which you thought were not a big deal, means a lot to others.
10. Integrate Occasions in Your Social Media Marketing for Hotels
The demand for hotel accommodations is daily, but things are much busier during specific days. More people are on a vacation during the holidays such as Christmas and New Year. In addition, there is higher demand even on smaller occasions like Valentines and Halloween. If you want to stay relevant, you need to be active during these occasions. Moreover, be able to go along with it by posting related content on your social media platforms.
Final Words
Even if social media marketing for hotels is all the fad these days, it is easier said than done. Despite sounding simple, it is overwhelming. There are a lot of things you can do. There are also a lot of things that you should not do but you think is right. Nevertheless, sticking to the common approaches will at least get you started on the right track, allowing you to learn things and adapt along the way.
If you think that this is too much. If you think that social media marketing for hotels is not something that you can do on your own, we can help you. As an online marketing agency, we can guide you from start to finish. Contact us today to get a free strategy consultation.
Marketing strategies have evolved throughout the years and it should be. People’s preferences are constantly changing especially with the dawn of social media. It has become the biggest platform for marketing, both paid and free. Along with it comes a new job known as a social media manager.
What is A Social Media Manager?
The person mainly responsible for curating your social media accounts is your social media manager. Whether it may be Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, they create and design how your pages are going to look. This includes creating and choosing the right photos, themes, and aesthetic.
They come up with your social media marketing campaign. Everything from what to post and when to post it. It is their key role to keep your accounts active and engaging to cultivate an audience and positive branding.
It is also crucial for them to look into the statistics. How far was the reach? What were the hindrances that led to the results? What could be improved? How can a campaign be saved? These are going to be questions that a social media manager needs to come up with answers.
Must-have Social Media Manager Skills
When talking about skills, these are what your social media manager can do. With the vast and vague work that they have, they need to be equipped in a number of tools. We broke them down one-by-one.
Copywriting
A skill that is not just specific to social media managers, but to every profession related to marketing. If you want to catch the attention of your audience, you have to be well-equipped in forging your words. In social media, this skill is a prerequisite in aspects like making tweets, posts, and captions for your photos and products.
Check Graphic Design Skills in A Social Media Manager
Every great social media page is going to need photos. So, it is essential that your social media manager is capable of using one type of photo editing software. The most common would be Photoshop, but anything would do as long as it allows high quality graphic editing and production.
Video Editing
Videos are another way to create widespread engagement in your social media pages. In order to do so, you are going to look out for experience with at least one type of video editing software. Remember that the quality of your videos will impact your branding. The higher the production quality, the stronger your influence.
Customer Support and Engagement is An Important Social Media Manager Skill
Since this is a social media account, your audience is going to try to reach you. It could be through a message, email, mention, or comment. There are a lot of forms of engagement in social media and you are going to want to engage your audience. The question is, who answers all of those? Again, it is the social media manager, which makes customer engagement an essential skill.
Analytics
Success doesn’t immediately come in social media marketing. Therefore, it is essential to track data and progress. Analyze what material has penetration to your audience. Understand what content and quality is likely going to be shared and engaged. Create a demographic for your followers to optimize social media marketing campaigns.
Social Media Manager Must-Have Traits
What differentiates a trait from a skill is that it is an innate feature of a person that determines how efficient they are going to use a skill. Therefore, traits are as important as skills. Simply put, what are you going to do with someone who is well-versed with Photoshop but is not creative? So, here are the traits that your social media manager must have.
Hardworking
Cliche as it may sound, every social media manager should be hardworking. Audience engagement is going to come in around the clock. As a result, they are going to have to put in a lot of work hours into the profession and be at their best during those times.
Creative Social Media Manager
Everybody in the field of marketing needs to be creative. It is the most essential trait that cultivates an engaging and attention-seeking marketing campaign. From the photos to be created and used to copywriting, everything needs a vast amount of creativity to stand out from the competition.
Curious
What makes the audience tic? What do they like and how do they like it being presented? Do they want articles or would rather see more photos? A constantly questioning social media manager is going to be able to make better changes to the marketing campaign. It will allow a constantly improving effort that will provide better reach and more engagement.
A Social Media Manager that Solves Problems
Most employees would rather settle for the bare minimum of their work. However, that is not an option for social media managers. They need to understand the problem at hand and find ways to provide a solution. There will always be something to improve on as well as problems to solve. So, someone who is eager to get to the bottom of each is someone you are surely going to want.
Business Savvy
At the end of the day, you are still running a business. All those engagements and followers are not going to mean anything if they don’t make a purchase. Therefore, other than creating active social media platforms, your manager should also integrate the marketing campaign in a way that will turn your leads into customers.
Your Social Media Manager Must Be Able to Adapt
It is not possible to completely understand people. No matter how much psychological concepts you apply, your audience can still possibly act beyond what you expect. When it does happen, your social media manager must be fast to act. If one opinion no longer sells, they must be fast to have a smooth transition to another.
What Role Does A Social Manager Have in Your Success?
Social media is now the highest form of marketing. It is free in most cases and it is the most readily available platform that customers can reach out to. As a result, not having one can mean losing out on a huge customer market.
Alternatively, your social media manager makes sure that your pages are constantly found. It is an effort that creates new followers everyday which opens up the possibility for more customers. Ultimately, it is your social media manager that holds a huge role in the growth of your market.
It is not just great to have them, but a necessity. However, if you think that it might be too much of a hassle to handle, we suggest you take the easier path. That’s right, you can skip all the hard parts by looking for the best social media marketing agencies. Contact us today for a free strategy consultation.
An era of choice. That is what a lot of people would describe this time. Almost everything is at the palm of our hands. We don’t want to get handed with anything, instead we want to choose what’s best for us. This is the reason why conventional marketing strategies no longer fit today’s demographic, and so comes content marketing. Along with the dawn of a new type of strategy comes a new form of profession, content marketing manager.
What is Content Marketing?
The idea of content marketing has been around for quite a while. You might have gotten into a website and experienced its results first hand, you just didn’t know it. In its core, content marketing is creating value for your brand by producing quality content related to your industry.
Still confused? For example, if you are running a shoe brand, you create content that aims to help your audience such as how to choose the right shoe, different types of footwear, and so on. By being the helpful guide that you are, a customer is likely to be more inclined to purchase your products.
When you compare this to conventional marketing strategies which involves showing people what they don’t need through ads, this is the more economical strategy. You are creating content for people who are already in the market to seek your products. What happens is that you don’t end up investing in a strategy that is aimed on people who have no affinity to approach your brand.
Content marketing pillars on the concept of putting value on your brand. The more helpful content you produce, the more valuable you become, with or without your products. Once you have generated customer trust and loyalty, converting leads to customers is a simple task.
Want to go further deeper into strategies that help build your brand value? You might want to check inbound marketing strategies.
What Do Content Marketing Managers Do?
You now see the value of content marketing, but you don’t know where to start. You might be wondering how to begin your campaign or what you should be preparing first. Let this be said as early as now, content marketing is a technical task performed by experienced professionals. The same goes for inbound marketing.
Mastering content marketing cannot be done overnight, nor by reading through articles on the internet. So, if you are starting a business and want to implement content marketing strategies, the fastest way would be getting yourself a content marketing manager.
A lot of tasks fall under this role including content planning, strategy implementations, and data analysis. From conceptualizing what to create and how to create it to how it performs, that all falls under the content marketing manager.
They start with creating a content marketing plan. It contains the series of materials to be created through a period of time. This is the most crucial part. One article or video isn’t enough. It should be supplemented by followup content to emphasize the goal and value that you are creating.
Once plans are laid out, the next thing would be for the content marketing manager is to ensure that every detail is followed. In the event that things don’t work out as expected, it is their job to come up with appropriate solutions.
Last but not the least, the content is published and its performance is tracked and monitored. How does it stack up in search engine results? Is it generating traffic? What should be done to improve the reputation of the said content? All of these must be answered by the content marketing manager.
The Ideal Content Marketing Manager
Knowing how extensive and crucial the role of a content marketing manager is, it is important to find the best one. Unfortunately, there is no one criterion to look at. The profession is a mixture of tasks. Flexibility and versatility in a lot of of fields is a must. Fortunately, we broke things down to three areas.
Experience
When talking about experience, you don’t necessarily have to look at the time they have spent as a content marketing manager. Most of them didn’t start out as such but instead began their experience in other professions. This includes being an SEO specialist, content writer or producer, and data analyst. The wider the set of specialties a content marketing manager has, the better they are going to be.
Education
There is no degree that will train a person on how to become a content marketing manager. Nevertheless, there are professions that will give them an edge and be better with their work. This includes those who have majored in business management or marketing.
Even if a content marketing manager has a degree that is quite distant, it is still something to look at. Any higher educational attainment reflects an individual’s professionalism, hard work, and flexibility. As a matter of fact, 59% of content marketing manager job listings require at least a bachelor’s degree.
Skills and Expertise
With how extensive the responsibilities of a content marketing manager is, they should be equipped in a number of skills and expertise. From planning and creating content to knowing what and how to use tools to track web traffic progress.
A content marketing manager should have a strong grasp of the language of the market they are targeting. Since this is the internet, search engine optimization is another important skill. Lastly, data analysis via Google analytics is a must to monitor the success of the content.
Responsibilities of A Content Marketing Manager
We repeatedly said that the responsibilities of a content marketing manager is extensively wide, but what are they? What does each represent in the success of the overall marketing campaign? To answer those questions, we broke them down into seven categories.
Research and Competitor Analysis
The first step to every successful marketing campaign is knowing what to write. Understand the target demographic and realize where the competition is lacking. It is the job of the content marketing manager to make all these necessary research. This is the first and most crucial step that will determine whether or not your marketing campaign will succeed.
Making Content Marketing Plans
One type of content is not enough. A content marketing campaign involves a series of material that will get the attention of your audience and then hook them in. With that being said, this is not just about making content, but continuously providing what is needed.
Unless there is a laid out plan on what and when to create, things could easily get disorganized. Failing to provide your audience the material they need during a specific stage can ultimately cause them to lose interest.
Preparing an Editorial Calendar
All types of content need to be revised at some point. It is not that it’s not good, it’s just that your audience are going to want something different down the road. Providing them with something they already know but presented in a different way with some new information reinforces their belief that they have learned a lot and is still continuously learning more.
Just like creating content, editing should be completely strategic. How and when something is revised should be carefully planned. The new material should then be delivered during a specific period to your audience.
Content Creation
There is no content marketing strategy if there is no content to begin with. This is where everything is going to pivot, making it the single most important aspect of your campaign. However, it is not going to be easy.
For example, creating blogs is not just being good with the language of your target audience. It is also about knowing how to present your ideas that it will be perceived positively. Concepts like the golden circle and the buyer’s guide have a huge role to play in connecting with your audience.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Your content is only as good as the attention it receives. This means that unless it gets seen, how great your content is not going to matter. Your web traffic is not going to be based on the quality of your work but on how it ranks in search engine results to be seen for people who are in need of your brand.
Making sure that your content ranks high is the work of the content marketing manager. Achieving this involves the use of a mixture of SEO and publication tools. Though, the hardest part is that search engines update their criteria regularly which means it is a continuous and complex learning cycle.
SEO is not just a part of content marketing, but it is a necessity for online marketing regardless of what strategy you implement. Even in inbound marketing, SEO is one of the 6 core marketing principles.
Publishing and Promoting Content
The next job of the content marketing manager is publishing the content. Putting them in websites as guest posts or simply on the brand website. The next thing would then be promoting them.
To get the exposure that your content needs, your content marketing manager needs to take the necessary steps to promote it. This includes having influential social media groups share it and finding effective advertisement avenues. Instagram and Facebook are just some of the platforms with cost-efficient promotion choices.
It is quite a complex step. There are a lot of avenues available. Therefore, it is a constant problem on which ones will have the best return on investment. For the inexperienced, this task can be overwhelming, but not for the skilled content marketing manager.
Performance Monitoring
Knowing how your content is performing is a crucial aspect in content marketing. You just can’t keep on creating and publishing, not knowing whether or not you are being effective. It is possible that despite the barrage of content on your audience, none is hitting the mark and you are not gaining yourself the attention you thought you would.
Monitoring the performance of your content allows you to understand which ones you should be concentrating on. It allows you to see which have higher penetration on your target demographic. It also gives you the opportunity to see what you are doing wrong and build from that for consistent improvement.
Among the things that are being monitored are web traffic. How many people are visiting your website? It can be either that your content is so helpful that readers have the tendency to share it or it is working fairly well in SEO.
Another would be engagement. How many visitors have the tendency to leave a comment, message the brand, or simply share the content? While web traffic is great, engagement shows the population that is likely going to be customers.
Do You Need A Content Marketing Manager?
You now know the responsibilities of a content marketing manager, but you think to yourself: do I actually need one?
Your dilemma revolves around your desire to save on money and learn everything all by yourself. Despite that being actually a possible choice, you might want to reconsider. Content marketing managers have a specific role in your operations and there is a lot to benefit from it.
Organizes Workflow
Unless you want to do all the planning yourself, you are going to want to have a content marketing manager. As a business owner, you already have a lot on your hands. You are likely going to find it difficult to squeeze in content marketing strategies in your busy schedule.
To have an organized workflow in your marketing campaign, you might want to delegate it to a specific person. Someone who is both skilled and an expert of it so that the only thing you have to do is check on the progress.
Minimizes Business Owner’s Burden
Looking at the duties of a content marketing manager, you can definitely say there is a lot to work on. As a matter of fact, maybe a little bit too much. To say the least, it takes one person to do it all, but that might even be an understatement. Depending on the campaign, a content marketing manager might even find it hard to cope up with all the demands and deadlines.
Now, imagine yourself being in that position with all the workload you already have as a business owner. The responsibilities of a content marketing manager doesn’t just add to your work, it doubles it up.
Effective Marketing Campaigns
It is always best to leave everything to the professionals and that applies to content marketing managers. If you don’t know what you are doing, you are likely going to waste both time and money on your campaign. To make things worse, failure is not going to be all that apparent. Before you know that you are not doing a great job, you have already done and spent a lot.
The importance of seeking the help of a professional is much more if you are just starting out your business. Your financial resources aren’t all that much and you need to make the best out of every penny. Content marketing managers make sure that you are getting your money’s worth by ensuring the efficiency of your marketing campaigns. They guarantee that you only have to spend once to get the success you are looking for.
Marketing shouldn’t break your bank, especially if you are running a retail store. There are a lot of free avenues to put your brand name out there. Here’s 21 of our top picks.
Content Marketing Manager vs Content Creator
A common question we usually get is what’s the difference between a content marketing manager and a content creator. If you already have the latter, is it really necessary to hire the former?
If you are quite tight on the budget, it might be tempting to rely your content marketing campaign on your content creator alone. However, that is not going to be the best choice. Content marketing managers specialize not just on content but making sure that it is a successful one. What this means is that they have the skills a content creator is not going to have.
Content creators are only good with what their title suggests, but when it comes to marketing, promoting, and tracking, it’s a completely different story. Not all content creators understand the concept of SEO. Same goes for Google analytics and the idea of a content marketing campaign in general.
In Conclusion
No matter what angle you look at it, content marketing managers are not something you should skimp on when wanting to implement a content marketing campaign. They are the most crucial ingredient in the success of your strategy and for good reasons. Their skills and expertise don’t just guarantee a successful marketing plan, but one that is completely effortless and convenient on your side as the business owner.
Jump start your online marketing campaign with the help of the best online marketing agencies. Contact us today and get a free strategy consultation.
Traditional marketing is becoming less effective and it is only getting worse by the day. This is because this is now an era of choice with people wanting to have control with what they see. Instead of feeding your audience unwanted content, it is now more logical to give them ones they genuinely want in an approach called content marketing.
To put it simply, it is a strategy to attract and hook an audience with the informational value of your content. However, there is actually a lot more to it.
What is Content Marketing?
From the name itself, content marketing is a marketing strategy that is centered on content. You create blog posts, web series, and so much more that contain relevant and useful information that will make your audience voluntarily approach your brand.
It is also strongly strategic by knowing when and what to create and to whom it is targeted. You are giving answers and suggestions not just to anyone, but to those who specifically need them.
Creating quality content is about consistency, accuracy, and applicability. The value of what you make is relative to whoever receives it. What may be of value to the working class, may be the same for someone in a higher social status
In this aspect, content marketing is a mixture of content creation and strategic distribution. Knowing what to do and when to do it are essential key factors in the success of your strategy.
Content Marketing Goal: Lead Generation
When applying content marketing strategies, what should you be expecting? More customers? More sales? In the most general essence of content marketing, the goal is to create new, if not a lot, of leads.
Leads are not the same as customers or does it mean an increase in sales. However, it can lead to that, it’s just a matter of strategic approach. What leads are, are people who are showing interest in your product or service.
What differentiates a lead from an average person is that they are already leaning towards your product. This happens when they realized a problem and found a solution with the help of your content.
By acquiring leads, you know the people whom you should be concentrating your time on. Gone are the days of marketing to the general population. You now only have to convince the leads to progress to the next stage which is becoming a full fledged customer by making a purchase. So, the more leads you have, the more customers you can possibly gain.
Concept of Business Storytelling in Content Marketing
There are different ways to create content, but to apply content marketing, you should always implement the concept of business storytelling. This entails that the origins of your business should somehow be integrated into the content you are making. The question is why?
In order to appeal to your audience, your brand should reach out to them on a personal level. This is where the business storytelling gets in the picture. Every business should have a purpose: why it was established, how it aims to achieve its purpose, and what it is doing to get to that. Through this, you are connecting to your audience on how committed you are to helping them in their problem.
This may sound complicated, but as long as the content is in line with the problem the brand aims to address, that is already a step towards the business storytelling structure.
The Golden Circle of Content Marketing
To further understand business storytelling, it is important to know the golden circle. It is a three layer circle with why at its core, followed by how, and then with the outermost layer being the what. This represents the different aspects of your business story.
The Why
A crucial part of your business story revolves around the concept of why you are doing what you are doing. What urged you to start your business and brand? Why were you motivated to do so?
Every business has an origin and it should always be about trying to provide a solution for a certain problem. Take Toms Shoes for example, they say that they started their brand to provide affordable shoes and one of their motives is to deliver free footwear to those who can’t afford one.
Unless your business has a specific goal to address, then you are not going to create an effective story. As a result, you are not reaching out to your audience on a personal level and hooking them in.
So, always begin with the why. Find a purpose to your business. Search for a problem that you intend to address.
The How
After knowing your purpose as a business, the next thing is the how. How will this help your audience? Are they going to find solutions to their long running problem or will their way of life simply improve?
The how talks about the impact of your business to the problem at hand. Knowing the end goals and the capacity of your brand will help you make a better narrative to make your customers set realistic end results.
The What
For the last part, this is about what you are offering to address your why and how. This is the biggest aspect of your business story and thus, where you should be concentrating more. Knowing what you offer and the way you offer it is the most crucial part in making content.
It is the what that you are trying to sell, so when making your business story, this should be the highlight. What are your products? Your services? And everything in between?
How you deliver your what is what will get your audience hooked. This will keep them coming back for more as well as the most powerful detail that will convert your visitors to leads, and then leads to customers.
Elements of Content Marketing Storytelling
Creating great content involves knowing the elements of a good story. It should always have characters, conflict, and resolution. Having all three will result in content that answers a majority of the questions of your audience as well as will give your readers a sense of satisfaction.
Characters
For every content you are making, there should always be characters. Who the target audience are, the people you are talking about, and to whom the content is likely to help. Your characters can be yourself as you write in the first person point of view. This gives a confessional type of content and shares your experience with your readers.
Alternatively, you have the second person point of view wherein you are speaking to your audience. And for the third person point of view, this is more of what “he said” or “she said”, narrating what others have experienced just like a case study.
Knowing the characters in your content is important. Without them, you are unable to create specific content that will address specific concerns since your characters are a reflection of your buyer personas,
Conflict
Remember that what hooks your audience to your content is the capacity to learn. This makes it essential that a conflict should be integrated to whatever you are making. What are the problems? What are the challenges and hurdles that the content aims to solve?
The conflict is what creates a connection between the content and the reader. The more they relate to the conflict, the more they find themselves speaking to the content and creating an emotional connection.
Without conflict, there is no value to your content. You are not addressing any problems which means that it is not a necessity for any person to consume. Going back to the basics of content marketing, this is not just about creating content, but providing one that has value and of significant importance to an audience.
Resolution
Every good story ends with a resolution. A proper ending. How is the conflict resolved? This is the portion where the answers can be found. You can’t create content that mentions the problems of your audience but does not give them a solution to it.
While the conflict is what catches the attention of your audience and hooks them in, the resolution is what ultimately brings them closer to your brand and products. This is where you talk about how you are able to provide a solution to the underlying conflict.
Content Creation Framework for Content Marketing
Now that you have learned the key aspects and ingredients to great marketing content, the next step is to organize and find a systematic way to create one. A content creation framework entails that you list down content ideas, timelines and goals for each one of them, and if you are working with a team, who are the people responsible for each.
Content marketing is not just about creating one great article, it is about consistently providing content and growing the educational value of your brand. You are going to write and create a lot, and in that process, it is so easy to get lost.
Without a proper content framework, you are not able to know which articles go first, which ones are for specific audiences, and so on. It is also easy to get lost which ones you have written and what should come next to consistently hook a lead and then later turn them into a customer.
It is easy to spiral into a confusing abyss and before you know it, you have lost control on the flow of your marketing content. Going back to the basics, content marketing is a strategic distribution of content. It is knowing what and when to deliver something to a person to gain their interest and hook them. This ultimately means that a systematic approach with the help of a content creation framework is an essential aspect in the success of your content marketing strategy.
How To Create a Content Creation Framework for Content Marketing
Having an essential role in your content marketing success, a content creation framework should be made as concisely and accurately as possible. To leave no stone unturned, follow this 5-step method.
Conceptualizing Content
The first part of every content creation framework is coming up with the content that you are going to write. Topics should range from attracting your customer all the way to guiding them to make a purchase. Once you have thought about all the possible content you can write about, you are able to organize them in a systematic manner such as which ones should have priority over the other.
Also, laying out all the topics and content you can think of helps you realize which ones need more attention. Through this, you ensure that you are able to tackle all aspects that your audience are going to need.
Planning A Timeline
Knowing what to write or create is only half the battle, you are going to want to organize and strategize when to write them. By creating a timeline, you can deliver content in a systematic way. Begin with the articles that aim to help people understand that there is a problem before following it with something that introduces them to the solutions, and so on.
Planning your timeline also involves setting realistic deadlines to have a quantitative basis to the progress of your content marketing strategy. Always create content at a reasonable pace, especially that when things go too slow, it can ultimately lead to a failed campaign.
Creating A Workflow
If you are working with a team, having a workflow is essential. Who works on what. This is important to prevent a mixup. You don’t want people to accidentally work on the same content, nor have no one person doing the other.
A workflow ensures that you are able to stay on deadline by filtering out unexpected situations that could lead to delays. It keeps your personnel on schedule and make them efficient all throughout.
Reviewing and Editing Content
Content marketing pivots on the core concept of quality content, which makes it imperative that everything you create and provide is topnotch. With this being said, it should be reviewed and edited, not just once, but a couple of times.
It is a common instance that an article only appeals to one person, and that is no other than the author himself. They sometimes write based on their own taste and understanding. You wouldn’t want that, it would completely defeat the entire goal and purpose of the content marketing methodology.
Organizing and Storing Content
Content that is created is not short-lived. As a matter of fact, it could be timeless. It can be repeatedly used and distributed with minor revisions here and there. Therefore, you must have a system of organizing and storing content for future purposes.
Don’t reverse your progress. Prevent your business from going back to where it started just because you have to create new content for your customers. Minimize unnecessary costs and maintain efficiency throughout your entire content marketing campaign,
What is Long-Term Content Planning for Content Marketing?
It is common for businesses to set short-term goals. They want fast customers and immediate progress, and while this may be a positive outlook, consistency and quality is usually the question with these strategies.
When making your content marketing campaign always put priority on consistency. A long-term yet consistent strategy will always outweigh short-term efforts. By doing this, you are gaining quality attention from your audience which is going to have a much more significant and long lasting impact.
The concept of long-term content planning is building the interest of your audience through gradual content progression. You start with what will spark their interest, then followed by making them realize their problem, and so on. Instead of lasting for weeks, long-term content planning spans through more than a month.
It may take some time but genuine interest from your audience is going to have a much deeper impact on your brand. This results in loyalty and continued interest. Their attention does not end after making a purchase, but will come back for more in the future.
Improving Content Marketing Through Content Gap Analysis
If you are wondering what content gap analysis is, it is simply analyzing an existing content and finding what’s wrong with it for you to improve on. This could mean that you are improving your old content, or you are finding flaws from one that is written by someone else so that you can provide something original and much better into the market.
When looking at pre-existing content, there are always avenues to improve on. It can be written as perfectly as possible by the author and it can still further be revised. Remember that there is no perfect content, so you should never aim for one. Instead, learn to provide what your audience needs and wants. An article may not be generally perfect, but for the right people, it is everything they are going to need.
Content gap analysis starts with what’s lacking with the existing content. What is missing, incomplete, and in certain situations, what is wrong. That is the core and most fundamental assessment. However, you can extend beyond that.
You can take a look at its SEO ranking and how it stacks up, and learn how it could rank better. Gap analysis is not just about improving the content quality, but improving the content overall, allowing you to appeal to a wider audience and further make your content marketing strategy effective.
Structuring Your Content Marketing Blog Posts
Planning your content is half the battle. What you need to do now is to actually create it. Blog posts are going to be the easiest of them, but yet, there are a lot of things to keep in mind and to practice
Good blog post practices ensure that all your efforts in planning and developing your content doesn’t go to waste. Most articles have the quality, but because of how they are written, their audience don’t end up valuing the content. This is something that happens quite too often. Blog posts that are too lengthy, inconcise, far from the title, and so much more.
When creating your blog post, you have the introduction, body, and conclusion. The three most basic parts of any article, yet easily forgotten or disregarded. To gain the attention of your audience, the introduction should be informative yet brief. Don’t put that to waste by making the body scannable and easily understandable through subheadings. Then lastly, give your audience closure and peace of mind through a concise conclusion.
To further improve the effectiveness of your blog post, there are three general structures you can practice. In each of them, the idea is simple: keeping it concise, straight to the point, and scannable.
The List Post
The most common. You can find them in almost every blog and for good reasons. List posts are basically as straight to the point you can get. You make a list of the points you want to introduce and talk about, and that is it. An example title would be “10 Most Useful Applications of QR Codes”.
It is straightforward making it appealing for people who don’t necessarily have all the attention to read through a long article. It gives users the luxury to skim through and learn about the points which they are interested about.
Not only is it convenient and attractive to the reader, but for the writer as well. List posts are relatively easy to write. You don’t have to be a 5-star writer to create one. It only takes a little bit of research and your basic grasp of paragraph writing.
The Review or Recommendation Post
If what you are trying to say is not something that can be elaborated by specific points, you are going to write the review or recommendation post. Describe a certain product or service the way you see fit. Talk about features, things you liked, your complaints, and so much more.
This type of blog post allows for more creative freedom and content. As opposed to the list, you don’t have to stay in line with a certain topic or concentrate on only the positive or the negative side.
The most essential thing to remember is to keep subheadings and make everything concise. Most writers lose sight of the essence of why they are creating their content. They have so much to write that they don’t realize that they have created quite a long blog post that is already no longer appealing to an audience.
The How-To Post
Don’t forget about the How-to post, the most applicable structure if you want to give your audience a step-by-step guide. It is straight to the point and ensures that only the most important aspects of the teaching process are written, keeping your audience interested until the end.
Just like the list post, people have the luxury of getting a grasp of the content just by skimming through it. This makes it convenient for people with short attention spans or those ones who just want to review their knowledge about a certain process. It is so convenient that you end up appealing to a wide audience which is going to be the goal of your content in your content marketing strategy.
Content Marketing Organic Promotions
It is said that the success of your content doesn’t revolve around its quality, but more on how it is promoted. Something average, or even mediocre, can reach a much wider audience compared to one that has been heavily researched. The reason being, your content is only as good as how you can put it in front of an audience. With that being said, promoting it is as important. Here are just some organic ways how to.
SEO
To reach a much wider audience, your content should come up in search engines and they should rank high as well. This is where people are going to look for content so this will bring a much higher influx of traffic.
Search engine optimization can be done in different ways, depending on the search engine in question. Also, Google updates the algorithm it uses to rank its results, this means that strategies today may not function tomorrow.
It is a constant process of learning and adapting, and in most cases, you are going to want somebody who has the skills for it. It is going to be an investment, but definitely worth it as SEO can bring in more traffic relative to other organic ways.
Email
Put in a little bit more effort and market your content by personally emailing your audience. The challenge here is gaining email contacts, but creating an email list is something that is acquired through different initiatives as your business progresses.
When doing email promotions, segment your audience. Learn which ones are bound to receive certain types of content to make it effective. Don’t overcompensate or mass distribute because you might end up becoming annoying instead of being helpful.
Emails are a great way to connect with your audience. It may be a little bit intrusive, but remember, the reason why you have their emails is because they somehow came to your business. This means that they have shown interest and that feeding them content is more of doing them a favor.
Social Media
With almost everybody having a social media account of some sort, it is important to promote your content in the social media pages of your business. The best part about this is that social media websites are designed to connect one person to another which creates a huge avenue of having your content being shared and reach a much wider audience.
Live Events and Webinars
Live events and webinars are strong avenues to promote your content. The question is, why? This is a place where people who have an interest for your business have gathered together. They have spent the time to get involved in your online event, which means that they are going to be interested in whatever else you have to give.
Podcasts
If you want to give more personality to your content, podcasts is the way to go. The main concept of podcasts is people talking about a certain topic. This makes it a great avenue to convert your written content into an interactive audio where people exchange ideas. You can then link your blog post for people who want to read instead.
Influencer Marketing
The dawn of social media has brought forth a new type of celebrity and they are the so-called influencers. Depending on the persona, they have their own specific fanbase and audience. You might want to capitalize on these people by associating your content with them. Just remember to search for an influencer who has a fanbase related to what you have to offer.
Word of Mouth
What may be the best form to spread the footprint of your content is through word of mouth. Create amazing blog posts that people are going to want to talk about. The more conversations that spark from it, the more people it reaches.
Word of mouth isn’t limited to people talking personally and physically. It can be through sharing in social media. With this being said, urge your audience to start conversations in whatever platform they prefer.
Content Syndication
Don’t limit yourself from publishing your content on your website. Remember, the more places you put it in, the more people it reaches. So, publish your blog posts on different websites that you can think of that allow for guest posting. Through this, you maximize the value of your content.
Content Repurposing
Your blog post might be great, but reading isn’t going to be everybody’s cup of tea. There are going to be ones that are going to appreciate something more visual. To get the best out of what you have researched and made, make it a habit to transform it into different materials to appeal to different audiences. That blog post about the benefits of a certain product, turn that into an infographic, video, or audio book.
Supplementing Content Marketing with Paid Marketing
If you have the money and want to give your content the little kick it needs to hastily reach a much wider audience, you can always invest in paid marketing strategies. The key here is to only acquire ones that are not intrusive to your audience. Here are some of your choices.
Google Ads
When you pay Google to display your blog post, what they do is put it on the first page of the search results. It’s like SEO but with immediate results. This is great because you are not forcing your content to your audience since they are already in the market for it. What you have to offer is simply given a front seat and on a silver platter.
With search engines being the primary source of content by a lot of people, it makes so much sense to put your blog post on the first page to easily be in front of a massive audience.
Social Media Ads
Another place where you can find your content being in front of a wide audience is social media, so it is logical to invest in ads on them as well. Just like Google Ads, they are not intrusive to the activities of your audience. They simply appear on the side, leaving it to the people to click on them.
The best thing about social media ads such as Facebook is that they integrate effective algorithms that ensure your content only appears to those who are likely to have interest in them. This ensures that you are not spending your marketing funds on people who are not looking for what you have to offer.
Paid Influencer Marketing
While influencers don’t have as much as a wider audience as paid ads, they do have a much more effective crowd. The fanbase of influencers are active people which means that when the influencer endorses something, it is likely going to have much bigger penetration to the receiving audience.
Measuring and Analyzing Content Marketing Success
It is important to be able to measure the progress and success rate of your content marketing strategy because this will ultimately tell you what to do next. This will allow you to see what needs improvement and the aspects that should be just maintained.
Measuring and analyzing can be approached in different ways, but here are the three core things that you should be tracking. These will give you a general idea on the effects of your content marketing campaign.
Traffic
Every website is going to allow you to keep track on your number of visitors. The more visits, the higher the likelihood of a person to find what they need and make a purchase, which is ultimately the goal of your campaign. Traffic reflects the success of your promotion.
This is one of the easiest things you can keep an eye on. To make things better, most platforms allow for a more comprehensive view of this type of data, making you see the rate of growth throughout a preferred time frame and so much more.
Engagement
While traffic allows you to see the number of people visiting your website, engagement is what gives you a better image of how your content is penetrating your visitors. Are they sharing your blog posts? Is it receiving likes and comments?
People who engage in your content are the ones that see value in it. This means that you are doing something right with your blog posts. You might be creating quality content, providing the right topics, and so much more. If you are on the other end of the spectrum with minimal to no engagement, then you know that your content is not impacting your audience. Engagement ultimately reflects the success of your content.
Lead Generation
As specified earlier, the most basic goal of content marketing is lead generation. You may be having growth in traffic and a lot of engagement, but when you are not generating leads, it means that you are doing something wrong. People may just be considering your website as a source of quality reference, but not seeing value in your brand and products.
Monitoring lead generation is through form completions, downloads, email subscriptions, or blog subscriptions. These will reflect how a person wants to stay connected with your brand and that they are interested with the things that you are offering. Once a visitor has given you their email, then you have a tight grip on their attention. The number of leads you make is a reflection on the overall success of your content marketing campaign.
In Conclusion
There are definitely quite a lot of things to remember and practice with content marketing, but it is going to be a worthwhile investment. It creates not just customers, but quality ones along with a strong and active audience who will spread the word about your business. Before you know it, you have effortlessly increased the footprint of your brand name. It is only the beginning that is hard, what follows is consistent and growing success.
