Modern marketers understand full well that they need a successful content marketing strategy for online lead generation.
In the days before there were millions of blogs on the internet, it may have been enough simply to have a blog and update it regularly. Today, at least 40 percent of businesses have their own blog. Beyond that, there are many more mediums to choose from — not just video, but live video, not to mention multiple photography-heavy sites like Pinterest and Instagram.
To put it bluntly: in this competitive environment, it’s not enough to create great content; you have to know how to promote that content as well. Here are a few strategies our consultants may recommend for you, depending on your business goals, industry and target market.
Influencer Marketing
The nineties’ term for influencer marketing was “cross-promotional marketing,” but it’s all the same. The basic idea is that two entities trade exposure to their contact lists for mutual benefit. For instance, a sports drink maker and sports apparel company may be reaching out to the same demographic, but have different contact lists. Celebrities have long endorsed products in exchange for money, free goods, publicity, or status. These days, the definition of “celebrity” varies widely, but it’s estimated that 3 percent of participants in an online conversation drives 90 percent of a campaign’s overall impact.
Digital Advertising
Would Google make $44.46 billion on search ads if they didn’t work? Google Search Console or HitTail will help you determine which keywords people are using to find your website. You can then incorporate these words into a paid search campaign and use AdWords to figure out the best bid based on traffic volume per keyword. Once you set up your campaigns, internet users who enter one of your defined keywords into Google will see one of your ads at the top of the page. If that person clicks on the ad, you pay the prearranged bid amount. It’s not the easiest strategy, particularly for startups and rookies, but it can be a great way to build trust and a relatively cost-effective method of achieving prime real estate on SERPs.
Social Media Ad Targeting
Not to be outdone, social networks like Facebook and Twitter are in on the paid advertising trend. These two social media sites, in particular, are believed to account for more than a third of total digital display ad spending by next year. It makes sense, given the popularity of social media channels for link sharing purposes and word of mouth advertising. We recommend using Facebook’s Custom Audience feature to narrow down your target market for your advertising to lower your cost-per-click by 14 percent and cost-per-conversion by 64 percent. It’s also worth your while to use their Lookalike Audience feature to tap a list of in-network users similar to your existing customer list.
Ad Retargeting
Last year, our list of “Top 5 Digital Marketing Trends & Tactics” included ad retargeting — which uses browser cookies to track website visitors and redirect them back to you once they’ve gone. The Online Marketing Institute believes the average person needs between 7 and 13 ad impressions before they make a purchase. Furthermore, only 2 percent of web traffic buys on their first visit, so strategically reaching out to people who have expressed some interest in your site in the past is a winning game plan.
Syndication
Syndication isn’t always easy, but you could win big by getting your content in front of thousands of visitors to high-traffic publications like The Huffington Post, Business Insider and Entrepreneur. In addition to signing up for a premium press release wire service like PRWeb, you can also use platforms like Outbrain or Taboola to push your content via pay-per-click models. Check out this MOZ post to learn more about ROI from content distribution networks.
Call-To-Action Buttons
Snip.ly lets you attach a call-to-action button to every link you share on social media. How cool is that? It’s super easy to get started. Simply login, find a popular piece of content related to your industry, copy the URL into Snip.ly, hit “snip”, choose the “button” action type, enter your social media message, customize the button text, enter the destination URL (your website), and hit “create.” Snip.ly will give you a custom URL to use on your social media posts. Whenever people click your Snip.ly link, they’ll see your message and call-to-action. When they click “read more,” they’ll be taken to your website. As an added bonus, you’ll gain access to analytics data on these interactions.
Weekly Round-Ups
As fellow marketer Robbie Richards points out, weekly link roundups “might be one of the most underrated content promotion strategies on the planet.” This strategy requires you to find roundups with a large readership and tons of social media engagement that will promote your content as some of the week’s best in your particular niche. You may have noticed some of your content get re-tweeted this way, but there are methods of soliciting more of this promotion as well. Check out the Quick Sprout Blog for more guidance on tapping the power of the weekly roundup.
Repurposing Content
Not everyone has the time or desire to digest thousands of words in text format like you, dear reader. Repurposing existing content into alternate formats can help you extend your reach to different audiences, without expending too much additional effort. Video, PDFs, podcasts, infographics, and slideshow presentations all have their own unique promotional channels you can tap. For instance: