THE DNA OF SUCCESSFUL CONTENT MARKETING: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Yes, the Web is cacophonous. Which is why it’s essential to stand out.

Fortunately, there’s a more effective way than WRITING IN CAPITAL LETTERS to find prospects and convert them into paying customers.

Your goal: an audience that will associate your brand with quality and reliability.

To achieve this, it is essential to publish relevant and educational content on the right platforms, to capture the attention of your target audience with original content: articles, podcasts, videos, illustrations, animations, etc.

Still trying to figure out where to begin? To help you, we’ve put together the ultimate guide to content marketing. Let’s start by defining what it is. What really is behind content marketing?

THE DNA OF SUCCESSFUL CONTENT MARKETING: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Yes, the Web is cacophonous. Which is why it’s essential to stand out.

Fortunately, there’s a more effective way than WRITING IN CAPITAL LETTERS to find prospects and convert them into paying customers.

Your goal: an audience that will associate your brand with quality and reliability.

To achieve this, it is essential to publish relevant and educational content on the right platforms, to capture the attention of your target audience with original content: articles, podcasts, videos, illustrations, animations, etc.

Still trying to figure out where to begin? To help you, we’ve put together the ultimate guide to content marketing. Let’s start by defining what it is. What really is behind content marketing?

 What is content marketing

To make it simple, content marketing consists of creating, publishing and distributing content for a targeted audience. Contrary to what is often said, it is part of Inbound Marketing, but not synonymous with it.

Content is the common ground between your targets’ interests and your brand’s identity. It can be educational or entertaining, but either way, it’s about meeting the needs of an audience. So, to create the right format AND deliver it to the right place (at the right time), you’ll need to determine your ideal customer profile beforehand. In B2B, this often means identifying the right industries, the size of the companies, and ultimately, the key stakeholders, based on their role in the target organizations.

Why do content marketing?

Engaging, relevant and valuable content builds loyalty, and ultimately helps you acquire customers at a lower cost. Content marketing powers all businesses in all fields.

Don’t think your business is too traditional to start creating Web content. It’s often said that there’s no such thing as an industry that’s too dull for content marketing! It’s all about knowing your prospects, asking the right questions, and defining your company’s brand guidelines. Another big plus is if you take care of the presentation!

How to make a content strategy

There’s no doubt that, to make a content strategy that sticks, you’ll first need to define your goals. Do you want to generate more quality traffic to your website and build a loyal audience? Are you aiming for top positions on search engine results pages? Is your goal to reposition your brand to increase awareness of your expertise, or gain notoriety? No matter your goal, the steps to follow are the same. Let’s get started on the content plan!

C’est indéniable, pour faire une stratégie de contenu qui se tient, vous devrez d’abord définir vos objectifs. Désirez-vous générer un trafic de meilleure qualité sur votre site Web et une audience fidèle? Visez-vous des positions avantageuses sur les pages de résultats des moteurs de recherche? Votre but est-il de repositionner votre marque afin de mieux faire connaître votre expertise ou tout simplement de gagner en notoriété? Peu importe le dessein que vous poursuivez, les étapes à suivre sont les mêmes. En avant pour le plan de contenu!

Why spend time making a content plan?

Why spend time making a content plan?

Productivity, consistency, constancy. These are just a few reasons why you should make a content plan. A calendar is a vital asset to make planning, visualizing, and tracking your strategy easy.

A content plan allows you to reduce costs, errors and time spent on execution. For example, the chances of forgetting to publish or producing at the last minute are reduced.

In the first steps, establish the amount of content to create. One, five, ten times a week? Remember that quality is more important than quantity! Take some time to look at what your competitors are doing, and what your digital market research shows.

In your plan, you should include the following sections:

  • Ideas, themes, concepts and formats
  • Angles and messages
  • Task allocation
  • Delivery platform
  • Timeline

Tips: Completing each task should not take more than a week. If it does, break it down into subtasks to reduce the time frame. Then, add important dates and events to your calendar and those of your stakeholders so you remember them. The use of a collaborative tool is strongly suggested.

What are the types of marketing content?

What are the types of marketing content?

There are many types of marketing content. But first, you need to ask yourself what types of content serve your organization best, and what content engages your audience. Asking yourself these questions will help you determine the proper format to propagate your content.

  • Blog post
  • Podcast
  • Video
  • Webinar
  • Interview
  • Press Release
  • Infographic
  • Ebook
  • White paper
  • Illustration
  • Etc.

To choose, look at your available resources and do some testing. Does your audience engage with your content more if presented as a video, photo or article? Look to your competitors for inspiration. You’ll find answers by looking at your engagement statistics. Think about these popular content formats:

Finally, determine which platform is the best vehicle for your content pieces. Ebooks share well in newsletters, while videos and illustrations travel best on social networks.

There are many types of marketing content. But first, you need to ask yourself what types of content serve your organization best, and what content engages your audience. Asking yourself these questions will help you determine the proper format to propagate your content.

To choose, look at your available resources and do some testing. Does your audience engage with your content more if presented as a video, photo or article? Look to your competitors for inspiration. You’ll find answers by looking at your engagement statistics. Think about these popular content formats:

  • Blog post
  • Podcast
  • Video
  • Webinar
  • Interview
  • Press Release
  • Infographic
  • Ebook
  • White paper
  • Illustration
  • Etc.

Finally, determine which platform is the best vehicle for your content pieces. Ebooks share well in newsletters, while videos and illustrations travel best on social networks.

How to do content creation

How to do content creation

Several steps are necessary to create content that engages your target audience. We have selected the most important ones.

Several steps are necessary to create content that engages your target audience. We have selected the most important ones.

  • Build a picture of your ideal customer with personas;
  • Do research to find topics that are relevant to your audience;
  • Set your brand tone;
  • Learn how to write effectively for the Web;
  • Incorporate SEO essentials (to keep Google happy!).
  • Build a picture of your ideal customer with personas;
  • Do research to find topics that are relevant to your audience;
  • Set your brand tone;
  • Learn how to write effectively for the Web;
  • Incorporate SEO essentials (to keep Google happy!).
  • Build a picture of your ideal customer with personas;
  • Do research to find topics that are relevant to your audience;
  • Set your brand tone;
  • Learn how to write effectively for the Web;
  • Incorporate SEO essentials (to keep Google happy!).

Establish a persona

To establish a persona, you must use your imagination and base yourself on your market research. The principle is simple: draw a portrait of an ideal (fictional) customer. If you offer a wide range of products or services to a larger target, don’t hesitate to create a persona for each of your potential customers.

Since your goal is to define your dream customer, you need to be specific. Find a photo on a royalty-free image site like Unsplash and a name for your persona. Suddenly, it will be more real! Next, you will need to specify this:

  • Demographics and generalities: age, family status, jobs, region, education, background, technological skills, web platforms used, etc.
  • Psychography: goals, irritants, behaviour, opinions, etc.
  • Quote: something your target customer would say when they visit your website.

Once the portrait is completed, make your decisions based on this persona. When you write your texts or prepare your webinars, this is the person you are addressing.

Find content subjects

Communicate with your audience: yes!

Talk about anything: no!

Think about what would be of interest to your prospects and customers. Is it talking about your achievements, field trends, discoveries, and values? A good starting point is to identify five themes that can be addressed from several angles and integrate your personality (avoid generic content and put your touch!). Your content will be coherent and will help your audience identify with it.

Here are some tips to help you find the right content topics:

  • Stay on top of the leaders in your industry;
  • Analyze the engagement rates of your existing content;
  • Visit blogs and forums in your industry to find the most talked-about topics;
  • Get inspiration from frequently asked questions in search engines;
  • The golden rule: don’t cover more than one topic at a time. One content, one topic!

The golden rule: don’t cover more than one topic at a time. One content, one topic!

Establish the tone

The tone of your communications should be unique to your company. It reveals your personality (the voice of your organization!), opinions, and points of view. Its effect on the audience is comparable to non-verbal language in a conversation.

There are several types of tones that you probably know: accessible, friendly, and serious. But don’t get hung up on labels. Instead, choose three or four attributes of your brand. For example, your voice is positive, passionate, expert and educational. When the time comes to validate content, go back to these attributes and check that they are conveyed through your tone. Is your message friendly? Is it sustained enough? Does it teach something?

If so, you’re on the right track. The important thing is that everyone on your team respects your tone of voice, so that communications are consistent.

How to write an effective web article

Write in order of importance. When writing for Web purposes, remember that most people need more reading time. They want the information to come to them. A few techniques are effective in achieving this goal:

  • Do your research and write an outline;
  • Put important information at the beginning of a paragraph or sentence;
  • Write short, uncomplicated sentences (one sentence, one idea);
  • Bold keywords;
  • Separate your content with headings;
  • Use bulleted lists (like this one!);
  • Use visual aids.

Establish a persona

To establish a persona, you must use your imagination and base yourself on your market research. The principle is simple: draw a portrait of an ideal (fictional) customer. If you offer a wide range of products or services to a larger target, don’t hesitate to create a persona for each of your potential customers.

Since your goal is to define your dream customer, you need to be specific. Find a photo on a royalty-free image site like Unsplash and a name for your persona. Suddenly, it will be more real! Next, you will need to specify this:

  • Demographics and generalities: age, family status, jobs, region, education, background, technological skills, web platforms used, etc.
  • Psychography: goals, irritants, behaviour, opinions, etc.
  • Quote: something your target customer would say when they visit your website.

Once the portrait is completed, make your decisions based on this persona. When you write your texts or prepare your webinars, this is the person you are addressing.

Find content subjects

Communicate with your audience: yes!

Talk about anything: no!

Think about what would be of interest to your prospects and customers. Is it talking about your achievements, field trends, discoveries, and values? A good starting point is to identify five themes that can be addressed from several angles and integrate your personality (avoid generic content and put your touch!). Your content will be coherent and will help your audience identify with it.

Here are some tips to help you find the right content topics:

  • Stay on top of the leaders in your industry;
  • Analyze the engagement rates of your existing content;
  • Visit blogs and forums in your industry to find the most talked-about topics;
  • Get inspiration from frequently asked questions in search engines;
  • The golden rule: don’t cover more than one topic at a time. One content, one topic!

The golden rule: don’t cover more than one topic at a time. One content, one topic!

Establish the tone

The tone of your communications should be unique to your company. It reveals your personality (the voice of your organization!), opinions, and points of view. Its effect on the audience is comparable to non-verbal language in a conversation.

There are several types of tones that you probably know: accessible, friendly, and serious. But don’t get hung up on labels. Instead, choose three or four attributes of your brand. For example, your voice is positive, passionate, expert and educational. When the time comes to validate content, go back to these attributes and check that they are conveyed through your tone. Is your message friendly? Is it sustained enough? Does it teach something?

If so, you’re on the right track. The important thing is that everyone on your team respects your tone of voice, so that communications are consistent.

How to write an effective web article

Write in order of importance. When writing for Web purposes, remember that most people need more reading time. They want the information to come to them. A few techniques are effective in achieving this goal:

  • Do your research and write an outline;
  • Put important information at the beginning of a paragraph or sentence;
  • Write short, uncomplicated sentences (one sentence, one idea);
  • Bold keywords;
  • Separate your content with headings;
  • Use bulleted lists (like this one!);
  • Use visual aids.

How to integrate the essential elements of SEO to please Google

Certain elements can affect your Google ranking if you need to become more familiar with search engine optimization or SEO. These elements allow the search engine to find your article better, understand it, and designate it as relevant to its users.

For your target audience to find your blog, you want to please the search engine. But how do you do that? Here are some tips.

Focus on the right keywords, but specific ones.

The foundation of an SEO strategy is the use of the right keyword. A “keyword” can be a single word or a complete sentence (e.g. “What is a good keyword”). It must be related to your business, relevant to your prospects, accurate, and fairly searched on the Web.

Use headings and define all title tags.

Adding headings to your text is crucial for several reasons. First, users can hover over it and quickly locate the information they seek. In addition, reading will be more ergonomic. Lastly, from an SEO point of view, you use headings to insert the keywords you have carefully searched for. This allows Google to categorize and analyze your text to see if it meets users’ search terms.
When the title tags (H1, H2, H3…) are used, the search engine identifies these as essential keywords.

  • <H1> : Title
  • <H2> : Intertitles
  • <H3> : Additional information
  • <H4> to <H6> : In-depth information

Have an effective internal link strategy

Internal linking means weaving links between the different pages of a website, a practice to adopt for three reasons: to help Google understand the structure of the website, to share the awareness of the pages between them and to improve the user experience. Two kinds of links participate in this mesh: internal navigation links and internal contextual links.

The first is implemented in the website’s structure and serves to orient the user. They are usually located in the main menu, at the bottom of the page, or in the sidebars.

The second is inserted in the text. It can refer to other articles, additional information, or any other content that may interest the user.

Focus on the right keywords, but specific ones.

The foundation of an SEO strategy is the use of the right keyword. A “keyword” can be a single word or a complete sentence (e.g. “What is a good keyword”). It must be related to your business, relevant to your prospects, accurate, and fairly searched on the Web.

Use headings and define all title tags.

Adding headings to your text is crucial for several reasons. First, users can hover over it and quickly locate the information they seek. In addition, reading will be more ergonomic. Lastly, from an SEO point of view, you use headings to insert the keywords you have carefully searched for. This allows Google to categorize and analyze your text to see if it meets users’ search terms.
When the title tags (H1, H2, H3…) are used, the search engine identifies these as essential keywords.

  • <H1> : Title
  • <H2> : Intertitles
  • <H3> : Additional information
  • <H4> to <H6> : In-depth information

Have an effective internal link strategy

Internal linking means weaving links between the different pages of a website, a practice to adopt for three reasons: to help Google understand the structure of the website, to share the awareness of the pages between them and to improve the user experience. Two kinds of links participate in this mesh: internal navigation links and internal contextual links.

The first is implemented in the website’s structure and serves to orient the user. They are usually located in the main menu, at the bottom of the page, or in the sidebars.

The second is inserted in the text. It can refer to other articles, additional information, or any other content that may interest the user.

Pitfalls to avoid when writing content

When writing for the Internet, it is essential to consider the user experience and, therefore, the presentation. Some pitfalls to avoid in content writing are related to the visual aspect.

Here are three of them:

Pitfalls to avoid when writing content

When writing for the Internet, it is essential to consider the user experience and, therefore, the presentation. Some pitfalls to avoid in content writing are related to the visual aspect.

Here are three of them:

1. Paragraphs that are too long:

The eye finds it more difficult to read on a screen. It is preferable to limit paragraphs to a maximum of five lines.

2. Wacky fonts:

Indeed, there could be more exciting fonts than Arial or Verdana. However, it is crucial to consider that some fonts are incompatible with all interfaces. Integrate them with images instead.

3. Overuse of bold:

The opposite effect occurs by abusing this font style (or face) to highlight keywords in the article. It makes it increasingly difficult to read; the reader is distracted.

What are the best tools for content marketing

To give you a hand with your natural referencing, we have selected some practical tools. These tools allow you to find topic ideas, perform keyword research and analysis, and help design and structure an article.

Topic ideas:

  • Answer the Public and
  • Also Asked

The former offers a free version and a PRO version. In the free version, you can choose the language and the region. Enter a keyword, and the software will present you with a report of frequently asked questions from different places on the Web.

The second one works similarly, but only returns frequently asked questions in Google. This software is not free, but it is possible to visit the Google results pages to see a few questions in the “People Also Asked” section.

Keyword research and analysis:

  • Google Keyword Planner and
  • Ahrefs

The first one is free if the user has a Google Ads account. These tools allow you to rank keyword suggestions by monthly search volume, and their competition on the Web.

Article structure:

  • Page Optimizer Pro and
  • Cora.

An excellent software that allows you to optimize blog posts for Google. Word count, amount of <h2> and <h3>, contextual words to include and more.

Bonus:
If you’re looking for one tool to accomplish all of these tasks and have a budget to invest in, SEMRush is your best all-in-one option.

Are you looking for a content marketing agency?

You may need coaching or a turnkey business solution for your content marketing. Bang Marketing is here for you! Our agency, located in Montreal, specializes in B2B marketing. We offer a full range of services, all under one roof.

Contact our team to learn more