3 Ways to Take Your Content Marketing to the Next Level

Ty Fischer
Jul 28, 2017 · 5 min read

Every business today needs to be content marketing. Regardless if it’s written, photo, video, or audio form, every company will benefit by creating and distributing information. But many marketers and business owners don’t know where to start. In this article, we give you three tips that will take your content marketing to the next level.

1. Distribute content that calls on the audience to interact with you

People today want to be engaged, not advertised to. A great way to do this is to create a piece of content and then post it on social media as an interactive poll, contest, or giveaway.

For instance, if you’re a realtor and had a home listing with a great backyard pool and BBQ, you might post a drone tour of the backyard on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with the question ‘what’s the first thing you would do if this was your backyard?’

A) Jump in! B) Grill C) Inflate the flamingo floatie D) Call up all my friends — pool party!

Your audience now has a reason to respond and spend more time looking at your post. All the liking, commenting, and sharing will in turn expand your post’s reach to other networks, grabbing the attention of more potential buyers. Your question might also get people who weren’t planning to buy a home thinking about how nice it would be to have their own place. By opting for engagement instead of advertisement, you’ll increase the reach and lead generation capabilities of your posts significantly.

Another useful tactic to engage your audience is to have a social media contest and giveaway. Everybody loves free things! An example might be a cosmetics company who posts a photo of their eyeliner with the caption: “FRIDAY GIVEAWAY — BEST ANSWER WINS A FREE EYELINER… When you were growing up, what was your favorite cosmetics product to experiment with and why?”

As the comments come flying in, respond in an engaging and relevant manner. People on social media love when companies talk back to them and are relatable. View the profile of each person who comments to learn something about them, then comment back to each with something fun and relevant to their comment or social pages. Taking the time to do this will often convert someone just passing by into paying customers.

2. Document, don’t create. People love reality!

America is obsessed with reality TV because it offers a window into someone else’s life and people like to relate to others. People want to see real life, and in the world of content that means real insight into your company or you as a person. Social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk suggests all brands would benefit by documenting their journey or offering instead of creating it; a strategy we can personally attest to.

At TF West, we made a video where we interviewed all employees and asked them what their favorite things to do in the summer were. This two-minute video where we talked about barbeques, the beach, and spending time with family and friends quickly became our most popular video yet. Why? Because it brought the audience inside our company and gave them reason to relate. In today’s world, people want your company to speak directly to them to form a relationship built on transparency and context.

If you’re the owner of a skin spa, record a video showing a skin issue you’re having and then document the sequence of treatments to fix it. Anyone in the audience who has the same issue will sit back and think, “even the owner of a skin spa has a few skin blemishes just like me… but wow did that treatment fix them! I’m in.” There’s a good chance that many watching that video will now become paying customers; all because you used a real example that people can relate to.

3. Bring value to your audience

This begins by understanding who your audience is and what you can do to help them. Whether it’s a blog post, social media content or video, the message within needs to deliver some sort of value to the people in the audience. The key here is to not be afraid of giving too much. We live in a world of instant (oftentimes free!) information and gratification, so if you’re only asking for something and not giving, people will move on from your content.

If you’re a lawyer, try giving some free legal advice. Perhaps you’re an accident attorney; you could create an infographic cheat sheet and a video of ‘The 3 most important things to remember at the scene of an accident’. These tips may help someone navigate a small incident where they don’t need legal representation — a win for them. Now, the moment they need legal counsel for a larger matter, you better believe you’ll be the first person they call.

If you’re a marketing company who works with small businesses, give away some of the strategy and tactics you do for clients. A business owner that found your advice helpful, even if they cannot afford your service today, will always remember what you did for them. When the time comes and they’re ready and able to work with a pro, you’ll have already secured the contract.

A common mistake we see is companies creating content that is just a sales pitch disguised as something of value. While it can be tempting to turn your content into live pitches, the results will never measure up to a content campaign where the value given far exceeds what you ask for. With each piece of content created, be sure to step back and ask yourself if what you’re about to publish will bring value to the audience.

RECAP

My final and biggest piece of advice to all business owners or marketers looking to dive into content marketing is to not overthink it! Paralysis by analysis is the biggest barrier to successful marketing. Keep the following tips in mind as a guide, then take action!

  1. Put out content that calls on the audience to engage
  2. Document real life instead of creating
  3. Bring value to your audience

Thanks for reading! I hope this article brought value to you. If it did, be sure to hit the heart button so others can see it!

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade