6 Top Tools to Transform Your Content Marketing in 2018
Author: Thomas Smale / Source: Entrepreneur
Last year pretty much blew by. But, in 2018, you have an opportunity to start fresh, using new marketing strategies and proven tactical tools. What worked in 2017? What didn’t? What must be changed to increase traffic, leads, revenue and, of course, value?
Related: 4 Trends That Will Shape (or Continue to Shape) Content Marketing in 2018
With updates in Facebook’s and Google’s algorithms in 2017, content marketing has changed considerably. For instance, it’s become harder to have content with clickbait titles show up on Google searches and Facebook feeds.
This means that your content marketing, at both the strategic and execution levels, must adapt to those changes. Here are some ideas for how to do that:
1. Strategy
On a strategic level, Joe Lazauskas of Contently predicts three major trends:
The first is increased engagement with viewers, using content strategies that are in alignment with organizational needs and audience acceptance. This would require a content audit, a competitive analysis and an activation strategy to upport the underlying strategies.
Second is originality in content strategies, which is key for standing out among the tons of content available. This doesn’t mean that once a topic has already been covered, it’s not a good idea to create and publish your own take on the issue. The key is to focus on your brand’s uniqueness.
Third is a “quality-over-quantity” feel, which should come naturally. You don’t need to publish 100 blog contents per day, for example, unless you’re an online publisher like BuzzFeed. Carefully develop breakthrough pieces of content, not just mediocre ones.
2. Execution
On an execution level, using the right tools could make a huge difference in your marketing efforts. When selecting those tools, keep in mind that each will ideally come with detailed analytics using specific metrics.
With the six tools discussed below, you can plan, design, create, schedule, publish, reuse, innovate and track your content so no one piece of it goes unpublished and each is primed to bring new leads and, eventually, revenue.
1. Buffer is the granddaddy of social media schedulers. You can connect all your social accounts (Twitter, Facebook Profile/Page/Group, LinkedIn Profile/Page, Google+ Profile/Page, Pinterest, and Instagram). Here, Buffer’s central hX works best and ensures ROI. Its Canva-like add-on image-editing app, Pablo, is a useful and practical tool.
2. Almighty.Press is a disruptive content-discovery tool that allows you to identify pre-viral contents. You can then track and be notified about keywords of your choice, and curate and schedule them for publication before similar contents saturate the web. This intuitive platform connects users with real-time news feeds from reputable content providers around the world.
Using Google Trends and BuzzSumo for finding viral content is a thing of the past, because they measure already viral contents. Almighty.Press’s algorithms, called “Almighty Force,” track, locate and curate pre-viral contents. “Pre-viral” means content that is in the process of becoming viral. It’s like an “early warning” of viral content, and is an incredibly useful tool for marketers.
3. GrooveJar. Many…
