After some time, coming up with new content ideas becomes more and more challenging. Especially if you feel like something in your strategy isn’t working. With so many possibilities out there, it’s easy to feel lost. To help you prevent that, we’ve reached out to various experts
and asked them to share their experience and tips for effective content marketing ideas.
Target Long-Tail Keywords
It’s already well known that targeting only long-tail keywords is a mistake. Furthermore, you should never ignore the power and the potential that these search queries can have. Dimitris Tsapis, the Head of Marketing at PlanM8, thinks so too.
“My top technique for lead generation is to use content redistribution in our content marketing efforts. First, create plenty of written content that is targeting long-tail keywords. Then, to increase the value given in the written content, make long-form audiovisual content such as podcast episodes (both audio and video), YouTube videos, IGTV, etc.” explains Dimitris Tsapis.
“Later, you can repurpose the audiovisual content you have created previously for use in social media by just adapting it to match the specific social media platform. This way, prospects can find your content through search, social media, and other platforms where you have posted. Just remember to create content that is relevant and brings real value to others. Some marketers go even further by taking the content and using it to create infographics along with other types of media you can use to expand your audience further.”
Dimitris’ approach is a good example of content recycling. It is a handy technique of reutilizing old pieces of content with relevant updates or presenting them in a different content format. It’s also a great way to increase your chances of showing up first on SERP pages by having something to offer in each major content format, i.e., text, video, image.
Go (Ever)green
Evergreen content pieces in content marketing are like gold mines that keep on giving. Namratha Ambat, a Digital Marketing Executive at GemPool, has witnessed the benefits when she saw the results their annual salary guide brought.
“Through the course of the previous year, we consistently saw that our IT Salary Guide for 2020 kept attracting a significant level of traffic every month,” said Ambat. “Based on that success, we decided to release the new salary survey adjusted for 2021 along with a lead capture form. This way, we were able to deliver a useful piece of content to our audience, and at the same time, capture quality candidates and business development leads.
According to Ambat, the content’s success “delivered close to 200 downloads and quality leads for our company in terms of candidates and decision-makers.”
The Power of Comparison Content
Certain content types are almost guaranteed to attract large traffic, especially consideration-stage content. People always turn to search engines when they can’t decide which option suits them best. Petra Odak, CMO at Better Proposals, says that utilizing this format has turned into an efficacious strategy for increasing exposure for their SaaS offering.
“In our case, the content that brings in the most qualified leads (but not always the most traffic) is the content that compares different SaaS providers” states Petra Odak. “For this industry, customers frequently search for a comparison between two different solutions. For example, someone might google an alternative to another proposal software, and we’ll target this keyword.”
Odak further explains: “We create content that shows why we are better and how we do things differently. These “provider vs. provider” and “provider alternatives” keywords are crucial for any SaaS content marketing strategy. They may not always bring the most traffic compared to some more general topics, but the leads that they bring are more likely to convert into customers.”
It’s also worth mentioning that third-party comparison pieces can be just as effective. You can produce a piece and seek placement in a popular product review site if publishing on your own website might make the article seem biased. The process is similar to guest blogging. Make a list of websites that fit your content and KPI requirements, get in contact with the editors and discuss the terms.
Keep in mind that some websites won’t accept content that you wrote about your offering. Instead, you can sponsor a blog post or a video, that they can themselves or ask them to review your software. The end result of the latter method will look more authentic. Just make sure the reviewers have a positive experience so that the review is positive.
Never Underestimate the Power of Popular Hashtags
You have definitely stumbled upon the universally popular hashtags that often show in Twitter’s trends. Some are so popular they can trend every week. Since these have a general nature, some marketers underestimate their potential. Not Brack Nelson and his marketing team at Incrementors SEO Services,
“Hashtags like #ThrowbackThursday and #FreebieFriday would repeatedly find a place in Twitter’s list of trending hashtags for those days. Tweeting posts using these hashtags allows you to get on top of a broader audience,” states Nelson. “Non-profit organization WATERforLIFE, for example, used the trending hashtag #FirstWorldProblems as an approach to bring awareness to their cause.”
It’s not always obvious how to organically implement these hashtags into your social media marketing, but it’s definitely worth the effort. In some cases, you can also create content that is inspired and directly related to the hashtag. For example, you can create an article that recaps the history of your company in honor of #ThrowbackThursday or #FlashbackFriday.
Users are the New Influencers
Brands generally put all their efforts into targeting decision-level employees when marketing a B2B product or service. Frequently, people who are actually going to use the product sometimes get left out from content marketing strategies. Nathan Sebastian, from GoodFirms, argues that putting as much effort into building strong relationships with users who aren’t necessarily decision-level employees is just as important.
“We are past the whole idea that user-generated content provides social proof. With the boom in the number of influencers in the market, it’s self-evident why,” states Nathan Sebastian. “But if the marketers can recognize the central figures and manage to bring their stories out, the content thus created serves more than just social proof. It engages the stakeholders directly with the product.”
Sebastian continues, “Engaging the central figures within the brand story would keep the product in front. For B2C marketers, it’s rather easy to recognize these central figures – the consumers. But for B2B, these are mostly the ultimate users of the product and not the decision-makers or buyers. This way, you can create a brand of users which inherently creates the demand for the product.”
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Hopefully, the expert advice presented in the article will inspire you to come up with your unique content marketing formula for your brand. And if you ever need more inspiration, feel free to come back to the PMG360 blog.
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