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<\/p>\nWhen you start thinking about your overall digital marketing strategy, one of the key components to nail down is your content production. At this point, it\u2019s been well established that not all forms of content are created equally. While some pieces go viral, others fail to garner any significant traction.<\/p>\n
Because content creation is a time and resource intensive exercise, it\u2019s not worth investing in content that\u2019s not going to take off. Your content should provide reasonable ROI for your business, through better brand recognition and social presence, and an increase in your conversion rates.<\/p>\n
Obviously, everything that you write is not going to be reposted around the web overnight, but there are certain qualities that have been shown to resonate with readers and with Google. By keeping those elements in mind as you craft new content, you put yourself on the right track for a more successful campaign and larger digital strategy.<\/p>\n
So how exactly do you determine what\u2019s going to be a high-quality content piece? We\u2019ve gathered some of the elements that play into a successful\u00a0content marketing strategy\u00a0below:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0<\/b>Topic and Tone<\/b><\/p>\n
When it comes to formulating your content strategy, you need to consider the topics that are going to resonate more powerfully with your readers and your target audiences. Naturally, those are going to be industry insights about your business and any related information that could be valuable to potential customers.<\/p>\n
For B2B businesses, you\u2019re going to want to write content with the decision maker in mind. For example, companies in the tech space should consider writing to a CTO audience, one that doesn\u2019t need the same high level summarization that would be better suited for a consumer facing product.<\/p>\n
In terms of topical relevance, by honing your focus to a narrow field, you\u2019ll build a following of relevant readers that are more likely to convert on your site. This also decreases your dependence on older SEO practices like keyword stuffing that are no longer effective. Your target keywords will appear in the content more naturally, and you\u2019ll have content that people enjoy reading.<\/p>\n
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2.\u00a0<\/b>Popular Types of Content<\/b><\/p>\n
Aside from the topic and tone of your content, the format and structure that you use to organize that information play a huge role in its shareability. Internet readers are inevitable fickle, and you\u2019re only going to hold their attention and interest so long as you provide them something of value, whether that\u2019s entertainment, new information, or advice on topics they can use.<\/p>\n
As such, these tend to be some of the most popular and more shared content forms on the web. According to\u00a0SocialMediaToday<\/a>, the numbers support it:<\/p>\n Entertainment Value<\/b>:<\/p>\n Whether we like to admit it or not, much of our time on the web is spent consuming entertainment materials; watching hours of Netflix and reading BuzzFeed posts. And as you could probably guess, those BuzzFeed-style posts are able to pull in quite a readership, the structure of which you can easily replicate in your content strategy.<\/p>\n Those image-heavy posts are easy to consume, and they regularly see\u00a0100,000 or more shares<\/b>\u00a0from pleased readers. When it comes to social sharing, Facebook posts with images receive twice as many shares as their image-free brethren.<\/p>\n So go ahead, spend some time with the graphics team to tell your story in a visually compelling manner. We guarantee it\u2019ll be worth it when you see the increase in shares.<\/p>\n New Information:<\/b><\/p>\n This might come as a surprise, but quizzes are actually one of the most shared content formats for web content. While you might think quizzes aren\u2019t the most suitable for your business, think again.<\/p>\n Branded quizzes are an excellent way to engage your readership and keep them motivated to read through to the end of your content with the incentive of a score or evaluation at the end of the quiz.<\/p>\n By setting up a simple quiz about their existing provider for whatever you hope to pitch to them, you can bring their attention to features of your competitors that they might be dissatisfied with, and highlight the areas of your business that are a compelling value prop.<\/p>\n Of the most shared articles in 2014, eight out of ten were in a quiz format, with an average rate of\u00a01,900 shares per piece<\/b>. When you see numbers that like, it\u2019s hard to resist the call of the quiz.<\/p>\n Skills-Focused Advice:<\/b><\/p>\n Rounding out the trifecta of shareable content formats is the ever-popular How-To guide. You\u2019re giving people a rundown of how they can proceed with basic functions of their jobs, improve their day-to-day lives, or generally learn about a process that was unfamiliar to them before.<\/p>\n It gives them valuable information, gets them interested in what you have to stay, and keeps them on the page longer, which eventually leads to a higher conversion rate.<\/p>\n The How-To article rakes in an astounding\u00a05,200 shares on average<\/b>, as people recognize the benefits of learning from content they find online. You\u2019re giving them a free resource, and you\u2019re fostering the beginnings of customer loyalty by doing so. It\u2019s a smart way to package your content, and it should be one of the staples of your content creation plan.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0<\/b>How Google Evaluates Content Caliber<\/b><\/p>\n While you should always focus on the needs of your customers and readership when it comes to content creation, your content plays a significant role in your search rankings and how Google evaluates your website.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for new ways to increase your website\u2019s ranking for particular keywords in your vertical, your content strategy can help. Check out some of the factors that Google takes into account to help determine those rankings below:<\/p>\n Long-Form, Streamlined Content<\/b><\/p>\n
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