Content marketing is an evolving genre. Read on to know how you can ensure that your content marketing approach remains relevant in 2019.
The marketing world is undergoing an evolutionary phase. With traditional marketing tactics not delivering the expected results, it’s time to rework your content marketing strategy so that you are not left behind in the race.
In this blog, we are sharing seven top tips that will help you to rework your content marketing tactics towards success in 2019.
1. Focus on the Basics
The first step is to look back at your existing content marketing strategy. You need to find out what worked for you in 2018 and which areas need improvement in 2019.
An in-depth review of your existing strategy will reveal whether it will be relevant for the coming year or you need to rework on some points. Get your team to sit down for this purpose and work it out together. Also, you need to have written documentation of your marketing strategy. If you are missing out on that part, start drafting one at the earliest. This will help in better communication across various teams.
As per the recent report of CMI, not more than 39% of B2B marketers document their content marketing plans. The result is that a major section of the marketers are unable to demonstrate to the rest of the organization how their content marketing plans will bear results.
A simple and effective way to review your content marketing strategy annually is to opt for a documented plan. Just a simple overview of your strategy will also suffice.
2. Pay Attention to Your Distribution Policies
Content distribution plays a key role in the success of your content marketing strategy. Just developing good content isn’t enough. You have to make sure that your content reaches the right audience. In 2019, the onus will be on marketers to find the right distribution channels for this very purpose.
Mark out the best acquisition networks or platforms that enable your data to reach the right audience. These questions will help you in this quest.
- Which acquisition channels are delivering the best results?
- How are your visitors landing at your site?
- Which devices are being used by the audience to consume your content?
- Which is the most effective time to reach out to your audience?
- What style of messaging makes the maximum impact on the audience?
- What is the ideal content distribution frequency?
Having the answers to these questions will enable you to alter your content distribution strategy to meet your audience’s requirements and improve your efficiency.
3. Explore Your Best Performing Channel
Gone are the days when you had to focus on multiple channels. Today’s evolving nature of content marketing demands that you concentrate on your best performing promotions channel and leverage it for better results.
Find out the channels that engage the target audience the most and work your strategy around them. Make sure to use the right channels at the right moments.
You don’t need to follow everyone else when it comes to selecting the best channels. A certain channel may work for everyone else but not for you. You don’t need to be on that just because it’s the most popular channel.
Invest your time and energy on the channel that works best for you.
4. Reach out to a Niche Audience
When it comes to content marketing, quality matters more than quantity. In other words, you need to focus on reaching out to your target audience rather than to as many people as possible.
Instead of trying to attract everyone’s attention, you have to work towards engaging with your target audience in a successful manner.
Your main aim should be a high conversion rate. If that needs you to emphasise on a niche audience, go ahead. After all, a great ROI matters the most, isn’t it?
5. Concentrate on Creating Relevant Content
There was a time when the focus was on creating more and more content. But all that has gone for a toss now. At present, we are reeling under content overload without enough time to lap them up.
So, before you go ahead with your next content creation attempt, outline your objectives for the same.
- Is your content relevant for your niche audience?
- Does it work towards your content marketing objectives?
- Is the content useful for your audience?
A good way to work around this problem is to review your most successful blog posts from 2018 and update them to maintain their relevance for 2019. By doing this, you will be maintaining the good SEO performance of your posts while ensuring that they remain relevant to your audience.
6. Be Open to Experimentation
There’s no doubt that your focus should be on your best-performing channels. But that doesn’t mean you should remain immune to the new and upcoming channels that can be the game changer in content marketing in the future.
Keep aside some time and budget to dabble in new promotion strategies and upcoming channels. Not all of them may bring in the desired results, but some of them may open up new opportunities for you.
Just remember that if a channel can help you reach out to your target audience, it’s worth a shot. So, whether it’s Snapchat, AI, voice technology, or anything else, don’t hesitate to experiment with them. That means that you should be open to learning.
7. Give Priority to Your Audience
One of the best ways of making your content marketing strategy successful for 2019 is to give priority to what your audience wants.
If you detect that your target audience has changed over the last year, you have to rework your content strategy to fit their requirements.
More often than not, content marketers tend to believe that they know what their audience wants. But sometimes, the case may not be so. So, always remain alert about the changing behaviour of your audience and take the necessary steps to deal with such changes effectively, whether it be through new products, new technologies, or even new strategies.
Where to Start From?
The best way forward is to look back to the content marketing tactics you followed in 2018. Review your past campaigns and mark out the strong and weak areas. Concentrate on how you can overcome the weak areas in 2019. Point out your best-performing channels and focus on leveraging them to maximum us and continue to listen to your audience and be open to alter your marketing strategy to accommodate their changing needs.
