Most marketers have this wrong assumption about content marketing. Perhaps, you are one of those marketers which think that your job is done after you have published your work. But the truth is; the real work begins before and after you have successfully published your article.
As a marketer, it is also your job to optimize your content. But don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about the nitty-gritty technical details about the SEO or keywords or the Meta data.
In this content-driven digital world, content optimization is now more about how the quality, the relevance and the connection you can build with your audience through your content.
Content Optimization Influence How Content Is Consumed
How well you optimize your content has an impact on how your content is delivered to your readers. If you optimize it right, you increase the likelihood that your content will reach and consumed by the intended audience.
A study revealed the top three factors that make content effective are relevancy, engagement and storytelling and call to action. With these factors in mind, content personalization is something that is getting more and more valuable in content optimization.
Optimize Content With Personalization
Content personalization involves analyzing accurate audience data to create and deliver relevant content that will stir their curiosity, encourage engagement and compels them to do an action.
According to statistics, about 74% of customers feel frustrated if the website content is not personalized. Nowadays, you have to be real. Not everyone is the same. Your target market may be of the same generation but their buying behavior is not the same. Their purchasing journey varies because of various factors such as location, culture and interests.
So whether you are creating our content for lead generation, for engagement or for brand awareness, it is crucial that you create a personalized content. Create a content that a specific group of audience can understand and related to so you can send you message across.
But amidst the hype of personalization, how marketers can utilize it in content optimization is still a conundrum. So to help, here are some pre and post-publishing steps that will help you start you content personalization strategies.
THE PRE-PUBLISHING PROCESS – UNDERSTANDING YOUR AUDIENCE
Basically, the pre-publishing process is the steps you need to follow before you start creating your content. It is vital to understand who your audience is and how or when they consume your content.
Systematize Your Data Gathering
If you keep on gathering data here and there without any systematic process, you will end up cluttered with various data which seemed to have no use.
A systematic data gathering needs technology to maximize and organize your efforts. Strategically, you may use a CMS which provides effective CRM features and allows you to be connected to data sources, thus, giving you a useful and seamless way of gathering user’s data.
Moreover, a systematic data gathering goes way more than just observing your users behavior. It is more than just surveys and statistics. It involves various factors such as online real-time behavior, social media activities, demographic information, activity on your website and a lot more.
You need to figure out how to align these factors to create a systematic and organize approach in data gathering.
Segment Them With The Right Data
After you have successfully gathered the significant data, you need to segment your list. Group together those with similar attributes. You need to be aware that you have different types of customers. Identify each key factor that makes each of them different with one another. You need these key factors to help you create an experience map needed for the next step.
Creating An Experience Map
Each group of target consumers has a distinct behavior which sets them apart from another. You have to determine and understand what they are to create an experience map.
An experience map is your guide to content creation. Using each distinct features of your audience you can create a map of their specific purchasing journey which increases your chance of transmitting your message successfully through a personalized content. You should be able to take your content to the distinct purchasing journey of your target consumers; from awareness to consideration to decision.
THE POST-PUBLISHING PROCESS – DELIVER, GATHER RESULTS, INNOVATE
The publishing process itself is difficult but getting to the post-publishing process could be another headache. But unless you can deliver to content to the right audience, your published content can only do so much.
Use The Right Automation
In content delivery, using the right automation is the light at the end of the tunnel. It allows you to reach out to your target consumers. With the right content marketing tool, you will efficiently and effectively attract your ideal consumers as they consume your content.
Choosing the right marketing automation is not as complicated as it seems. You just need to find the one that uses the data you gathered in order to reach out to your specified audience. It should create a delivery pattern based on your data to send your content across.
When choosing your automation tool, keep one thing in mind; it should help you deliver the right content to the right audience.
Measure, Analyze And Reinvent
At the end of your campaign, you need to have a solid way of measuring and analyzing your audience response. This is a critical element which is not just about clicks or about page views. This is the stage where you need to track data about how your audience responds with your content base on how you segment them.
You need to measure your content’s performance in each group of audience. You have metrics to track to help you find some loopholes and determine areas of improvement. Then, leverage the data and insights you gathered to figure out your personalization strategy’s weakness and improve them for your next optimization campaign.
Important Tip: Always Be Human
As a marketer, perhaps you came across this advice several times already. But how well do you understand this step? Being human is more than just profiling your audience. It is about giving your audience a genuine human interaction and content personalization is all about being human.
You need to significantly provide customers with answers to their questions through your content. If you put consumers at the center of your optimization campaign, you will know what they looking for and give them what they want.
Understand that personalization is a consumer-centered strategy which helps you humanize your brand. In personalization, you don’t just talk with your audience; you also have to listen to them. It enhances a two-way communication between consumers and brands. This way, brands can fully understand them and create a compelling and personalized content that help people in their goals.
Final Thoughts
Gone are the days when your target market is treated in general. It may have worked years ago but as the demand for your market changes so does you marketing approach.
Nearly 100% of consumers surveyed said that they have been discouraged from completing a transaction because of incomplete or incorrect content. Your content no matter how well you craft it would be useless if it does not reflect the needs and wants of your target market. With these in mind, it is safe to say that accurate and personalize content is more important than ever.
Personalization when done right can boost your optimization campaign. There is no doubt about that. The only reason why some marketers fail is that they don’t really understand how content personalization works. But with these tips put into work, hopefully, you can create a personalized content for your next content optimization campaign.
Al Gomez is the man behind SEOExpertPage.com, Dlinkers and UnliDeals. With more than nine years of experience in digital marketing, he enjoys supporting smartpreneurs like himself achieve online success. Connect with him on Twitter (@dlinkers).