How To Master Content Marketing In 2016

Content Marketing emerged in 2013 as top priority for large brands. Through 2014 and into 2015, smaller businesses followed suit and content marketing became the forefront of many successful Online Marketing Strategies. In 2015 we saw its full rise to power. Content Marketing has grown to encompass everything from Social Media posts to Blog Posts to Slideshare Presentations, etc. Remember that funny cat video you just watched on YouTube? You found it by someone sharing it on Facebook right? That is a perfect example of content marketing. As we go into 2016 with Content Marketing at the forefront, you need to ensure your marketing company understands how to maximize content marketing for your brand.

Cutting Through All the Content Noise

People are absolutely inundated with content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Attention has become the most valuable asset. With so much content being shared and consumed, how in the world does one cut through all the noise? There are a few ways to do this. The most effective way has to do with the depth and breadth of the content versus others who are competing for the same people’s attention. At first, I assumed that small chunks of content shared frequently would work best. After testing over quite some time, I actually realized that the more thorough content I syndicated brought much better results. It is about giving your “content consumers” (audience) content that is the best, and most thorough resource available online. The ultimate way to keep an audience’s attention is to become the resource that gives them information on how to solve the problem they have. Also, making the information easily digestible is key. If I am researching something and/or trying to solve a problem, I don’t want content that only scratches the surface. At the same time, I don’t want to have to read a 10,000-word text-only article to find what I am looking for. There is a delicate balance to keeping information easily digestible while being thorough. The type of media also determines how to best hold the attention of the audience. I, personally, watch a ton of YouTube videos about all different types of subjects. One of my pet peeves is when I am watching a video to get a quick bit of information and it takes the video forever to get to the point. I will quickly move on to another video that is organized better. Ever done this yourself? Probably only every day right? The videos that do well have a specific format they follow for the organization of the video and they get right to the point while keeping you engaged in some way throughout the video. Take a breath. Pat yourself on the back. You have read almost 500 words and are still here! Go grab a snack and hold on to your hat because we are about to get into the meat and potatoes.

Publishing Velocity Should Be Geared Towards Your Audience

There are some strategies that dictate a new piece of content syndicated every day.  Others may only generate and syndicate content once a month, or even once a quarter.  Your content velocity should be based on your audience and how they consume content.  For Example:

• LinkedIn: Maybe once per week.  (No need for 5 posts per day)
• Twitter: Think BuzzFeed…publish tons of quick thoughts for content and then more in-depth content maybe once per week or once per month
• YouTube: Publish one shorter video per week and one more in-depth video every month

These are just a few examples of basing your publishing velocity on your audience and where they consume the bulk of their content.

Have a Content Syndication Strategy

Content by itself is useless. You have to get your best content in front of your best audience so they have the opportunity to engage with it. This is where things like SEO, Social Media Marketing, Video marketing, Blogging, etc. are paramount to the efficacy of your strategy. Don’t think of a new article as one piece of content. Content can be re-purposed across networks in different forms to engage the target audience in the way that they consume media. Wondering what I mean?  Here is an example of how to re-purpose content across various mediums for the maximum impact:

1. Publish text blog post on your website
2. Make a PowerPoint Presentation of that same article and share on SlideShare.
3. Then, shoot a video of you going through the slides and upload to YouTube.
4. Take the highlights, make an infographic and share it on Pinterest
5. Take out specific quotes from the article and make them easily tweetable.

This list could go on and on, but I think you get the point. A content syndication network should reach far and wide. The bigger the better. This is where having things like numerous blogs, video media accounts, Social Media accounts, etc. makes a huge impact on results.  Want an easy way of finding what networks you should have for content syndication?  One easy way is to use a site like KnowEm to make sure you have a profile on each of the networks they suggest. Sound a little overwhelming? It can seem so at first, but there are ways to speed up content syndication that will make your life much easier. You will figure out which way works best for you as you syndicate more and more content. The easiest way, of course, is to have professional marketers handle your content marketing for you.

Consistency is Key for Keeping Your Audience Engaged

Too many times businesses start a new year with tons of energy and plans on how to take their content marketing efforts to the next level. They consistently publish a new blog post at least twice a month for about 3 months.  Then, on about month 3, they get busy and forget to publish a post. Time passes and their content syndication falls off the map. The best way to keep your audience engaged is to be completely consistent with your syndication. This is where a syndication schedule comes in handy. Above is a very basic example of a syndication schedule. The number at the end relates to the subject matter of the content. This is a perfect example of how to re-purpose the same content and get 4-5 times the return vs. syndicating in just one way. It is really just for planning out when you are going to syndicate content, where you will syndicate it, and what content you will be syndicating. This also causes you to hold yourself more accountable to being consistent.

How Content Marketing In 2016 Is Different

The biggest difference that you will see with Content Marketing in 2016 is that people are getting much better with syndication, etc. If your strategy is not progressing, you will be left in your competition’s dust. Content Marketing has come into its own now that there has been a strong focus over the last 3 years. If you believe what you did in 2015 will work in 2016, I have some waterfront property in Arizona I would like to sell you! As new internet technologies emerge, new social media platforms emerge, content marketing changes at a rapid pace. If you are following the fundamentals I have shared here, that will give you a solid start in 2016.  One thing I can guarantee is that content marketing will look very different at the end of 2016 than it does at the beginning!

Tags: Inbound Marketing