Increasing the quality of your social media marketing is a top strategy and a wonderful idea. The question is how to do it.
When was the last time you thought about the quality of your brand’s social content?
If the answer is longer than a week or so, odds are you and your company are in need of a content marketing strategy review.
Simply put, content social marketing is the lifeblood of countless businesses’ online efforts today. Without exhaustive blog posts, in-depth ebooks, attractive infographics, and a wide array of other collateral. Many brands wouldn’t have nearly as strong of a digital presence (or sales numbers). And yet, research from the Content Marketing Institute shows nearly two-thirds of brands don’t have documented content marketing strategies in place today.
Even if you’re part of the one-third of brands with a documented strategy, that action plan still requires constant attention in order to work properly (i.e., generate traffic, leads, and customers). With that in mind, let’s explore what marketing leaders can do to examine their content marketing approaches and figure out where they can stand to improve.
Here are 5 easy ways to increase the quality of your social marketing:
1: Understand What “High-Quality” Content Is
Ask any of today’s marketing leaders and influencers what content is and chances are you’ll get very distinct answers. Here is just a small sampling of what some of these individuals have said about modern content marketing:
- “Content is anything that adds value to the reader’s life.” — Avinash Kaushik
- “Traditional marketing talks at people. Content marketing talks with them.” — Doug Kessler
- “Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.” — Andrew Davis
The one common thread among these particular quotes? Content is personal. It’s something that can help brands connect with their primary audience. It can help them provide needed value to solve for their audience’s pain points.
Take a look at the content created by your competitors. Look at guides and articles written by top industry minds. Do whatever research is necessary to find out what the best-of-the-best content looks like today, and emulate those efforts in your own unique way for your brand. Getting this kind of inspiration is vital to keep your content marketing moving in the right direction. We, of course, love to do this for social media strategies too.
2: Build Your Audience (and Grow It Over Time)
Speaking of audience, your content marketing work is pointless if you don’t have a specific, target audience in mind. Think of the value your content could provide your core audience:
- Will it help sales professionals learn how to better nurture prospects?
- Does it help consumers find the boats and/or products they like?
- Can it help owners streamline day-to-day operations?
A key question here is, “Will it help?” Without knowing the answer to that question, your content won’t be nearly as impactful as it could or should be, and your audience’s attention will remain out of reach.
There is plenty of audience data you can leverage for your content marketing efforts to give you insights into what you ought to produce to resonate with your audience (like Google Analytics, Facebook and Instagram Insights, and LinkedIn Metrics). Use those data points to get a better understanding of your audience’s wants and needs.
3: Implement an Organized Editorial Calendar
In a blog post for influencer marketing service Scrunch, marketing manager Teagan West outlines arguably the most important reason brands need content calendars today: “Creating content on the go is stressful and puts a lot of pressure on your team as they are constantly working to tight, daily deadlines,” says West. “It can also dampen your creativity when you are forced to create content simply because it has to be done and not because you are inspired to create.”
No one likes to constantly play catch-up with any work tasks. To ensure your content marketing strategy remains a well-oiled machine, set up a calendar — either via a standard spreadsheet or through calendar software — to systematize your content projects. That way, not only do you know what’s going on, your team can plan their genius around it too.
4: Continually Refine the Goals for Your Content
Business objectives constantly change for brands in all spaces, niches, and industries today. Regardless of whether you work for a big-time yacht yard or a local rigging shop, your goals are likely to change from one month to the next.
Constantly changing objectives require you and/or your content team to be nimble. That means you need to adjust on the fly as needed and redefine the goals and desired outcomes for your content marketing strategy.
Reaching, engaging, and converting one’s audience is the typical KPIs and goals for brands today. However, you need to get more granular with your social content goals to make sure your content is as effective as possible. Think in terms of brand awareness, customer engagement, and even message response time.
5: Outsource Your Content Marketing Efforts
Not every brand has the bandwidth to put together a content marketing crew who can handle the strategization, creation, optimization, and analysis of their content. Many, in fact, decide to outsource their content projects and needs to agencies and professional writers.
It’s not always evident one will need to outsource content creation. Outsourced content pros can provide comprehensive, high-quality services for brands – growing online and at the same time removing stress for you. Simply research writers and other content creators with a history of writing for an audience like yours, then interview the best candidates and put the premier one front and center as your new contractor.
We encourage you to take a step back and review your content strategy sooner than later to increase the quality of your marketing and your life.
