8 Content marketing tips I would give my younger self

Write for humans first, and optimize for SERP later

When I started in content marketing, I wished I had known to write for humans and not worry so much about SEO. This is one of the content marketing tips that would transform many content creators from being average at their craft to exceptional. It can be easy to get caught up in trying to make your article keywords instead of focusing on engaging an audience and fulfilling their information needs. If your content isn’t made with people in mind, first and foremost, rather than search engines, they won’t stick around. Additionally, while SEO is an important part of digital marketing for getting your article found online, there should be other things that you focus on when creating content, as this may lead to keyword stuffing which will turn off readers.

Immerse yourself in audience conversations

Regularly visit Reddit, Quora, other forums, and Facebook groups to keep your finger on the pulse of your audience. Identify what topics are being discussed, and learn about the semantics (working) people use. This is the first, and most important of the 8 content marketing tips I suggest in this article.

The best way to connect with your audience is by creating content that appeals to their needs and interests. But to do this, you first need to understand who they are and what they want, which is where market research comes in. 

You can use this information to create buyer personas – fictional representations of your ideal customer based on your collected data, that can help you keep focus on messaging that is tailor-made for your audience when creating content.

Read publications that your audience reads and follow influencers that they follow

When it comes to content marketing, following publications and influencers your audience reads can be a great way to understand what your audience is interested in, spot trends, and identify opportunities for collaboration. Some of the publications your audience might read include: 

– magazines and newspapers

– industry blogs

– online publication sites

– social media pages 

– YouTube channels

When you look back on anything in life, hindsight being 20/20, some things you’d like to have done a little differently.“

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Audience research first, competitor analysis later 

It’s essential to understand your audience if you want any measure of success in content marketing. By understanding your audience and their needs, you can look at your competitors to get different ideas for the content and messaging that works. By researching your audience and defining your niche first, you will clearly know who your audience is and is not. You will be appropriately prepared to determine which content and messaging are suitable for your audience and which are not, rather than blindly mimicking your competitors’ every move. 

Understand your audience‘s desired transformation

It’s not only about understanding an audience‘s wants and needs; it’s about understanding who they want to become. What transformation do they want? What can you do to evoke those changes? Identify the channels through which your audience can achieve their desired transformation. You need to understand where your audience is getting information and how they are consuming it. Where can you help them more easily access the resources they need? What content or products can you create to help them achieve this transformation? 

Explore “a day in the life” of your audience to get ideas for content 

No matter how talented you are at writing interesting content, you need to understand your audience inside out to create content that resonates with them. By understanding the average day in your audience‘s life, you can get a better idea of what topics would most likely engage them.

Start by mapping your ideal audience day. A good way to do this is to interview your audience members or observe them firsthand. 

Think about the main activities people are likely to engage in on a typical day, the objectives and goals they have throughout the day, the success metrics, the challenges they have along the way, and their budget if they are making related purchases to your Solution. 

Once you understand what your audience is up to on a day-to-day basis, start thinking about the types of content that will be most relevant and engaging for them.

Here are some of my go-to ideas:

• Write about topics that are important to them. Are they passionate about their hobby or career? Think about how you can logically tie these topics into your content, without it being too much of a stretch away from your brand’s areas of interest and expertise 
• Share stories and examples illustrating how you’ve applied your Solution in real-life situations to help your readers see the benefits of using your Solution firsthand.
• Offer advice and recommendations based on what you’ve learned about your audience‘s typical day-to-day activities and objectives. Showcase results rather than telling people what to do or how to do it.
• Use quotations, statistics, case studies, etc., to add weight to your arguments and highlight key points in a way that is easy for readers to understand.

Keep a ‘bank” of adverts and web copy that resonates with your audience

One practice I started a few years ago, and wish I had started sooner, is saving adverts from social media that have high engagement and resonate with my target audience. I’ll often take elements of these adverts and create content on similar topics, or that is similar in tone or style. 

I would tell my younger self to keep a “bank” of ads that my audience is receptive to, and web copy that resonates with them, so that I can come back to them whenever I need to get my creative juices flowing during content creation. 

Create a marketing strategy that’s based on this research 

This is the last of the content marketing tips I introduce in this article, but it’s certainly not the least important. Once you have completed your research it’s time to create a content marketing strategy.

Your marketing strategy may include: 

– mapping which topics will be covered around the buyer’s journey and the different stages of awareness

– deciding where to distribute content (which platforms such as blog, social media, and more)

– creating a plan for tailoring each piece of content to suit the target audience

– creating an editorial calendar so you know what you will publish and when

– monitoring Google analytics to see how well the strategy is working

– adjusting the editorial calendar as time goes by, based on content and topic success

– adapting your content marketing strategy over time-based on market trends and shifting audience wants and needs

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