A big component of my job is content strategy and production. However, with so much content clutter out there it can be challenging to reach your customers. Studies have shown that brands are generating more content then ever, while consumer demand for that content has remained the same. Needless to say, content marketing is tough. Today’s customers are overwhelmed by content; there is only so much they can consume, process, and share.
So, how do we address this? The philosophy I subscribe to is publish less, publish well, and publish when you have something valuable to say.
When you’re not pumping out unproductive new content, you can instead spend your time and resources optimizing the great content you’ve already created.
Here are four tactics to help you make the most of your content marketing efforts.
1. Evergreen & Temporal Content
There are two main types of content today, ‘evergreen and ‘temporal’. Evergreen content is your meat and potatoes material; it doesn’t lose its value over time and isn’t restricted by dates. Temporal content is made of material that is only relevant for a short period of time.
Both of these content types have their usefulness. Temporal content will keep your website current with new and exciting material that should cause spikes of traffic. However, it’s evergreen content that gives you those constant returns that have made content marketing so valuable. Studies have shown that evergreen content drives the largest amount of organic traffic for the minimum amount of effort.
Temporal content is the sizzle to your steak, and it’s difficult not to get caught up in producing this type of material but relying on these quick hits can be expensive, time consuming, and difficult to maintain. Even if a temporal post generates a huge initial buzz, studies show that shares don’t equal links.
2. Historical Optimization
Historical optimization makes the old new again by refreshing older content pieces to increase website traffic and leads. I primarily use this with content that had low traffic but converted leads well however, it can also work well with high traffic content that did not convert leads well, and content that took a lot of time to produce but seemed to have missed the mark.
This practice of refreshing old content capitalizes on existing authority that a post already has, ensures accuracy, and gives the content a fresh feel.
Some suggestions on areas to focus on include:
Titles
Copy
Internal/external links
Images
Meta description
Calls To Action (CTA)
3. Build Around Topics
In order to establish yourself as a trusted source of information, you need to produce accurate and regular content around specific topics. I’ve been listening to “Crushing It” by Gary Vaynerchuk, and in it he refers to this content as pillar content. Pillar content should be used to spawn other articles that all draw back to that single piece of pillar content. Not only will this help to establish you as an authority on a certain topic, the linking of like content will give you a boost in your SEO efforts.
4. Video
Many have predicted that video is the content marketing platform of the future. So much of today’s marketing efforts are automated; as a result, video is emerging as one of the most authentic communication channels that remains. Video capitalizes on the fact that it combines both auditory and visual elements to make it easier to recall than straight text. When you create a video that’s memorable to your viewers, they’ll also remember your brand.
Always Evolving
Today’s content marketing is an exciting place that is constantly evolving and improving through better quality and smarter content. To succeed as a content marketer, you must always be learning from past work and adapting to today’s customer content consumption habits. Now get out there and start producing great content!