Keep coming up with fresh new ideas
The key to successful content marketing is to regularly produce interesting, engaging and shareable posts, which will encourage your audience returning to your site.
This may sound simple, but when you’re a few years down the line, the constant treadmill of producing new content can increasingly seem like a chore. The danger is that your writing stops being fresh and your posts become dull. And yet, the never ending struggle to constantly keep coming up with snappy headlines and new ideas is necessary to ensure your business looks to be at the forefront of your field.
So, how do content marketers keep coming up with dynamic ideas which are relevant and don’t seem old-hat?
The key is to think of your blog posts as you would your favourite suit. You have a smart, well-fitting outfit which, that with a few tweaks here and a good accessory there, can be worn for several different occasions.
Likewise, with your blog, you can, and in fact often should, blog about the same topic more than once. The crucial element is how you present the information to your audience.
Content Marketing Is All In The Plan
For example, we’ve talked before on this blog about the importance of a content marketing plan, and how it can make your marketing infinitely easier and less time consuming. That doesn’t mean it’s not relevant to bring it up again here. Indeed, a content marketing plan is the perfect way to ensure your blog stays fresh, because you can plan your posts to coincide with events throughout the year. Then use it as an easy reference to ensure you leave enough time between similar topics.
It’s also important to remember that in this fast moving world, things can move on extremely quickly. So perhaps that article you wrote a year ago needs a bit of a spruce up now. Research current trends in your industry and repackage the content accordingly. It’s a great way to show your audience your are ahead of the game.
Another useful tip is to spread your content marketing plan across different parts of your business within separate blog posts.
So for example if you design and manufacture bikes, you could break down the elements of the job from the design process to the sourcing of materials. Another post could look at where the bikes are manufactured. You could do a ‘meet the team’, and that’s all before you have started to blog about your customers and where they use the bikes.
Staying Fresh On Social Media
Keeping your content fresh on social media is vital, but can also be incredibly time consuming if not managed properly. If you have two accounts which you post on twice a day, that 14 posts a week, or 728 posts a year, which understandably sounds daunting to many.
Which is why it’s important to remember that social media isn’t solely about posting out content.
Start a dialogue with your customers, listen to what they have to say and respond accordingly. Ask questions, and look for content in other places which you can share with your own followers and make their experience even greater.
I find it useful to keep a list of news sites in my content curation tool Kurasie which I visit regularly, and schedule interesting articles from each day. You can also set up lists on Twitter to manage whom you follow, making it easier to find your key stakeholders and ensure you are always up-to-date with what they are saying too.
The key, as with all marketing, is to develop a robust strategy which will ensure your content continues throughout the year. If you are interested in finding out more then take a look at Sean’s advanced Twitter course which will take you step-by-step through the process of developing a content marketing strategy for your business.
