Most, if not all, businesses are producing content. Comparatively few are producing high-quality content that successfully serves its purpose. Whether you’re a local boutique brand, or a quickly growing business with national ambitions, you should aim to be the latter. After all, who doesn’t want content that attracts the right traffic, earns trust, and drives conversions? Enter our expert content marketing tips.
According to a 2024 study by The Content Studio, content marketers are struggling with three core issues: standing out in the ever-increasing digital crowd, hitting the mark with their topics, and making their content actually worth reading. In this post, we’ll address all three of these challenges with our expert tips to help you cut through the noise and create ‘buzzworthy’ content that drives results. Stick with us – this is a lengthy post! We’ll cover:
- What Is Content Marketing?
- Is Content Marketing Worth It?
- Universal Tips
- Bonus Tips By Channel
- Final Thoughts
What Is Content Marketing?
To get to the core of the matter, content marketing attracts potential customers through valuable, relevant, and consistent content. Unlike traditional advertising, which aims to push messages out to an audience, content marketing earns attention rather than demanding it, thereby pulling people in.
If done well, content marketing is about more than bringing in traffic. It introduces your brand voice, builds trust with the customer throughout their journey, and positions you as a key authority in your specific industry. From blog posts and videos to social media content and outreach campaigns, a good content marketing strategy will continue to work for your business long after it’s initially published.
That being said, it’s important to note that it’s all about the long game. A single piece of content is unlikely to skyrocket your business overnight, but over weeks and months, truly great content will offer compounding rewards.
Forms Of Content Marketing
As you’ve likely gathered, content marketing is a vast category. Different formats serve different goals, and choosing the right mix for your business is key to building a successful long-term strategy. Below, we’ll unpack some of the most common forms of content.
Long-Form Text
Blog posts, guides and articles all come under this label, and are in many ways the backbone of most SEO strategies. Due to the length and use-value of the content, these forms can help you rank for targeted keywords, provide in-depth value to the customer, and remain discoverable for years to come. Paired with downloadable resources, they’re also a treasure trove for lead generation.
Email Marketing
For e-commerce and service businesses, email marketing remains one of the most effective and cost-efficient channels for content marketing. Since you have cultivated the list yourself, your audience is your own, meaning you’re not at the mercy of platforms or algorithm changes. With regular, personalised content, it can be a direct line to high-quality and high-intent prospects.
Social Media Content
With a huge user base, social media platforms allow you to engage directly with your target audience, humanising your brand. Although it can be tricky to stay afloat in the game of follower counts and short attention spans, quality content can work wonders for brand awareness and relationship building.
Video Content
Nowadays, creating videos has never been easier. Most of us have access to a high-quality camera on our smartphones, and free editing applications mean that video is no longer the property of large companies. Seeing a face, hearing a voice, and being able to read body language increases trust and drives rapport with potential customers.
Images
Images might seem straightforward, but they are one of the most versatile forms of content marketing. Whether it’s custom designs, infographics, or even branded memes, images communicate complex ideas quickly and efficiently whilst boosting engagement and SEO value. They can be used by themselves on sharing platforms such as Pinterest or integrated into other formats like web copy or blog posts.
Is Content Marketing Worth It?
Absolutely. No matter where you’re at in your marketing efforts, you need content in one form or another. Plus, if you’re looking to build long-term value, you need content for each and every touchpoint of the consumer journey – from first impression to repeat purchase. In today’s world where consumers have more options than ever before, content is what builds trust, rapport, and ultimately convinces people that your business is right for their needs.
Whilst ROI is notoriously hard to measure since content is just one step in a wider journey, brands that commit to strategic content have consistently seen impressive results. Don’t just take it from us – the numbers also speak for themselves: 87% of marketers have reported that content marketing generates leads and an additional 74% say that it helps to nurture said leads. You can think of it as a snowball effect: successful content means larger audiences, which leads to stronger brand recognition, and in turn, increased conversion rates.
From an acquisition perspective, content marketing can serve both short-term and, perhaps most importantly, long-term goals. Organic content marketing – like blog posts, guides, or videos – can generate high-quality leads over time, at a lower cost than continuous ad spending. (Especially if you are DIY-ing it!) That said, paid ads also rely heavily on strong content for conversions, meaning that a cohesive, targeted, and meaningful content strategy is vital no matter your budget, goals, and timeline.
And we can’t forget the SEO impact. With careful keyword research and genuinely valuable insights, content marketing gets your pages found, earns backlinks, and strengthens your site authority.
Universal Content Marketing Tips
Whilst there are plenty of subsections when it comes to content marketing, some tenets hold true across the board. At beefound.agency, we’ve seen how these tips make all the difference between content that gets ignored and content that converts. So, if you’re going to invest time and/or budget into content, it’s worth considering these universal content marketing tips first.
1. Master Copywriting
If there’s one skill that will improve your content marketing overall, it’s copywriting. No matter how good your strategy and targeting, the effectiveness of your content boils down to how well you can communicate your offering to your audience.
Learn how to craft attention-grabbing headlines, write persuasive calls to action, and develop clear and concise content in our dedicated guide to copywriting for businesses. For now, here are a few key tips:
- Prioritise clarity over cleverness
- Speak directly to your audience
- Include strong calls to action
- Establish an emotional connection
- Keep the purpose of the content in mind
- Use bullet points, lists, and images to break up the text
2. Create Evergreen Content
Content has a shelf-life. To maximise the long-term potential of your efforts, opt for evergreen content – timeless topics like best practices or tutorials. Unlike time-specific content such as seasonal tips or trend responses, the benefits of evergreen content will continue long after it’s published.
If you’re unsure whether your content is evergreen, avoid any buzzwords, trends or news references, and dates. Keeping your writing clear will also help future audiences find value in your work. Ultimately, evergreen content should form the skeleton of your content marketing strategy, supplemented by relevant short-term material.
3. Define Your Audience (And Segment!)
Even the best content won’t matter if it doesn’t attract the right audience. To avoid low conversion rates and high consumer churn, your content needs to be tailored to speak directly to your target audience. The starting point is to understand your audience’s pain points, needs, and desires, and address those elements through your content, adapting your tone of voice to suit them.
For this reason, a healthcare digital marketing strategy will look very different from a construction company’s SEO material. Without that specialisation, you’ll just attract traffic that won’t resonate with your content.
4. Create Content For Your Content
Creating high-quality content doesn’t just stop when you’ve uploaded that image or clicked ‘publish’ on that blog post. A great tip is to create content that promotes your most valuable content. This could include sharing a social media update or an email for a dedicated how-to guide or sharing a behind-the-scenes blog post to accompany your video.
Each platform and each business will have its own audience, so make sure that you repurpose your content in a way that resonates with your target users.
5. Map Out The Customer Funnel
Content marketing goes beyond grabbing attention. It’s about building relationships over time. To do this effectively, you need to understand and engage with audiences at different stages of the customer experience through targeted content. For example:
- Awareness – Since your audience is just discovering your brand, content here should be informative and educational without asking for anything in return.
- Consideration – Audiences in this stage are likely to be evaluating your offering alongside others. Content for this level should highlight how your products or services can solve their specific problems.
- Decision – By this point, audiences are ready to make a choice. Persuasive and clear content should be used to drive them to act.
By ensuring you have material that addresses each of these stages, you’ll create content that actively and seamlessly guides leads towards conversion.
6. Consistency
There’s perhaps nothing more important when it comes to content marketing tips than consistency. It can be easy to get over-excited about producing content, but the real impact will only be seen if you’re able to stick with it over time.
The key here is to understand what your audience already enjoys consuming alongside what you can realistically produce. If you’re producing heavily edited, hour-long videos each week for instance, you could risk burnout and inconsistency later down the line. On the other hand, if you only post sporadic and low-quality content, your audience might forget about you altogether.
An editorial or content calendar is a particularly useful tool to stay on track. Plan out your content topics, where they’ll be posted, and when they’ll be posted. This can help you adapt to busy periods and maintain a steady flow of consistent content without burning out, ensuring that your brand stays visible. Don’t give up too early: sustain that effort, and the payoff will come.
7. Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say
Authenticity is everything. Your audience wants to know that you’re not just talking at them, but that you actually have something useful to say. This is all the more important with the rise of AI content – anyone can plug a prompt into automated tools, but the true results are found in offering real value through unique insights and human perspectives.
Make sure your content addresses real concerns and provides solutions, rather than just writing for the sake of it. If you’re writing with purpose, you’ll improve loyalty and engagement, both of which ultimately drive conversions.
8. Measure And Adapt
On the long road of content marketing, immediate returns are sadly unlikely. Instead, it’s an ongoing process of optimisation, measurement, and adaptation. As well as optimising for SEO, take the time to evaluate your content by tracking important metrics such as website traffic or the number of enquiries. Ultimately, this will help indicate which SEO content types are working, and which require rethinking – essential for making the most of your time and money.
9. Repurpose Content
Speaking of time, one of the smartest ways to make your content go further is to repurpose it. Take your existing content and adapt it for different formats. A long-form video, for instance, can be broken down into quick clips for social media – you could even have a copywriter craft the transcript of that video into a blog post.
As you’ve tailored content to suit multiple channels, repurposing allows you to reach more people in a setting that they’re most comfortable in, encouraging engagement and awareness.
10. Learn From Your Competitors
Competitors have a lot to offer when it comes to your own content marketing. Take a look at the types of content they’re producing and which is most successful – this can give you an insight into what types and topics of content work in your industry. But it’s not about copying them! You should find ways to put your unique spin on the topic, ultimately offering more value for the audience than just repackaged words. Also, keep an eye out for any gaps you can fill to help your business stand out.
11. Utilise AI – To A Point
Since paid advertising is seeing increased costs and decreased accuracy, the ROI of paid ads is likely to decline, making content marketing an even more powerful investment for businesses. As such, AI tools have seen increased use for SEO and specifically content production, allowing companies to produce more material with fewer resources.
However, approach AI with caution. AI should enhance rather than replace your own creativity and strategic thinking, otherwise, you risk losing the authenticity and personality that audiences are craving. Not to mention, it can often provide inaccurate or misleading information for both you and the end reader. So, whilst it can be useful to generate ideas or streamline repetitive tasks, always ensure that your brand’s message and values come through in any content you publish.
12. Consider Outsourcing
If you’re looking to save time and money, or even gain a fresh perspective on your content, outsourcing can be a great option. By working with an experienced digital marketing agency, you’ll not only produce higher quality content that performs, but also build relationships and expand your network. It’s a win-win for both efficiency and growth.
Bonus Content Marketing Tips By Channel
Now that we’ve got the universal content marketing tips down, it’s time for a few extra tips and tricks for each marketing channel before wrapping up this post. Without further ado…
Blogs
- Start with Value: Before offering your particular solution, focus on offering value. A great way to do so is to write posts that provide practical advice or answer common challenges.
- Stay Current With Industry News: Make regular updates that chime with the latest industry news to position yourself as an expert resource for your audience.
- Use Clear And Actionable Advice: Break down complex ideas or processes into simple and step-by-step advice. Readers should know exactly what to do next.
- Target Multiple Audiences: Write with different segments in mind – from beginners to industry experts.
- Encourage Active Engagement: End your posts with a clear call-to-action or signpost to prompt comments, shares, contact details or even just deeper engagement with your brand. Tailor these to suit the respective funnel level.
Search Ads
- Pay Attention To The Format: Different paid ad providers will have different requirements. Make sure that you make the most of the space available and adapt accordingly. For instance, each Google Ads description only allows up to 90 characters – use them wisely!
- Incorporate Numbers And Symbols: A combination of numbers and symbols can help to attract attention and increase click-through rates.
- Include A Strong Call To Action: Use compelling CTAs and make them apparent to prompt immediate action.
- Don’t Forget The URL: Ensure that the displayed URL looks clean and relevant, reflecting the landing page and incorporating keywords.
Social Media
- Make The Most Of Content Pillars: Ensure that you keep your feed engaging and relevant by using a variety of social media content pillars such as product-focussed posts, testimonials, and informational material.
- Involve Users: User-generated content (UGC) not only generates meaningful content for your accounts but also promotes community engagement and builds trust. A great way to encourage such posts is by running contests and sharing submissions on your page.
- Maintain A Presence: Put the ‘social’ in ‘social media’ by regularly posting and interacting. Keep it personal and valuable – no one likes spam!
- Have Fun With It: Add a little flair with emojis or humorous lines in your captions, and don’t forget to optimise them for discoverability! Social media is the perfect opportunity to tell your brand story and connect with your audience in a more casual setting.
- Craft Catchy Subject Lines: Your subject line tends to be the first thing people see – make sure it is compelling to boost open rates. Try offering immediate value with a discount or spark curiosity by including a targeted question.
- Choose The Right Time: Timing matters. Use analytics to determine the best times for your specific audience and send your emails when they are most likely to engage.
- Make Personalisation A Priority: Always make an effort to use the recipient’s name and tailor the content based on their behaviour or interests. Some email management software can make this process quicker and more bearable!
- Be Intentional: Overwhelming subscribers with irrelevant content will likely result in the loss of a valuable lead. Always be sure to align the content with their needs and interests.
Outreach Campaigns
- Do Your Research: Make sure to thoroughly research any potential partners to ensure that they align with your brand and goals. This will also come in useful when crafting content, providing guidelines for writing approach and tone of voice.
- Keep Emails Short and Sweet: Get straight to the point when approaching prospects. No one has the time to read a lengthy email these days – especially if we don’t know the sender! Highlight mutual benefits and be ready to address objections.
- Follow Their Content Guidelines: Most importantly, always respect the guidelines and boundaries set by your outreach partner. Whether it’s format, tone, or backlinking policies, tailor your style and substance accordingly.
Websites
- Be Clear With The Purpose: Each page on your site should have a clear goal. Whether it’s to inform, convert, or engage, pinning it down will ensure your content remains purposeful.
- Place Important Information Close To The Top: Most users tend to skim and may just scroll through long chunks of text. If the most important information is hidden, they’re likely to miss it!
- Make It Scannable: Use headings, bullet points, images, tables, and short paragraphs to allow your reader to find the information they need faster.
- Optimise For SEO: Ensure that your content includes your most important keywords, is well-structured, and makes the most of metadata to improve your website SEO rankings.
- Utilise FAQs: Especially useful for e-commerce businesses, include a dedicated FAQ section that addresses common queries to improve user experience and streamline the decision making process.
Video Marketing
- Use A Mix Of Short And Long Videos: Both serve different purposes. Short videos work well for social sharing, whilst long videos can offer more immersive content ideal for storytelling.
- Optimise For YouTube: If using the site, follow YouTube SEO best practices to increase visibility on the site and in search engines. Pay particular attention to targeted keywords, engaging thumbnails, and optimised titles and descriptions.
- Plan Your Video: Before you click record, outline your goal, message, and structure. This helps to ensure that the video is as clear and impactful as possible.
- Ensure Accessibility: Include subtitles, closed captions, or other accessibility features to reach a broader audience and make your videos more inclusive.
- Focus On Quality: Ensure your visuals and audio are clear and crisp to convey a more professional and credible image.
Podcasts
- Talk About Your Interests: You can really tell when someone is passionate about something. Talk about topics you genuinely care about – you’ll be much more likely to resonate with listeners.
- Collaborate With Others: Invite experts in your field to collaborate on episodes. Guest conversations can bring fresh perspectives and a new audience!
- Be Authentic: Share insightful content that is honest and fresh – you’ll stand out for it.
Images and Infographics
- Make Them Visually Appealing and Distinct: Your visuals should be memorable and easy to digest. Tie in your business branding to maintain cohesion and recognisability.
- Keep It Simple: Overcrowded visuals can deter audiences. Stick to one main message or idea to ensure that your audience can digest the information.
- Focus On Readability: Use clear and legible fonts that stand out from the background – overly decorative or tiny text is less effective at conveying the message.
Final Thoughts
Phew – that was a lot of content marketing tips. We hope you found them useful! The long and short of it is that successful content strategies focus on clear and engaging content, consistency, and adaptation to improve over time.
If you’re looking to elevate your content marketing, we’d love to help. Get in touch to explore how we can create a digital strategy that works for your business. We’re in it for the long run!
