Like most web businesses keen to increase web reach and gain more leads and customers, you’re probably investing much of your time and effort in content marketing. It’s a major part of today’s SEO.
After all, putting out useful information helps you rank, helps your customers makes informed buying decisions, and helps establish your brand and authority.
All that’s true and more, but only if you do it properly. When it comes to formulating a content strategy, it’s useful to think in terms of goals. Knowing exactly what you want from your content marketing is that vital first step in setting up a successful campaign.
Here’s a look at the major goals of content strategy.
Bring in Targeted Traffic
The number one goal for any kind of marketing venture is to attract more potential customers to the site. Do it properly and the visitors clicking through to your site after reading your content on other platforms or social media channels will be highly motivated. You need to presell them in your online messages to put them in the right frame of mind.
Convert
Once your visitors have arrived at your site, you need to convert them into buyers. Your content is the key weapon that informs and persuades and assures your visitors that your solution is right for them and also that it represents value.
You also have to accommodate users at all stages of the buyer cycle from researchers to those reader and eager to buy.
Build Brand Awareness
Building a strong brand helps you stand out in a crowded marketplace and content marketing plays a key role. It’s a long-term strategy and one that will pay rich dividends in the future.
Effective types of content for brand building include blog posts and social media updates. Other than your contact, about us and other pages on your site, you should weave the essence of your brand throughout all your marketing and information messages.
Provide After Sales Service
Are you ready to take care of your customers after they’ve bought? Specialised content in the form of user guides or FAQs can help you achieve this. Buyer remorse is a common issue so you’ll need to reassure them they made a wise purchase decision.
Act as Link Bait
As Matt Cutts has repeatedly affirmed, natural is best when it comes to link building. In fact natural is the only way to acquire links that have the Google seal of approval. Make your site an authority for your niche or industry and you’ll find others eager to link to you in the approved organic manner.
So the next time you’re planning a content marketing campaign, keep these goals in mind when formulating a Search Engine Optimisation service. Then structure your content accordingly. It can be tricky as one piece of content may have many aims. But when it comes to gaining traffic, leads and regular customers, you can’t beat it.
