Content Marketing In A Multi-Channel Marketing Environment
People across the globe invest significant time and energy marketing their businesses online. As the influence of social media recommendations and search engine rankings becomes stronger, entrepreneurs and site owners scramble to put social media marketing campaigns and content marketing strategies into place to capitalize on online marketing opportunities.
The truth is that the walls between social media marketing and other content marketing strategies to improve organic search rankings have thinned and are beginning to crumble, to the benefit of the end user.
As the online community's use of social media continues to increase, its impact on search results grows stronger. As of the end of 2010 Google made public the fact that they have integrated social media networking into their search algorithms. Today it isn't uncommon for search results to include a Google+, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or other social media profile in the top spots when searching for a business or individual. This announcement sent business owners to social media platforms in droves while postings for Social Media Consultants and Managers began popping up across online job boards.
Site owners developing content marketing strategies to increase site visits, attract new customers, and boost sales need to understand that content marketing in a multi-channel environment is most effective when implemented as one cohesive plan instead of as separate campaigns focusing on each online channel. One master plan can encompass all areas of the business' online presence, including website content, guest posts on other sites, white papers and reports, and all social media activity.
Take some time to map out how to best integrate, distribute and position your web content through social media accounts in conjunction with optimizing your web presence through social media engagement and activities in other online channels. Here are some things to keep in mind when creating your cohesive content marketing strategy.
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Select content that reflects your brand and your customers. Before posting new content, ask yourself what it says about your business and customers. Is it in keeping with your image? If so, sharing useful and relevant content through select social media platforms that your target customer is most likely to use increases the likelihood that they will share the content with their social media community and visit your site.
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Include sharing the content of others as part of your overall strategy. Content marketing isn't just about sharing the content that your company generates, it's about benefiting others online. Weigh the information in each piece of content before posting it. Ask yourself whether it provides useful information for your target market.
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Distribute and integrate content consistently as part of your overall marketing strategy. For example, tweet about a recent blog post. In the blog post link to a free report. Ensure the tweet, blog post and free report are search-engine optimized for a keyword phrase or term your target customers commonly search for. Symbiotic, smooth, content of each channel complements each other. Creating a content marketing plan that consistently and smoothly ties together activity in each online marketing channel.
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Focus on content excellence to positively impact your SEO rankings, social media activity and boost traffic to your website. This is key. As search engine algorithms become more sophisticated and online users become more discerning, the best quality content will emerge, be shared the most through social media and enjoy the top spots in search ranking results.
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Analyze and update your multi-channel content marketing strategy continuously. Pay attention to your analytics. Which pieces of content get the most hits? Comments? Shares? Which social media networks respond the most to your content? Make changes where necessary, and try new things. Fine-tune what works and discard what doesn't. Practice continuous innovation and experimentation with your online activity.
Creating and implementing one all-encompassing content marketing strategy doesn't have to be difficult. Create excellent content based on what your followers, site visitors and potential customers search for online. Search out and curate other useful content including infographics, blog posts, articles and news. Distribute this content through the most relevant social media platforms and networks for your market, respond to online interactions and grow your online social circles. Repeat these steps consistently, and watch your business and online presence grow.