How to Upgrade Your Content Marketing Strategy for a Successful 2020

“Create high-quality content.” You might have often come across this gospel that digital marketers swear by. Your talented team of writers may pour their hard work to create exceptional content. Do you pay adequate attention to what happens to it after that? Does it reach the people for whom it was created? These questions have become more important than ever in 2020.

If search engine optimization is the only tactic that comes to your mind to share your valuable content, mind you, you are leaving a significant sum on the table. Time and again, the rant is much about boosting traffic. However, an experienced SEO agency understands that ensuring a profitable online presence in the long-run requires much more than that. This is precisely how the right content marketing strategy fills the gap and helps you make the most of your gold mine- your high-quality content.

To brush your understanding and ensure that we are on the same track, here is a quick run-through of content marketing followed by 5 ways to amp up your content marketing strategy.

What is Content Marketing?

In the scenario when brands put their best strategies ‘to sell’ their products, standing out as a company that genuinely provides solutions to their problems is what etches you in the mind of your target audience. Insightful blogs, videos, eBooks and all the platforms that help to make this content accessible to your prospective customers come under content marketing. 

Putting it into simple words, content marketing is a type of marketing where brands pique the interest of their intended audience with the help of educational content like blogs, videos, eBooks and other mediums without being explicitly promotional. It is a great way to plant your brand’s name in the mind of your target market without seemingly putting too much effort into it. If you follow the right strategy, it establishes your business as a credible source of expert advice and information in your niche. This helps you earn your target group’s trust and loyalty.

Here are 5 pillars that should form the foundation of your content marketing strategy-

1.  Build Brand Retention with Interactive Content in 2020

To ascertain that your prospective clients don’t forget you as just another brand they came across online, create interactive content that regards users as active participants and not passive recipients. A simple quiz can be significantly helpful in creating a lasting impression in the minds of your prospective customers. For instance, asking your users to willfully submit their email address to aid your marketing strategy is not easy.

However, if you engage them with an interesting quiz that rewards them with a free eBook or other insightful resources, they wouldn’t mind.

Such interactive content not only accomplishes the purpose for which it was created but also imprints your brand’s name in the users’ minds. After all, you were the breath of fresh air when they were tired of browsing similar looking websites trying too hard to catch their attention.

2.  Distribute Content Using Chatbots and Exit-Intent Pop-ups

While chatbots help to ease the buyer's journey and capture them in the sales funnel, you can use them smartly to help you accomplish your motives or at least keep your users engaged in 2020. For instance, if the tables don’t seem to be in your favour, you can try to keep the visitor occupied with your digital assets like video or your most popular blog related to their search query.

This will not only help you make the most of your digital assets but help you to keep the users on your website for longer, fueling your chances of conversions.

3. Create New Types of Content In 2020

If you are already acquainted with the importance of content marketing but haven’ been able to tap its full potential thinking it will cost you a fortune, you need to rethink. In fact, you don’t need to incur any additional cost for marketing your content if you have the right strategy in 2020.

Just make consistency your rule of thumb and you’ll be unstoppable! For this, you need to create a smart content strategy by re-using the content you already have. Stay in the mind of your target market with newer formats. For instance, if you haven’t yet banked on the potential of videos, start converting your insightful blogs into educational videos in 2020. If you have not tapped the immense potential of podcasts, stand out by creating insightful podcasts your prospective clients can enjoy while travelling back to home or at night when they have got drained out from the blue light.

4. Leverage Your Social Media Channels in the Right Way

Engaging the target audience across social media platforms can be a great opportunity for brands to widen their avenues. However, many companies fail to utilize it. If you want to leverage the potential of any marketing medium, keep in mind why people use it.

For instance, social media is a vehicle to socialize, stay connected with family and friends in particular, the world in general and consume entertaining content. If you want to make the most of your presence on these content marketing platforms in 2020,  stir your target audience’s interest.

Ace your content marketing strategy to make sure your content isn’t a promotional trumpet for your brand. Focus on creating value for your audience. You can do this by sharing images, insightful infographics and videos to solve the problems of your prospective clients.

Despite this, if it is a big task for you to churn content consistently to keep your target market engaged, you can seek help from a social media marketing expert.

5. Make Quality Your Focal Point in 2020

With Google’s recent update, the search engine rankings of websites have undergone significant turbulence. As is the case with most of Google’s updates, the turbulence is based on the quality of the content on websites.

No matter which type of content you create, make quality your main focus. When you create high-quality content, it speaks for itself and doesn’t need additional marketing. Featured snippet, commonly known as ‘rank zero’ is a great example of this. If you want to fuel your marketing efforts, make sure to make quality the foundation of everything you do.

Striking the balance between quality and quantity can be a task in itself. Take inspiration from your existing content and update some of your evergreen articles to make sure that they stay fresh and relevant as ever.

How to Create a Winning Content Marketing Strategy in 2020?

Content marketing is all about creating value for customers. As a brand, it is not unusual to think-“if it isn't beneficial to my brand, why should I invest my time and resources in it in the first place?”. Thinking that content marketing is purposeless is one of your biggest misconceptions.

In fact, with the help of the right content marketing strategy, you can accomplish one or more of these objectives.

· Get found by your target audience - Catch their attention with educational content that solves a problem they are seeking a solution to.

·  Engage your audience- Provide a solution to their problem and transform them into subscribers, customers or brand advocates.

·  Acquire more customers -Try to monetize the attention you get from your engaged audience by proposing your services to them.

·  Create loyal customers- Keep your customers engaged to make your brand synonymous with the products or services you offer.

·  Reduce marketing expenditure- Reduce your dependence on paid marketing campaigns and create long-term value for your brand.

All you need is a well-planned content strategy that helps you reach the right people to get more leads. You should set key performance indicators that help you track the performance of your efforts and optimize them as per your needs.

Conclusion

No matter which point it is in your sales funnel, content serves dual purposes-

        i.           Attracts users’ attention

       ii.          Caters to their problem and fills the curiosity gap by providing a solution to a problem or conflict

Remember that creating high-quality content is only half of the battle won. To use it to its full potential in 2020, make sure that it reaches the audience for whom it was created. You can accomplish it with the help of the right content marketing strategy.

Content marketing goes far beyond getting immediate leads. It helps you to establish a distinguished brand identity and creates lasting relationships that make your brand the first name that comes into your audience’s mind when it comes to the products or services you offer.

In the scenario when brands put their best foot forward to grab users’ attention and stand out, a well thought out content marketing strategy can be your knight in shining armour in 2020.