Content marketing is a lot harder these days. Last year, 65% of Google searches ended without a click. And social media platforms will ding you for linking out. The harsh truth? Marketers need to get a lot savvier about their content. Here's how:
Tie content to business goals. Example: Grow blog traffic → Good, but may take long to convert Get Likes and RTs → Better, but doesn't specify who is amplifying Earn social media engagement from people in our ICP → Best! Resonance + amplification from likely buyers.
Match your content to where the consumer is on their influence map. 1: Problem discovery 2: Brand awareness 3: Further education 4: Solution seeking More on influence maps:
Create content for the type of amplification you need. Ask yourself: Why would an influencer RT this? (It's something they wish they said.) Why would a reporter cover this? (News about business growth) Why would my ideal customer share this? (A quiz with brag-worthy results.)
For your outlines: Use the hook-line-sinker template. Hook: Attention-grabbing statement. It raises questions that will be answered. Line: The meat that delivers on the hook. Sinker: Message that stays with the reader after they leave.
Write amazing headlines. Follow NPR's headline-writing advice: • Specific • Easy to understand • Inspire a reaction • Not overly clever • Capture the spirit of the story
Repurpose content to distribute it. Speaking on a podcast? Turn a talking point into a blog post and link to your episode. Got a blog post? Summarize as a LinkedIn post. Promoting an event? Write a thread that gives away a few insights. (Like this 👇)
Promote your content on social media — effectively. ❌ "Sign up for our webinar!" ✅ Use a viral-likely format to get people's attention and make them care. Example: This thread resulted in 101 webinar signups from Twitter alone. 👇
For even more advice on your best content marketing strategy... Check out our SparkToro Office Hours on YouTube — and learn from @randfish and me:
And for the still-curious, here's @sparktoro and @SimilarWeb's study on zero-click Google searches:
For more on marketing and creativity... Follow me: @amandanat Sign up for my 2x monthly newsletter: https://t.co/kc9xTxq4a7 Each newsletter has: • Marketing advice • A screenshot interview • An original recipe (no backstory!)
amandanat.com
