Working from home? Distracted by the news? Traveling in outer space? Whatever the reason is that you feel slightly out of touch with today’s trends, this week’s roundup of the latest and greatest in content marketing will bring you up to speed.
The Most Powerful Search Engine for Bloggers and Optimizers
How to Increase Blog Traffic with Simple Keyword Research via BuzzSumo
Is your blog inhabited by mostly crickets? Or are crickets not even able to find your content?
If you’re struggling to attract enough of the right traffic to your website’s blog, then it’s possible that you might not be using enough keywords, you might be using the wrong keywords, or maybe you aren’t using the perfect combination of smart keywords for you.
This article from BuzzSumo will teach you how using their keyword search bar can help you research and make intelligent keyword choices. With this powerful tool, you’ll be able to reach the right audience, increase traffic, and even optimize your social media posts.
Find Out Why Blondes Don’t Love Blonde Jokes
Why Audience Context Matters via Search Engine Land
It’s no secret that most blondes don’t find blonde jokes very funny. You can also bet that advertisements for weight loss programs wouldn’t be well received near soup kitchens. The reason is that, when it comes to communicating and marketing, context always matters. If you don’t understand the context in which your audience exists, then you can’t possibly empathize with their experience or connect with them on a personal level in your messaging.
To learn how to improve your understanding of your customer personas’ context and better connect with your actual customers, take a look at this article from Search Engine Land.
Is Your Digital Marketing Strategy Stuck, Treading Content Marketing Water?
10 Signs Your Digital Marketing Strategy Needs an Overhaul via Search Engine Journal
You’re not seeing the returns you hoped for.
You’re getting neither the conversions nor the traffic you expected.
Or perhaps, you simply feel like you’re floundering when it comes to measuring important marketing metrics like these.
If any of these remind you of your own marketing efforts, then your content marketing strategy might need an overhaul.
Take a look at this complete list of signs that you need to re-evaluate your digital marketing strategy to find out how well you’re actually doing – and to learn how you can improve.
Ho-Hum Content Results? Learn How to Transform Good into Great
6 Things to Improve Your Content Performance via Content Marketing Institute
If you have a content marketing strategy, and it’s doing alright (generating a moderate amount of engagement and conversions), then that’s good news. But guess what? It could be better. All you need to do is make a few simple changes to your strategy and adjustments to your content.
This article from Content Marketing Institute explains six fairly simple things (like choosing perfect keywords, offering value in titles, being helpful, creating irresistible calls to action, and more) you can do right now to take a so-so strategy and make it superb.
Turn Any Calendar into a Content Calendar for Your Business
5 Top Tips to Build a Business Blog Content Calendar via Business 2 Community
A content calendar is any calendar that’s used as a schedule for content publication. You can use a desk calendar, Google calendar, or the calendar on your iPhone.
Next, plan out your publication schedule by including all the information you need to have at-hand when assessing your content marketing schedule. Think about why you want to post certain content and how it’s relevant to your company. Once you know why, you can pick a publishing date and work backward from there to ensure your content is ready on time for distribution.
To learn the ins and outs of creating a content calendar and schedule for your business’s content strategy, check out this thorough and helpful article from Business 2 Community.
#NoOneEverCallsThemPoundSignsAnymore
Learn How to Expand Your Social Media Following with Hashtags via Entrepreneur
If you’re in marketing, use social media, or alive and breathing in the modern world, then you’ve probably already been exposed to the idea and use of hashtags. If you’re not already using them as a part of your content marketing strategy, you’re not alone. You are, however, missing out on the massive potential that could be gained from employing this very powerful marketing tool in your strategy. #ContentMarketingMagic
To learn more about the hashtag, what it is, how to use them, and how they can expand your brand’s social media following, then start living your #bestlife and read this article from Entrepreneur. #KillingIt
Unless (or Maybe Even If) You’re in the Funeral Business, Humor Marketing Is the Way to Go
Humor Marketing 101: Funny Marketing Is Serious Business via WriterAccess
For clowns, balloon animal artists, purveyors of candy, and other light-hearted entertainment businesses, humor seems like a given in their content marketing strategies.
For traditionally more-serious businesses, comedy marketing might seem like a poor choice, but that’s actually not the case. Many businesses in industries that are typically considered serious (insurance, legal, finance, life insurance, and luxury products) can have fun and benefit from using humor in their marketing, too. Skipping out on humor altogether is the same as skipping out on an opportunity to connect with your audience.
To learn how add a dash of ground funny bone to your content marketing recipe – no matter the type of business you’re in – take a look at this article from WriterAccess.
Should You Reconsider the Way Customers Experience Your Brand?
The Who, What, and How of Building a Customer Experience Strategy via CMS WiRE
Admittedly, this article is all about customer experience (CX) strategy, rather than content strategy. However, content is a part of the customer experience, so it’s essential that you think about your CX strategy and how your content marketing strategy affects your customers’ general experiences.
This article from CMS WiRE explains how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way businesses are approaching customer experience. Take a look at the full article to determine whether or not you should adjust your CX strategy in light of changing times and to learn some helpful advice for doing exactly that.
And that’s it for this week! See you next week, same time, same place. 🙂
A full-time freelance writer and editor, Jennifer G. believes that understanding each client’s unique business, brand, voice, passions, and goals is the true challenge of content creation. With every new client and project, she loves diving in, getting acquainted, and developing long-lasting relationships. Jennifer is also the author of our weekly content marketing trends report that hits the blog each Friday.
