The fire sales on Halloween candy are in full swing and the Christmas decorations are already coming out so you know what that means: the end of another year is almost upon us and that means it’s time to assess your marketing budget. You might’ve gotten a nice surprise in your holiday goodie bag and found that you have a content marketing budget surplus to work with.
Here are nine ways to get the most out of that holiday gift and put it to work for your 2019 content strategy so you can also get a jumpstart on that winter vacation.
1. Invest in high-quality video and streaming.
Video’s become an integral component of content strategy, and the Content Marketing Institute found that brands are not only still lagging on video content altogether, but also on the quality and type of video content. 82% of people would rather see live streaming video from a brand than their social media posts, so you don’t need to spend thousands on professional film equipment when a few basic tools or even a mobile tripod will get the job done.
2. Get into Twitch streaming and/or look to Twitch influencers.
Speaking of live video, were you aware that Twitch streaming has become the fourth-largest source of peak internet traffic? If you’re looking to latch onto the significant audiences that the more well-known Twitch streamers have, it’d be prudent to have games-related written and video content handy in addition to your standard video ads and sponsorship materials.
3. Pay special attention to the oncoming trend of voice search.
Voice-based searches are significantly on the rise, with Content Marketing Institute reporting that voice-based searches increased 75% between 2014 and 2017. This means that you’ll need to invest more in your overall content strategy to prioritize natural-language searches over search terms alone when deciding to order blog posts, webpages, and other related content.
4. Go long form with a whitepaper or e-book.
Depending on what your brand offers and your target buyers, a whitepaper and/or e-book just might be the investment you need. What goals do you have in mind for 2019? Are you trying to increase sales for a particular product, get a specific demographic of email list signup, or attract more qualified leads? Whitepapers are popular with the B2B sphere as are e-books, but the latter also has several applications in B2C to get email signups which makes them a worthy investment, especially in areas where people are looking for helpful or useful content such as recipes, usage tips, and so on.
5. Consider a datasheet if your product or product mix is appropriate for it.
Datasheets are the most common in business technology solutions because of the multiple decision-makers involved and the sheer volume of specs and other information that needs to be communicated in an incredibly punctuated form. However, they’ve been incredibly underutilized in both B2B and B2C and may be appropriate for your products.
6. Give your staff and writers a bonus and a raise.
Regardless of which tax form they receive and whether you see them every day or just communicate via messages on here, you don’t have a content marketing team without talent. You can’t get things done without them. You want your strategists, writers, editors, videographers, and other talent to keep doing an awesome job? A holiday bonus is always appreciated as is finding out they’re going to get more per word or project, which will provide the motivation to keep on churning out high-quality content that will continuously attract the leads and conversions you need.
7. Get a content strategist to ensure that your content strategy is on course for 2019.
Content marketing can be like sailing a ship into uncharted waters and you want to make sure that you’re on course. To make sure that your content is going where you want it to go, and definitely not sinking in the process, it can be time to invest in a few hours of a content strategist’s time to help determine the direction of your content and how well it aligns with your brand voice.
8. Start the year with stunning new images.
Written content is important, but pleasing imagery is even more crucial to get those clicks and shares. Are you still combing the internet for free pictures to use but keep ending up disappointed? It’s time to put your surprise surplus to good use with professional stock photos and licensed or bespoke illustrations that best fit your brand. There are several easy-to-use tools like Canva that make gorgeous imagery available in a snap where you can use your own professional images or theirs for a low price per finished file.
9. Start a podcast.
Podcasting is an exciting subset of content marketing that has its challenges, but is both relatively inexpensive to get rolling and easy to execute as you can use free tools like Zoom and Audacity to record and edit. Podcasts serve a function that written content can’t in that people listen to them on their commutes, at the gym, or doing housework and other tasks that make an audio format more amenable. Additionally, you can hire a transcriber to take down the text of the podcast so it’s both accessible to hearing-impaired visitors and text that is searchable and indexed.
Content marketing is always the best value for your money compared to other types of marketing, but if you’ve got a surplus to work with you want to make sure you can get the most out of it and also keep 2018’s methods in the past once the ball drops. And be sure to check out the talent at WriterAccess for all of your content strategy, writing, and image marketing needs!
Rachel P is an indie game developer, writer, and consultant. She is also a content strategist here at Writer Access and would be happy to help you with keyword maps, customer journey maps, and buyer personas in addition to writing for you. If you would to like to hire Rachel to devise a content strategy for you, please contact your account manager or send a direct message.
