Layers make lots of good things even better: cakes, puddings, trifles, cozy clothes, and, of course, content! That’s right. You can layer your content so your audience eats up every word. Say toodle-oo to bland content and howdy-do to these four scrumptious flavors of content marketing layers that will have your target audience coming back for seconds.
4 Flavors of Layers to Lift Your Content
1. Layering for Readability
This might seem obvious, but lots of businesses forget the simple fact that their content needs to be readable and approachable. Think about the way you search for information. If you don’t find your answer at the top of a page or at least get a clear idea that your question will be answered by the time you’re through reading, you move onto the next website. Layering for readability is often referred to as the iceberg approach.
From the top down, the iceberg approach organizes information in this way:
- Summarize the content contained in the page, in a couple of sentences.
- In the body of the page, explain the information that will satisfy most readers’ needs and answer their questions.
- At the end, let readers know where they can find more detailed information, if they still want to know more.
User-friendly content that doesn’t have important information buried beneath a mission statement or company vision will entice the reader to continue wading through your content, where you can eventually tell them about the great things your company does.
2. Layering Content Type for Marketing Structure
When you mix up the types of content you publish, your content marketing strategy will improve. The different types of content you release constitute all the ingredients to your marketing strategy. These might include blog posts, social media posts, videos, profiles, infographics, interviews, reviews, or guest blogs. Establishing a schedule for the release of this type of media will not only help you better deliver your marketing campaign, but will also help you determine which types of content are most effective, when they’re most effective, and on which platforms they generate the most activity. As a result, you can fine-tune your next campaign strategy accordingly.
3. Layering for Your Customer Journey Map or the Buying Cycle
You should also consider layering content and targeting it to specific individuals depending on their place within your customer journey map or the buying cycle. So, as your potential customer moves through stages of awareness, consideration, and purchasing, your content speaks to them directly:
- Explain the problem or the pain point.
- Introduce your solution.
- Provide more detailed information about how you solve the problem.
- Then offer proof through customer testimonials, reviews, or demonstrations.
- Finally, you might offer a free trial, newsletter subscription, or entice the individual to purchase.
Layering content in this way ensures your audience receives the right information at the right time. For example, you wouldn’t want to send content explaining your business model to a long-time customer, nor would you want to send highly detailed information to a person who is completely new to your brand.
4. Layering for Search Engine Optimization
When it comes to search engine optimization, you can go beyond backlinks, keyword strategy, and meta tags with strategic SEO content layering. To layer your content for SEO, provide content that ranks well, generates backlinks, and sits perfectly on top of your product or service.
For example, before ordering a set of cake pans, a person will likely make a search about the size of cake pans. Since pans have different measurements (imperial or metric), those potential customers will probably also look for a cooking conversion chart. General information search terms, like “liters to cups” or “inches to centimeters,” often rank much higher than specific search terms such as “4-quart cake pan.” Layering informational content, such as a measuring conversion article, on top of your product-specific content, like cake pan reviews, will improve your search ranking and lead potential customers directly to your relevant products.
Everything’s Better with Sprinkles on Top
However you choose to layer your content marketing strategy, make sure you do it with style. Sprinkle on sugar stars, plop a cherry on top, and always include whipped cream to deliver content that not only ranks well, but captures your brand’s personality while captivating your audience with humor, useful information, shocking facts, or plain-and-simple good writing.
Jennifer G is a full-time freelance writer and editor with a B.A. in creative writing from the University of Montana. She enjoys researching and writing creative content to engage readers and developing professional voices for clients across all industries. She specializes in medical, health, veterinary, and financial writing. Having worked nearly thirteen years in finance, Jennifer applies her experience in the banking industry (marketing, social media management, consumer and commercial lending, customer service, accounts, and bookkeeping) to her writing work within the industry.
