Most of the planet is online.
Judith Lewis, of DeCabbit Consultancy, notes that “Much of peoples’ lives are centred around social media, and if used correctly, content could attract a higher volume of traffic by using social amplification.”
Creating content that works
Judith explains, “The way we consume content has changed. A 20 second video length is ideal for Twitter as our attention will wander after that time period.
“Content has to be available, always. Websites have to be friendly to mobile users, and this is only getting more and more important.
“Content also needs to be consumable quickly. You have 2 seconds to convince a user to stick around and engage with your content, otherwise they’ll bounce.”
What’s the secret to good content creation?
“It’s mapping out your content”, Judith says.
“Think about what brings in traffic, what inspires action, which keywords to focus on, and how to improve your CTR.
“Think about the year in advance – can you use days such as Halloween, Christmas, Easter and many other official days throughout the year to boost your traffic?
“You also need to know your target audience – what is going to appeal to them almost instantly – within that 2 second window? Persona mapping is a great way to do this.”
Persona mapping: find out who you’re aiming to target
- Identify: define the concerns of your customers and understand their motivations and needs
- Questions: at each stage of the buying process, find out what questions your customers are asking
- Answers: base your content on the answers to your customers’ questions
- Map: pair your keyword plan with your questions and work out easy gaps to target (high search volumes, and fewer competitors in the top ten)
- Create: write keyword-optimised, sharable content that adds value and answers questions
Use keywords to influence your content and capture featured snippets
Judith continues, “Think about possible questions found in longer tail keyword searches.
“What are the most commonly asked questions regarding your products? Try to plan your content to hit these key search queries.
“Are there any seasonal search trends? Can you look at traffic spikes in advance, such as what customers search for around Christmas?
“Write to capture the featured snippets and lists on popular search terms, gaining you more space and visibility in position 0 in the search results.”
Measure the right things
“It’s important to make sure that you’re measuring the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for your site and your content marketing campaigns. Measure your KPIs accurately, such as increasing sales your site makes.
“Remember, social likes and shares are not a good reflection on what to aim for in terms of reaching your actual business goals. Don’t be tricked into thinking social likes count.”
Be a brand
Judith explains, “Branding is on the increase, and of increasing importance.”
“It doesn’t need to be complex, but having a good brand identity means having a unique name, a logo and ensuring your marketing efforts always reflect your brand voice.
“Remaining consistent is a key way to retain loyal customers and attract new ones.”
The importance of social amplification
Customers are willing to pay, on average $19.83 more if they get a response to their query in 5 minutes or less.
29% of customers are more likely to go to a competitor if they’re ignored on social. Brand loyalty decreases by 23%, and the customer is 14% more likely to post negative feedback.
Judith explains, “If you’re not using Twitter and Facebook for advertising, you’re missing out. A lot of people are using LinkedIn, and some who got there early are using LinkedIn live. If you signed up six months ago it’s possible to use the feature – and some users can gain thousands of viewers in minutes.
“Tweets last for 8 minutes if you’re lucky, yet a 15 second Twitter video ad is still just as effective as a 30 second TV ad in terms of the information that’s retained by users.
“Video is the most engaging type of content because it comes across as genuine. Even if the production value is terrible, this can work as a plus as the user will see this as authentic.
“If we think about being authentic and genuine, it doesn’t take a whole production crew. If you have a phone with a reasonably decent camera, you’ll be able to create a video.”
