5 Ways To Optimize Your Content Marketing Strategy For 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people interact and conduct their day-to-day activities. The social distancing and strict quarantining have also led to the realization that even when the pandemic is done and over with, we aren't going back to the way things were.

This is the new normal, and it's here to stay.

As buyers turn to the internet to scout products and make purchases, businesses and marketers are compelled to turn away from conventional strategies and adopt a more interactive approach to connecting with their customer base. And this effort is led by content marketing.

Content marketing isn't something new, but it sure is effective, and 69% of B2B marketers will attest to that fact.

But if you have a content marketing strategy that's not yielding the kind of results you'd like to see, don't give up just yet.

As long as your content goals match those of your customers, it'll get you the targeted sales and engagement you need to succeed. So make sure to answer the following questions when building your content strategy:

- What do your customers want the most?
- Are your customers looking to buy or looking to form an authentic connection?
- Which platforms are your consumers more active on?

The answers to these questions will ultimately determine the strategy that you should employ.

Here are a few important marketing strategies that can bolster your content strategy to generate more traffic, boost brand awareness, and engage your target audience:

Building Communities Centered On Your Product/Service

Ever since the world has gone into The Great Lockdown, there has been a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability surrounding businesses. However, creative managers and marketers have come up with significant steps to connect with consumers virtually.

People used social media more than ever during the lockdown. According to research, 57% of people turned to social media channels and online forums for online shopping and getting information about new trends.

So, naturally, it makes sense for businesses to focus on their online growth. However, online change does not only mean having an active social media account. It also means having online communities, chat-forums, and platforms with a high-level of engagement.

Suppose your audience can't engage with you on online communities or are unable to feel a sense of attachment to your product. In that case, they will look for other businesses (i.e., your competitors) that make them feel like they belong. Online platforms like Slack and Discord let brands easily create their own community channels to interact with their customers, so there is no reason for you not to get on this stat!

Building communities also dissolves boundaries between businesses and customers, encouraging a more communal experience. Instead of brands perpetuating the need for consumers to buy their products, business owners and consumers can have a side-by-side conversation, a coffee chat, or a feedback session to welcome like-minded individuals.

For example, Sephora's Beauty Talk community provides a platform for every Sephora user to share their experience with a product, create their own looks, offer beauty tips, and do a lot more! In fact, many people tend to stay loyal to Sephora products because of the friendly and engaging community that they get to be a part of.

Interactive communities bring you many marketing opportunities while also letting you in on effective customer feedback and exactly what your customer segment requires. These online communities can drive sales and engagement and increase ROI in powerful ways.

Repurpose Content To Use On Multiple Platforms

Social media channels that drive sales and engagement have always left brands and marketers interested in building a viable social presence. But the outbreak has shifted consumer trends massively. Instead of passively consuming content, people are actively creating it on different social media platforms. This has also given rise to social media influencers, increasing competition to develop and post consistently.

However, what many businesses fail to realize is that they might resort to posting low-quality content to pursue higher quantities of content, which can do more harm than good. So instead of filling your feed with low-quality content, a better idea is to recycle and repurpose your most popular content (as blog posts, videos, social media posts and more) across different platforms.

For example, suppose your Christmas video last year attracted a lot of engagement. In that case, you can turn it into a short Instagram post and re-post snippets from it. Similarly, if you have a high performing blog post, you can turn it into an infographic or video. Add visually attractive features, GIFs, memes to make your content interactive and engaging.

You can also leverage PosterMyWall tools to resize your content to fit different platforms, for example, turning a Facebook cover photo into an Instagram post. Similarly, you can also re-use older content or taglines to create posters and flyers as a throwback to the past.

Repurposed content works because the more social media channels you use in your marketing campaign, the more consumers you will cater to. Every social media has a domineering consumer segment, such as Gen-Z dominating TikTok and the millennials on Instagram.

Engage In Live Video Sessions And Tutorials

Video marketing has always been an important marketing tool for businesses. However, since the outbreak, video creation has reached unparalleled popularity. With the rise of platforms like TikTok, many brands and influencers are leveraging this low-cost opportunity of reaching out to a wide customer base through videos.

Likewise, live videos on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram pave the way for brands to create a more personalized connection with their audiences by creating value-added, helpful content. Most consumers believe that live videos generate trust and transparency about a product, helping them make better decisions. Moreover, 56% of live streamers in the U.S. and U.K. plan to continue watching live videos even after the outbreak.

This makes it clear that the trend of live streaming is here to stay for a long time. The sooner brands incorporate a live video strategy in their marketing campaign, the better. Luckily, there are a lot of creative ways that brands can use live videos.

You can upload a weekly video to show the company behind-the-scenes before a big event or a BTS of the product creation process. Watching BTS content makes customers feel like they are being shown something exclusive. It makes them feel like a part of the creation process.

Moreover, you can also use a video strategy to make testimonial videos. These videos show all the positive feedback that previous clients have given your business and can show how using your product has garnered a positive experience for them.

You can also start a series of webinars or tutorials to drive new subscribers to your channel and build credibility with your existing subscribers. A series of webinars tend to be more interactive than short, simple videos. It offers the audience the chance to engage in a Q/A session.

Check out our live design classes that offer tips and tricks for creating powerful visual designs. Our expert designers, Lisa Sinicki and Suzy Deline, host these live sessions while also answering our consumer's budding questions and queries. Learn to make animated videos, gifs, and posters for your brands - there is something for everyone to pick up!

Create SEO-Driven Content

It is not possible to separate SEO from the content. After all, it is the search engines that ultimately determine where and how your content appears. You may be able to write a blog every day and post consistently. Still, if your post misses out on all the essential SEO keywords, chances are that your posts will not be ranked by search engines to be discovered by consumers.

Using the right approach, your content can generate traffic to your website and nurture leads. The general idea goes that the longer your article is, the more widely spread out your keywords will be. An ideal length for an SEO optimized blog post would be 3000 words - it can generate three times more traffic to your website and blog and attract four times as more shares!

Obviously, it goes without saying that the amount of traffic you generate depends on the content you write and the use of relevant keywords that can attract both humans and search engine bots.

Content tactics, like a strong SEO strategy, focus on long-term sustainable growth. The initial ROI tends to be lower. However, staying consistent can lead to sustainable leads, more website traffic, and increased ROI.

Featured Snippets

Have you ever tried searching for instructions on google and see a small information box appear on the top of the page?

Chances are that you immediately click on that box and don't even scroll down to see what other links have. The information box usually has all the answers that users are looking for, all in bullet points for easy readability.

These information boxes are called featured snippets and are one of the most effective content strategies to use in 2021. Featured snippets take up important bullet points and keywords from a blog post and rank that snippet at the very top of a search page. Not only does this bring more traffic and visitors to your page, but it can also validate your site's authority on a topic.

For instance, in the example below, direct bullet instructions have been pulled from tasteofhome.com and presented as a featured snippet, ranking the blog post on top. And the reader will click your link if they're looking for pictures and more details. This is Google's way of telling everyone that your content holds authority.

To Conclude

With almost half of the world's population using the internet, more and more people are driven to engage with brands because of the content they offer. Thankfully, with the fast-paced technology at our hands, smart businesses can leverage online tools and strategies to create videos, posters, and other kinds of engaging content.

These strategies have become necessary to stand out.

It is time to enter 2021 with a strong content strategy that can elevate your business. So what are you waiting for?

Get started today!