Winning Content Strategies for Online Marketing

For an online company, marketing does not end with a detailed campaign management program alone. The real marketing challenge lies in creating content strategies that will ensure readability and sustain interest in the company or product. Developing compelling, innovative and dialog-based content are key goals to keep in mind when crafting online content strategies.

Based on the results of the Forrester survey of B2B marketers, one could make the assumption that website content is a primary element in driving website traffic, as it ranks first in terms of increased marketing spend. While that may be the case, however, deficient content strategies prevent a well written whitepaper or article from reaching the targeted audiences and driving marketing metrics.

Content needs to be relevant to the reader. You may have a cool product or service, but if you don’t communicate its value in a way that is meaningful to the reader, your content will not be effective. In an age of choice, content also need to be delivered in a form that is palatable to the reader. Some people prefer the written word, others relate better to visual demonstrations or diagrams. You will need to gauge which content formats will best deliver your content and message, and experiment with your choices.

There are many intelligent content marketing ideas which can leverage your website and create an impact on your target audience. Let’s take a look at a few key ones.

• Keep newsletter content focused on the needs of your audience, and avoid creating another data sheet or brochure disguised a newsletter. Show the reader that you understand their problems, and can offer a real solution based on the proven experience of other customers. Offering a relevant whitepaper, article or report as an incentive is also a good strategy to stimulate action. By providing newsworthy articles that match reader interest and provide useful, actionable information, you can develop sustained interest in your company, product, and brand. And…RSS feeds should be made available for all web content that has been posted. This is a sure way of increasing your newsletter subscriber base dramatically.
• Seminar invitations, newsletters or any other content that is shared with clients or subscribed members should be linked to a dedicated web page on company website or blog. This link becomes a natural information conduit between the company and the prospect.
• News releases schedules should be optimized beyond subject matter content. News releases optimized through keyword services such as PRWeb can help to build key links, because they are sources for other bloggers and industry leaders who use such sites to get latest news updates.
• Blogging is a great way to stay in touch informally with customers and also a fine way of using content to attract visitors to the website. Discussions on latest happenings or technology issues kindle interest in the reader and may evoke him to consider a product offering as well.
• Audio and video recordings are sometimes the most effective media to convey a product’s capabilities, but only if the production is of professional quality. Uploading videos or interviews to popular sites such as YouTube can increase viewership, and if the content is truly compelling in some way, spark viral distribution.
• ‘Follow me on Twitter’, ‘Want to be my Facebook Fan?’, ‘Digg Me’, etc., can be commonly found in webpage dialogue boxes, inviting readers to share information they have just read with friends, colleagues, and partners. Social media sharing is becoming a vital way to stay connected with readers and customers. Search engine rankings go up considerably when content is sent out on a continual basis in social media.
• And finally, regardless of which of these strategies you decide to adopt, remember to always keep the reader “in the loop”. Continuing to engage the reader (who may eventually become a prospect) with useful and relevant content is a winning strategy that has been proven over time.

Above all, it is also a great way to develop trust in your company and brand, and will help to sustain prospect interest throughout the sales cycle and beyond.