If you are a relatively new business to your marketplace, it can be hard to get noticed alongside your well-established counterparts. Your competitors may already have solid exposure in your target locations and among your target demographic, which can make it tricky to penetrate. For any new or growing business, content marketing can be a cost-effective solution to build trust with prospective customers and, ultimately, increase your revenue.
Building and enhancing your brand’s authority in the eyes of consumers is not an overnight task. Authority is increasingly important in the eyes of Google today. Authority is one of three main pillars of a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy for any brand online, according to SearchEngineJournal. The major search engines will scour a brand’s website for relevant, authoritative content and consider external signals such as the number of external websites linking to a page as an additional gauge of a website’s authority.
Content is therefore a vital part of your SEO strategy, helping to demonstrate your expertise and build trust with those around you.
Develop a content strategy for your business
The most important aspect of content marketing is to have a plan of action. Publishing how-to articles, blogs, and industry whitepapers without prior knowledge of whether there is a demand for this content is a sure-fire waste of your time. Design a content strategy based around what your competitors are already talking about, the areas they aren’t talking about, and how you can fill that gap in the online knowledge-sharing market.
The most important aspect of content marketing is to have a plan of action. Publishing how-to articles, blogs, and industry whitepapers without prior knowledge of whether there is a demand for this content is a sure-fire waste of your time. Design a content strategy based around what your competitors are already talking about, the areas they aren’t talking about, and how you can fill that gap in the online knowledge-sharing market.
Be strategic with your content ideas. Develop a content calendar or schedule, so that you can create content around seasonal trends or dates when search volume may peak. A content strategy should also clearly outline the target keywords your content should be incorporating to build authority within your industry. Today, it’s easier than ever to find low-competition and even long-tail keywords that your brand could easily rank for, providing you publish engaging, authority-building content that not only educates readers but empowers them to use your goods or services.
Don’t be afraid to share your knowledge
The number-one rule with content marketing is to never be scared of sharing your expertise and skills. Your immediate goal with any published content on your website or email newsletters should be to educate and inform target customers. Think about ways you can solve real-world problems for readers and write your content in a neutral, factual tone so that it can be read without a “salesy” ulterior motive. This area of your content strategy may not yield an immediate return on investment, but it will certainly leave a lasting impression of your brand in the minds of prospects.
A prime example of demonstrating knowledge and subtly upselling services can be found on the blog of the online sportsbook Marathonbet. During every week of the Premier League season, you will find Marathonbet’s in-house analysts publish Premier League predictions and previews. Within these articles, the team discusses the latest data and statistics that everyday football fans would be unaware of. This data can be used to inform betting opinions and decisions within these pre-match articles. The latest available EPL odds are then weaved in as a subtle call-to-action, giving readers a convenient way to place wagers based on their expert views.
Become active with peers in your industry
It’s also vital that your brand becomes an active participant in the online community of your industry. Don’t be afraid to share your content with other industry figureheads on social media and engage in discussions with fellow professionals on topical issues. By demonstrating your desire to talk about prevalent topics on platforms where your target demographic lives, it all helps to cement your brand as one that’s keen to improve the industry as a whole, without focusing solely on your bottom line.
As part of this community engagement, you should also create social media profiles for your brand and actively post relevant industry updates to your target customers. You could even record live social videos to prospects on social media to put friendly faces to your brand’s expertise. It’s the easiest way to demonstrate that your business has its fingers firmly on the pulse of industry trends.
A scattergun approach to your content marketing rarely works in building your brand’s authority. Instead, adopt a laser-like focus on key topics to educate, intrigue, and empower your readers in equal measure.
