12 Dec Content Marketing Tools for Effective Posts

Blog posts, emails, photos, and videos, are some of the most convenient ways to get your content marketed and get potential readers’ attention. However, thought leadership content is an important marketing technique which is going to get all the recognition this year. How does this impact small businesses though? Through blog posts.

Various businesses and in some cases individuals are completely focused on getting their content the right attention through SEO optimization, readability, and usage of most popular keywords. While blogging is an integral part of the content marketing strategy, it definitely is not the only technique to get the desired result. Some of these techniques could be

• Publishing an e-book
• Podcasts and public speaking
• Well-structured deliverables through email marketing

1. Publishing an e-book

Most of the marketing done these days follows a digital route and relies heavily on the data they receive about potential readers. However, there is a conventional way to go about content marketing and that is through publishing a book. A book is a physical testimony of your in-depth knowledge in your particular field or subject. Anyone who enjoys your book and finds it productive and value-adding is a potential customer for you. Books can be self-published these days and will add brownie points to your credibility as a brand, individual or a business. While promoting your book, which is conceived as a noble gesture, you can promote your brand through various interactive sessions and complimentary content creation services.

According to book publishers, some factors have utmost importance when marketing your content through book publishing.

• The idea of publishing a book is not educating the reader, but the promotional benefit you will get from it.
• Even if you have hired a marketing team to work on the promotion of your book, you should be ready to work on inbound marketing as much as you can.
• Be prepared to market the book differently
• Books are in business for the long haul and the marketing techniques have changed for them in this digital era. Fewer people are spending time judging a book themselves. They need a trusted media outlet to tell them it’s worth their time. So you as an author you should be ready to market your book different than other commodities.

When people see you are publishing a book, they take you more seriously and tend to follow you as well. People are more inclined towards your content and trust you more and even buy your products.

Thought leadership is an important aspect of building trusting relationships between buyers and you. Statistics are grossly inappropriate and undervalues thought leadership and its effects. Only around half of B2B marketers think that thought leadership is an important contributing factor whereas 83% of buyers believe it’s crucial for their decision making. It’s also important that you publish an e-book with a lot of sincerity. Building content that’s outdated or has no successful application can bring you negative publicity. Your efforts in publishing anything of poor quality is going to end up in vain. Before turning into an author you should consider other people with writing experience. Hiring someone with good editing experience will prove beneficial to you and your efforts. Investing in a good editor will also give you time to focus on other aspects of your work. An editor will also point out your errors and reduce unnecessary details to maintain your thought leadership content’s intentions.

2. Well-Structured Deliverables

Almost all the sites you see these days have newsletter sign-up options to have better communication with their visitors through email marketing. However, it is very rare that these deliverables provide any information on how it would be beneficial for the reader to sign-up. It would be a great step on your part to exchange something with the reader like prescriptions, free gifts or vouchers to increase the interest generated. Spending time on creating value-adding deliverables will impress your potential buyers and might just drive them to try your products. This effect could be similar to and might exceed the effect of e-books.

Some more examples of value-added deliverables could be-

• Infographics that provide readers with relevant research and information through statistics and processes.
• A blueprint or formulas that can ensure the promised deliveries.
• A relevant course link or a webinar that can teach something useful to the reader.

To make the sign-up more engaging, you can add discounts, offers, and coupons and run contests. You should keep your newsletter signup minimalistic in appearance and only have one column asking for the email. Many times readers find pop-up newsletter sign-ups annoying. You can introduce the signup in the comment section instead of a pop-up. A short course that is divided between multiple emails can also be a resourceful technique to have more engagement from the reader. Emphasizing customer only benefits will make the customers feel special about subscribing to your newsletter.

3. Podcasts and Public Speaking

However well you write, expressing your thoughts verbally may also yield positive results. An effective and important marketing technique is speaking. It will help you kickstart interest in your product and let people talk about your product. Word of mouth can double your website visits and double your sales. You might not be a very good public speaker but you cannot undermine the effect inbound marketing can have on your product’s lifecycle. People tune in to podcasts when their minds are relaxed. They listen to it while driving or working out and you have their complete attention for that period of time. 

Publishing some excerpts through short videos on various platforms can generate people’s interest in knowing your brand better. If you are not very confident about the content of your podcast, you can collaborate with others in the same field of expertise or can review other existing podcasts through your episodes. 

Sharing your thoughts on air will help you reach a very diverse and wide audience. You can then use this platform to explain yourself better with your persuasive skills and a meaty amount of information. 

Whatever style of content you decide to talk about, the most crucial aspect of it would be quality content. It would be a good idea to create in-depth and worked out content in a particular field rather than focusing on a diverse pool of subjects and confusing the listeners with extra information and redundant data. 

Content marketing is a continuously growing and evolving field. In this competitive environment, having a variety of tools and techniques will help you stand apart from your competitors. Teaching readers and adding value to their knowledge base in return for their time will help your prospective clients remember you. Otherwise mediocre content will start working against your company rather than working for it.