5 Content Marketing Hacks You Must Use Content marketing takes time to get results from, but when you do it's the strategy that keeps on giving.
By AJ Agrawal Edited by Dan Bova
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Content marketing is all about content. There are many ways to distribute it and there are many ways to get seen, but everything goes back to content. It's what drives everything forward, including your social media marketing efforts.
You need to make sure that you're doing everything you can to make the most of your content marketing campaign. This guide is going to show you five of the key hacks you should use.
Employ the Skyscraper Technique
The skyscraper technique is the act of using a previous great idea in order to replicate the results. It's a great way to ensure off-site optimization because you are using something that has already been tried and tested.
It doesn't have to be something that you have used before. Look at your competitors and see which pieces of content have had the biggest effect. The skyscraper technique will ensure that you have at least a reasonable chance of replicating the great results brands have had in the past.
Create Custom Images
Visuals are important, but what you shouldn't do is just rely on stock images. Stock images are good if you need to publish something fast, but they do little to attract other bloggers and visitors to your content. The chances are they have seen the images hundreds of times as it is.
Custom images can easily be created. You can do them with an iPhone these days. It doesn't matter how mundane they are as long as they are created by you.
Fill Your Articles with Sound Bites
Sound bites are the little quotes that you can easily rip out of the article and repurpose for use on Twitter and Facebook. These are the lines that resonate with people. Creating sound bites isn't as easy as trying to impart wisdom on people, though. You need to think about what really matters.
Think of one line that would sum up the point of each section. Carefully consider what the biggest lesson your readers should take away is.
Wrap Everything In a Story
A blog with basic information is never going to get you anywhere because it's dull and boring. It may be profound and it may tell you a lot about a certain subject, but people are going to have trouble remembering it. Instead, think up a story that people can relate to.
People are more likely to remember stories and they are more likely to be able to retain the information. You are more likely to capture customers and hold them if you go about it this way.
Pick a Headline That Sells
Headlines are so important in content marketing that it just had to be mentioned again here. You should choose a headline that sells because that's what will pull people in. It's the key first impression that people are going to have.
With so much competition these days, the headline becomes more important than ever before. You have to tell people what the article is about and why they should read it in just a few words. Tell people why they should read your piece of content over someone else's.
Conclusion – Content Marketing is About Testing
Do bear in mind that content marketing is still all about testing. You still need to make sure that you are checking your analytics and evaluating the content that does best. Then you can use the skyscraper philosophy to come up with something that's going to succeed again and again.
Content marketing takes time to get results from, but when you do it's the strategy that keeps on giving. How will you manage your content marketing campaign today?