The digital landscape is constantly evolving and the behaviour of search engines – and ultimately consumers – invariably adapts to these changes.
As the level of content available becomes increasingly overwhelming, recent studies suggest many individuals no longer spend time surfing the web for interesting articles.
Instead, the majority are electing to remain on easy-to-navigate, familiar interfaces. These include their preferred social media platforms and larger online publications such as the Huffington Post, news.com.au and Mama Mia.
Great news for content marketing!
But there is one, tiny catch. The competition to be seen and heard on highly frequented websites is intense, with growing levels of content and social media networks, including Facebook and Instagram, algorithms designed to share paid content more prominently on the newsfeeds of their users.
In order to boost brand awareness and reach new audiences, an integrated approach to content marketing that provides an effective combination of paid and organic content is fundamental.
Founder of the Content Marketing Institute, Joe Pulizzi reports a growing trend is for businesses to lift their spend on increased promotion of carefully created, differentiated content via paid promotion. Yet this new world of paid promotional content remains uncharted waters for many organisations. So, how best to navigate them?
1. Discover the benefits of each medium
Paid promotion encompasses a vast array of social networking platforms, native advertising and pay per click (PPC) options.
This year the Content Marketing Institute has pinned Facebook, Snapchat and native advertising as three major industry trends to watch.
There is no set formula when developing a paid content marketing strategy. Each style of paid promotion enables your business to reach a differing demographic more effectively.
Below is simply the tip of the iceberg of the paid promotion options available to reach audiences and grow your business.
Facebook remains the number one social media platform worldwide holding 18% of the marketshare according to a 2017 study published by Statista. For businesses, Facebook provides highly customisable and easy-to-manage paid promotional options that include both sponsored articles and promoted posts that can be targeted to very specific audiences. On the downside, it is notoriously difficult to convince users to click out of the platform to a third party website.
LinkedIn is the number one means of online B2B advertising. A platform that caters to the converted with users likely to already be interested in the content you are promoting, this professional networking channel is popular with younger generations, with millennials accounting for 38% of LinkedIn users.
Native advertising disseminates articles via online advertisers, for example Outbrain, to major news websites. These organisations disseminate content to an audience already engaged by a similar topic. Native advertising provides a subtle means of utilising advertorial to increase brand awareness.
2. Market research
Paid promotion enables content marketers to pre select their target audience. To gain the most from your investment and select the most effective means of showcasing your brand, take the time to define your target market by understanding exactly who interacts and engages with your brand and content.
Social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn proved highly tailored demographic selection options that encompass age bracket, employment type, location and gender. Based on these selections social media networks directly target your desired audience.
For businesses with limited resources, taking advantage of the analytical data of older, organic campaigns can provide the insight required to build a solid PPC content marketing strategy.
3. Create quality content
Once you have put in all the effort and funds to determine where and with whom to share your content, ensure the material shared takes advantage of the medium and provides consumers with an engaging experience.
Don’t settle for second rate content! Quality content with a subtle call to action will help readers bond with your brand, click through to your page and give you the best chance of increasing sales and market share.
At Content Empire we specialise in supporting businesses to achieve measurable brand recognition and customer engagement with content.
Contact us if your content marketing could do with a boost. We will make it happen.