Even though new methods come along each year and the way we use content changes, consumers still have a voracious appetite for new material.
As we march forward into 2020, it’s vital to give your content strategy a fresh spin.
Show your target audience that you’re aware of changes in technology and the way they consume information.
In a survey of B2C content marketers, researchers discovered around 59% planned to increase spending in 2020.
The majority of professionals in the industry believe expanding content offerings is critical for growing your business.
Although there are many different things you could do to refresh your content marketing, there are some clear winners if you want people to respond to your efforts.
Here are seven ways you can come up with a successful new marketing strategy for 2020.
1. Write Out Your Plan
The Content Marketing Institute’s 2020 benchmark survey found that around 69% of successful marketers had a written plan.
Your team might have dozens of great ideas for content. However, if you don’t document those ideas, elements will fall to the side and work won’t be completed.
Writing out your marketing strategy also allows you to tie big sales into content leading up to special promotions.
You can target content based on holidays or peak buying season for your industry. You could even build fully personalized campaigns based on your customers’ birthdays and other big life events.
2. Revamp Buyer Personas
Over time, your target audience will shift and change. Perhaps you decide to add new products, or maybe the competition has changed, forcing you into a specialty niche.
Whatever the reason, it’s smart to revisit personas at least once a year.
Access to new data alone can help improve the characteristics of your typical buyers.
Pay attention to modern information-gathering strategies. This way, you can create the most detailed personas possible, which will help you personalize content for your audience.
3. Cater to the Smartphone Crowd
Wolfgang Digital’s Key Performance Indicator Report for 2019 uncovered an important statistic: 53% of traffic comes from mobile devices.
However, the way people read on smaller screens is different from the way they look at content on bigger monitors.
It absolutely must be easy to scroll. Longform is fine, but the user should easily be able to walk away and come back later to complete their reading.
4. Use Natural Language
One of the big changes in the way browsers work has to do with natural language patterns.
Smart speakers are driving this trend. People talk to Alexa or other devices using natural speech patterns when searching for information online.
This means that you have to be much more strategic in the way you use keywords, and the way you word articles has become very important for ranking content and engaging readers.
Think about what people might say when looking for your topic. Get your own smart speaker and practice some searches to see what turns up.
Check out Google’s “People Also Ask” section for more ideas about the types of questions they recommend when you ask them keyword-rich questions.
5. Don’t Forget Visuals
When talking about content, it is natural to think mainly about articles, blog posts, and landing pages.
However, content can also mean images, videos, and infographics.
Content can be comprised of anything that provides information to users, and a mix of different mediums is your best bet for success.
If you’ve ignored video, now is the time to embrace it for your marketing needs. Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing 2019 report indicates that around 87% of companies use video as one of their promotional tools.
6. Study Your Social Media Platforms
Are you sharing content where your target audience spends the most time?
If your typical buyer is a millennial and you spend your time on Pinterest, then you might not reach the majority who are over on Instagram every day.
Think about how and where your buyer personas interact in the social media world. Study how your competitors reach that group on each specific channel. Dig into analytics on how users have responded to past content you’ve posted.
Once you have a firm grasp of how past posts have performed and the types of content people respond best to, it’s just a matter of planning more successful content to reach additional followers.
7. Solve Their Problems
In a new study by the Content Marketing Institute, researchers found that 90% of B2B content marketers considered the needs of their audience, rather than simply pushing a promotional message.
Think about your buyers’ pain points and how your content helps them. If you want people to flock to your website and turn into leads, you have to offer them something of value.
Pain points are typically grouped into categories such as financial, process, support, and productivity.
First figure out the issues you can help with. Then, using that information, you can provide the right content and even solutions that help your customers.
8. Watch Trends, but Stick With What Works
Although trends change from one year to the next in marketing, it’s important to stick with what works well for your particular brand.
Add new ideas and revamp what you’re already doing. Don’t overlook classic methods such as creating good content people want to read.
Some of the biggest changes will come from advances in technology and better data management.
You’ll find the basics of content marketing will remain the same, but the finer details and planning will change over time.
Pay attention to your customers’ needs, and no matter how you approach your market, you’ll find success.
Feature Image Credit: CC 0; Public Domain, sourced from PixaBay.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions stated in this post are that of the author, and Return On Now may or may not agree with any or all of the commentary.
Kayla Matthews
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- 8 Ways to Refresh Your Content Marketing Strategy - February 4, 2020
