Breathe new life into your organization’s content

For the better part of a decade, content marketing has been the linchpin for many successful marketing strategies.

Those strategies aren’t put on auto-pilot; they’re handled with care. Although your current efforts might spark adequate conversion and engagement, it’s probably time to rework things from the ground up. Thankfully it’s never too late to look forward and embrace current marketing trends. Here’s how:

1. Take a step back.

It’s no longer enough to fire off an email or publish a 400-word blog post every couple of weeks. Consumers have wised up to basic content marketing, and converting them into customers is going to take more work.

First, consider your content’s value.

Content provides value only if it’s useful, well-written and targeted to the correct audience. For additional insight, compare your content’s success against a competitor’s.

Think about the time, money, resources and research that goes into every piece of content you produce, and then outdo your peers. Seventy-five percent of content produced never sees a single social media share or external link. You’re wasting valuable resources if you aren’t taking the proper steps to change that.

Gone are the days of having a marketing assistant put on their writing hat and crank out an engaging piece of content. Writing is a specialized skill. Invest in an experienced, professional writer to increase your marketing department’s prowess.

2. Quality trumps all other things.

Make your content clear, concise and relevant. Provide an original viewpoint to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Identify what your competitors are talking about, and discuss that in a more creative way.

Pay extra attention to whom you wish to reach. The rise in account-based marketing (ABM) contributes to how organizations target their marketing efforts.

ABM is about crafting super-specific marketing messages. That principle should be embraced with content marketing, too.

If content is targeted to people in various job functions throughout the buying/acquisition process, then you have a much better chance of engagement and conversion.

3. Learn the value of search engine optimization.

In digital marketing, there is no happier marriage than SEO and content marketing.

When you separate the two, loneliness and miscommunication ensues, so foster a productive relationship.

Previously, content was created for the sake of expanding keyword sets. That strategy leaves user engagement and behavioral metrics as secondary priorities. With the 2016 addition of Google’s quality-focused algorithm updates, however, that approach has been turned on its head.

SEO analyst Timothy Hough says user intent is at the forefront of content creation and that marketers should cater to that.

Expand your strategy by asking these questions:

* What does the searcher want to know?

* Based on what they want to know, what else might interest them?

* How can my content inspire further engagement?

* Which formatting style should we use to accomplish that?

4. Embrace interactive content.

Many marketing pros have thrown out the “content is king” concept in favor of interactive content. Interactive content such as apps, quizzes, calculators and assessments generate conversions 70 percent of the time, almost double that of passive content (36 percent).

RELATED: Get the scoop on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram developments at Facebook headquarters.

Interactive content informs consumers or potential clients about your brand in a creative, engaging and often enjoyable way, while increasing your likelihood of social media and blog shares.

Don’t assume it’s a simple investment. Audiences don’t want to interact with outdated content.

Regardless of how good a given content asset may be, you must continually give your audience new reasons to visit your website.

5. Devote time to video.

From April to November 2015, the amount of average daily video views on Facebook doubled from 4 billion to 8 billion.

Audiences are experiencing significant written content fatigue and would rather open their smartphones to consume content. Optimum videos are short and built for sharing. The food video series Tasty is being shared at a colossal rate and shows that audiences aren’t impressed by just any old thing. Most want fun, engaging and visually stimulating content to share.

Adopt these approaches to tower over your competitors and stay relevant in content marketing’s crowded landscape.

Andrea Jones is a Santa Fe, New Mexico-based freelance writer. A version of this article originally appeared on Spin Sucks.

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