5 Steps to Content Marketing Success

I love working with new individuals to the world of online marketing, helping them avoid the mistakes I made.
Makes me think about all the pitfalls I experienced in my beginnings online –  first with SEO, then website development, adding social media when it came on the scene. Through it all, I found that there is no ‘easy’ button or quick fix. Success starts with a strategic plan – not frenzied activity – and followed over time. That’s the ‘short cut’ I like to offer newbies and everyone online.
Marketing – whether online or offline – never stops.
There does come a point where all your strategic efforts culminate and a snowball effect begins to take place. However, that doesn’t happen in one month and rarely in one year. Therefore, part of my work with clients is keeping them on the straight and steady path without rocketing off on some new shiny object or when boredom or impatient sets in.
Having a Plan of Action and sticking to it is critical.
What does that look like?
Getting traffic to your website, building social media, and things like that are tactical.  It’s time to be strategic and plan for success.  You want to sell your products and services to people.

“Strangers are friends you have yet to meet.” ~Unknown

Here’s an easy, follow the dot, 5 Step Strategic Content Marketing Plan

1. Create ongoing content creation on your website

Write blog posts that your audience is interested in while keeping it fresh. I wrote a post recently about the many different types of blog posts, so no rehashing please. You need to write content to build a following and then continue to write content to keep them engaged. While I want you to keep in mind that you are creating a business for your target market, the content you are writing is also feeding the search engines so that more and new people find your website.

2. Stay in touch with your subscribers via email

Having a good optin offer is critical to bring your prospects into your email funnel. But don’t stop there. Keep sending out emails so they don’t forget about you. You can send out a snippet (RSS feed driven) of your blog post via email, that includes a Read More link taking them to your website. That’s more traffic for you, and while they are there, they will hopefully look at your products and services.

3. Post content on other websites

This can be guest blog posting on an occasional or ongoing basis. Read this post: The Decay and Fall of Guest Blogging, before you attempt it. Do rewrites of some of your most well received content and submit it to other sites.  It can also mean re-purposing your written content by turning it into videos and pdf for uploading. You can see I’ve begun to implement that here and it brings activity via other channels like YouTube.  Use images on Pinterest and Instagram. Implement infographics and distribute on graphic sharing sites.

4. Be active in social media

I know that many clients who fall in the 40+ age range don’t feel comfortable using social media. And I say, “Get over it.” You are missing a golden opportunity in the Online World we live in today. I would imagine that in the Victorian days of calling cards, the entry of a telephone seemed rude and presumptuous. Just because some people use social media wrong, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Using social media correctly makes the whole world your oyster, making it possible for you to meet and help and make sales with people far outside your geographical area.

5. Network – online and offline

Network with people doing the same work you are. They aren’t your competitors. Forge strategic alliances where you endorse and promote others and vice versa.  Online social networking may capture the biggest marketing attention nowadays, but the strongest bonds are still forged based on relationships established in the offline, physical world. Though you may connect first online, you can build an even stronger online network by grounding those connections in face-to-face encounters.
Then repeat Steps 1 – 5 on an ongoing basis.

I’ve used quite a few idioms in the post, and I’m going to use one more (I hear you sighing)….
Rome wasn’t built in a day.  No business was built in a day, or a week, or a month.  Do not think that your online business is any different.  It takes time, but it’s time that is well worthwhile.

“Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day, But They Were Laying Bricks Every Hour.”
~James Clear