It takes a lot of time to produce high quality content. Of course with Social Media and Search Engine Marketing being great sources of new leads to your business it makes total sense to invest in creating captivating and highly relevant content. Most companies that actively engaged in Social Media and Search Engine Optimization dedicate completely separate teams to the task. These teams don’t always cooperate together. It is a massive waste of resources and costs that could translate in much better exposure if executed properly. If your SEO team writes and posts articles to get high quality links and then your Social Media team doesn’t know about it, they may do the same work twice and none of those posts would ever be connected together.
After all the most challenging part is to get the content. Knowing how to distribute it effectively is a key to success and can multiply the effect.
In the previous post I showed you
How to Plan your Calendar of Content. Now let’s review
effective steps for putting together a content strategy. Keep in mind that some
steps are optional therefore you should use your common sense and adjust steps
to your budget and specific needs.
Step 1 – Press Release
If you have newsworthy and exciting information to post you should definitely consider posting a press release online. Since most of the online news portals need a constant load of content the chances are that they will post that news on their page. Remember to always add links to those pages that get you either sales or leads. If publishers allow “do follow” links this step can help you to get high quality inbound links which is great for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Many local news outlets will publish your content. You can use those published articles later as examples in Social Media posts. It will validate your content and give you extra credibility. That’s why I recommend posting Press Release as a first step. Remember to add at least 2 links to pages that produce for you either new sales or new leads. Most press releases are curated so try to stay away from straight advertising of your products or services, otherwise press release will not be published.
Step 2 – Website Blog
Since posting press releases may be costly you may opt to start directly with Step 2. Your blog or news area of the page is very important. You have total control over it and you can bend the content to your own benefit. Since people are already on your web site it is very easy to direct them to your offering page. Also you may advertise your products and services in your posts.
It is important that your posts are engaging. Don’t post boring facts about your company or information that is not useful in some way to your potential clients. Use interesting facts and images to make those blog posts attractive.
Step 3 - Facebook / Twitter / Linked In
The biggest mistake people make is to post original content on the social media sites without leading visitors to a specific landing page. Even if that content is amazing and produces a single like, it will not translate into a new subscription, lead or a sale. It is important to grab people’s attention and link them to your product or service page. Social Media sites are great but you are not going to generate direct sale on those sites. You don’t want your hard work to be in vain…
Step 4 - Newsletter
Not everybody spends hours every day dwelling on social media sites. It is important that your current clients and those leads that you have on your marketing list know what you have to offer. Any information that can help them to make purchasing decisions is extremely valuable. That’s why you should use email marketing as one of your base tools. At this stage you have posted a great press release and/or blog entry. Your Social Media sites are updated and current; therefore you can give your recipients a choice of where they want to go. Make sure it is very easy for them to follow links to all areas listed above. Each of us has very specific preferences. Some just love to go to Facebook others would like to see your site. Since you set up a solid ground and each post is connected to your offerings page you may expect higher interested in your services or products.
This process will allow you to use a single event or news item and turn it into an effective way to market your business.
There are many variations to the scenario described above. Of course if you are lucky enough to have high quality video content you should post it on YouTube and include it in each step along the way. Use any attractive content and media to attract your visitors.
If your company is serious about generating traffic online NetroStar can help. We have skilled online marketers and business copywriters that can develop a high quality content for you. Together we can distribute it to maximize chance of success. Contact us today for more information.
See you until the next post.