How many times have you looked at your online engagement analytics and thought, “I could do better, but how?” You need to vary your content marketing strategy if you want to enjoy favourable results.
By now, you should already know how valuable a blog is to your business. And it is not just for news announcements or company achievements. There must be a strategy to engage users. If you need statistical evidence, here are a few below:
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Businesses that blog regularly get up to 97% more links to their websites
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Websites with a blog have 434% more indexed pages.
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Marketers who blog frequently are 13 times more likely to receive positive Returns on Investment (ROI).
Another study states that 43% of internet users skim through blog posts. This means, either users are finding it difficult to imbibe the constantly increasing quantity of information, or companies don’t create the quality of content people need.
In the current digital era, people are continuously being overwhelmed with data that there is little time to process the poor-quality information available. Because of this, marketers need to put more effort into creating valuable content regularly.
While it is quite easy for personal bloggers and Vloggers to produce a simple content strategy, many B2B sites still struggle with a strategy that works for their company. These companies mainly write occasional posts and various infographics to publish on their blog; which, does little improve overall marketing objectives.
So what type of blog content works? If you want to increase customer engagement and thus conversion rates, a deliberate mix of content types must be applied.
Type of blog content that work
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Video content
Few years ago, video was described as the future of content marketing. No doubt, it is a driving force in today’s content marketing practice. As a matter of fact, 51% of marketers have labelled video as the content type with the highest Return on Investment (ROI), and 43% of people want to see more video content in future.
There is no better incentive to add video to your content marketing strategy. So what types of videos should the typical business create to keep customers engaged?
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Editorial videos
Each year, the number of “How-to” searches on YouTubes increases by 70%, and businesses can leverage this opportunity to create editorial content that shares knowledge while winning customers over. “How-to” videos also help companies establish themselves as an authority in their niche. People feel more comfortable when they know they are dealing with an expert.
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Product videos
Buying items online already has its own limitations. People want to be able to get a touch and feel of the product. In fact, there is a saying “It is better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times”. Product videos, or demos help people overcome their doubts about a product. Zappos, the online shoe company was able to boost their conversion rate between 6% and 30% when they added videos to the product pages.
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Webinars
Many businesses don’t know this, but webinars can be part of your blog content. Although it is a bit complex for smaller companies to utilize webinars, it is a valuable approach to the content strategy of established companies.
As an online sales site, webinars can be used as a pre-sale stage. Don’t underestimate the value of a well-organised webinar. Find a common pain-point your product solves, describe the challenges and suggest solutions, then offer your product or service as a reliable solution.
Although this tactic is useful for generating more sales, customers can often tell that the speaker is trying to promote the item rather educate viewers. Of course, the way you use a webinar will depend on the business. But if you are looking to establish your business as an online authority, then organising free educational webinars regularly is ideal.
David Marks, the CEO of OrthoSynetics, urges owners of non-Ecommerce sites to organise webinars occasionally, as they increase the credibility of their business. This is also good for high search ranking.
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Text based content
When people hear the word “blogging”, what comes to mind is the usual text-based article. So far, I have listed two types that are of a different context. However, text is still the most widely used form of blog content, especially in Ecommerce. But many people still don’t use it effectively.
To get the best out of your content, focus on making it valuable to your audience instead of worrying about the number of keywords, or a strategic place to insert them. It will not only improve the dwell time (time spent on your site) and reduce bounce rate, but it will increase engagement. This is because, 94% of people who share a post do so because they believe other will find it useful.
Consider writing the following types of content:
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How-to guides
Like video, people find “How-to” guides very important because they enjoy learning new things and are looking for someone to help them solve their problem. The idea behind these posts is to find relevant topics to write.
There are many ways to do this but I will mention just a few
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Use Google Search or keyword planners (find out what topics/keywords people are searching for around your service).
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Use Quora (What questions related to your business are they asking?)
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Use AnswerThePublic (A tool with a wide range of keywords around specific topics)
Buying guides
If you produce or sell and products, whether offline or online, it is easy to create ideas for buying guides. This is a text-based content that provides shortcuts to help your visitors or customers navigate the sales funnel faster. This saves them time, and increases chances of a conversion. Don’t shy away from the length; Google loves long form content and will index your website appropriately. Thinking of writing 5000 words? Go ahead.
When creating content for your blog do not limit it to the usual text-based articles. Explore other contexts such as video, podcasts, webinars, infographics, GIFs and more. Of course, you should first understand which format your target audience responds to best.