Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to generate organic inbound traffic. It can also greatly improve your website’s SEO. Therefore, it’s important to develop a comprehensive content marketing strategy that you can execute all year round. With the right strategy, content and distribution channels in place, you’ll keep your brand top of mind with customers, become a trusted thought leader within your industry, and most importantly, increase traffic to your site.

Start with a company blog

Company blogs are one of the easiest and most accessible platforms on which to create content that you can control and publish regularly. Blogs are a critical tool in the content marketing arsenal so it’s not surprising that 81% of B2B marketers use them. Unlike with third-party channels, developing your own blog means you’ll have full editorial control over content topic, style and direction, all of which allows you to craft highly relevant posts that meet your goals, whether that comes in the form of a news-driven announcement (e.g.: new hire) or insightful tips on how best to use your products. Regular updates to a blog are not only effective ways to keep your existing audience engaged but can also drive new visitors to your site.

Boost your reach with sharable content

Keep in mind that content can be made sharable to boost its reach. For instance, Nike has a very informative and entertaining blog that delivers product updates, training tips and in-depth athlete interviews. Much of the content from Nike’s blog is frequently shared through popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which makes it an invaluable platform for spreading brand awareness and broadening the brand’s reach.

Great content generates backlinks

When you create insightful, engaging and unique content for your blog, other sites (e.g.: other company blogs and publications) may reference it with a link back to your original post. Backlinking helps build your website’s domain authority on widely used search engines like Google, making your site more visible on the web. If an external site with a much higher page authority than yours links back to your blog post your Google domain score and ranking rises. Additionally, the viral nature of social media can create a domino effect.

There’s both short and long-term value

Content marketers who prioritize blogs are 13X more likely to achieve positive ROI. This is because blog content, like much of the internet, lives indefinitely until you make the conscious effort to take it down. Posts that were published years ago can continue driving leads traffic to your site. There is simply no limit to the amount of inbound traffic and backlinks that your blog posts can drive. This is one of the biggest benefits of using blogs and something that separates blog-driven content marketing from other campaign-driven marketing tactics.  

Also utilize third-party distribution channels

Third-party channels are great for providing validation of your product or service from an objective and unbiased source. When outsiders write about your company, it gives potential customers insight into some of the questions they may have about your product or service. One simple way to share new information about your company is by issuing a press release through one of many press release distribution services. The benefits here are two-fold. The first is SEO-driven. Popular services like PR Newswire will post your press release on hundreds of publications. Secondly, if the news is especially noteworthy, there’s a good chance that you may pique the interest of a journalist, potentially leading to a feature article.

Get people to vet your offering

When companies go from no product reviews to at least one review, they experience a 10% sales lift or more. Reach out directly to reporter, bloggers and influencers to get them to try out your product or service but make sure it’s at no cost to them. Once you’ve received some reviews, create a press section on your website to offer validation to potential customers and share it through various social media channels. Reviews can also be used as part of a holistic business development and sales strategy to help secure more customers.

Content marketing can be highly effective for delivering engaging experiences that drive potential customers to your website. It not only provides inbound traffic but also helps improve your site’s SEO. If you haven’t already utilized some of the tactics mentioned here, think immediately about setting up a strategy to start reaping the benefits of content marketing.  

Brandshop is a provider of digital commerce technology and services to brands and retailers.

 

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