Tips to Getting Started with Content Marketing

Content marketing is one of the most powerful forms of marketing on the internet. Unfortunately, it can be tough to get started. It’s like rolling a giant ball of metal. To get it started, you have to push very hard. It might only budge a millimeter. You push again and it budges a little more. As you continue to give it power, it’ll continue to move – Slowly at first, then faster and faster.

Eventually, the ball will start to move seemingly on its own. It’ll pick up momentum. Pretty soon, it’ll be rolling so fast that you couldn’t stop it if you tried. That’s the power of content marketing. It’s slow to start, but once you become an authority site and once you build a reputation, it’s next to impossible to stop.

So how do you get your site in motion? How do you give it the kick it needs to build towards that tipping point? Here are ten different ways.

Answer Customer Questions

Do you always find yourself getting asked the same questions? Instead of answering them over and over again, why not turn those questions into content?

Take questions that customers ask you and answer it on your site. Go into as much detail as possible. Make it so comprehensive that your page becomes the go to page for that question.

Target a Long Tail Keyword

Use the Google Keyword Tool to identify long tail keywords that you can target. Make sure you’re searching on exact match.

Targeting a long tail keyword will allow you to rank for that keyword very quickly. You won’t get a horde of traffic from it, but you will get top rankings quickly. A few of these rankings can add up very quickly.

Create Content from Tweets

Participate in the Twitter discussions in your industry. Get to know the influencers. Look out for new ideas.

When you notice an interesting tweet or an interesting new idea pop up, turn it into content on your site. If you do it fast enough, you’ll be the first and others will jump on the boat to reference your content.

Cover an Event

Go to an event, such as a conference, a competition, a seminar or a trade show and give in depth details about it. If you can give down to the minute breakdowns, so much the better. This is called “liveblogging.” People who can’t attend the actual event love being able to stay in the loop. Use event blogging to build quality links.

Use the Autocomplete Feature

Go to Google and type in a word or part of a sentence. Google will complete the word or sentence for you, often time’s giving you new ideas for content in the process.

For example, if you type in “Make a video” in Google (without pressing enter,) Google might give you these suggestions:

“Make a video on YouTube”
“Make a video with my iPhone”
“Make a video for free”

Etc.

If you run a website about video production, these suggestions can be invaluable.

Interview Someone

Interviewing someone who’s well known or someone who has a skill that your audience wants is a fantastic way to produce great content and generate buzz.

If you want to interview someone, just ask. You’d be surprised at how many people will say yes.

Do a Trend Analysis

Look around your industry. Is there are trend you can see? Are people jumping on a certain bandwagon?

If there’s a trend going on, be the first to put your two cents in. People love a good in depth analysis of a current trend. If you’re against it, say so. If you like it, explain why.

Use Testimonials to Seed Content

Testimonials can be a fantastic way to bring in new content. For example, say someone used your weight loss product and lost 20 lbs in 20 days. You can use this as a case study to point out all the things your client did right. You build social proof while providing valuable content.

Your Own Analytics

Dig through your analytics to look for keywords that people typed in to land on your site. Were there any that you didn’t expect? If so, see if it makes sense to turn those keywords into pieces of content.

Social Media Monitoring

Use social media monitoring tools to figure out what’s hot in your industry. Then create a piece of content discussing those trending topics. Make sure to tweet out your content, as the Twittersphere can be quite a resource when it has its attention on something.

Using these ten tips, you’ll be able to quickly and easily get the ball rolling on your content strategy.