The Ultimate Content Marketing Cheat Sheet

Author: Keystone Click Team

Content Marketing is crucial to the success of any business. Now that our Content Marketing Webinar Series has finished, we’re rounding up our top tips to help you reach your content marketing goals. These 5 highlights will help you create content that engages your audience and reaches new audiences!

1. Content Marketing Basics

Before we get into how you can master the basics of Content Marketing, let’s take a look at what content marketing is all about. Content Marketing is a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (think videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but works to peak interest in the brand’s products or services.

Here are some basic best practices:

  • Have a Plan: In order to define your Content Marketing plan, you first have to know who is consuming your content, what types of content work best with your target audience, and what the key drivers are that turn people who view your content from readers to buyers.
  • Focus on Your Headline: Your content’s headline needs to connect with potential viewers on an emotional, or intellectual level in order for them to view your content in the first place. A great tool to use to determine the strength of your headline is the Advanced Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer!
  • Write Conversationally: When you’re writing your content, it’s best to avoid industry-heavy jargon which makes it less readable for people who view your content. Try recording yourself talking as if you were talking to a potential customer, and use that as inspiration for the language you use in your content!
  • Utilize Strong CTAs: Every piece of content that you publish needs to include a Call-to-Action. Your CTA needs to make it clear what steps your audience should take next and make it easy for them to make those steps.

For more information about the basics of content marketing, check out our blog, The Basics of Content That Converts.

2. Know Your Platforms

All social media channels are not equal, and it’s important to keep this in mind while planning your content. Each platform has its own unique audience you should cater to for optimum engagement. Let’s take a look at a few of the largest social media channels, what motivates audiences, and the best practices for posting on each channel!

Facebook

  • Audience motivations: Connection, a feeling of belonging, and entertainment
  • Best practices: Visual content (including videos!), fun posts, and use a variety of post types

Example of a fun Keystone Click Facebook post.

Read our blog, Facebook: Who Uses It, What Motivates Them, and What Content Engages Them to learn how you can boost engagement on Facebook!

LinkedIn

  • Audience motivations: Networking, learning, trends, inspiration, entertainment, and self-presentation
  • Best practices: Share industry knowledge, utilize images, documents such as PDFs (image below), and videos

Example of a Keystone Click LinkedIn post.

For more information on how you can create great content on Linkedin, check out our blog, LinkedIn: Creating Content that Works!

Twitter

  • Best practices: Be concise, use relevant hashtags, use visuals (especially videos) and write conversationally

Instagram

  • Best practices: Use only relevant hashtags, share more about your business with stories, use high-quality, curated images and jump on a trend

An image of Instagram stories, one example of the outlined best practices for Instagram.

3. Evergreen Content

Evergreen content is integral to any content marketing strategy because, like evergreen trees that retain their green leaves year-round, remain relevant from year to year. However, even Evergreen Content requires updating from time to time, so don’t be afraid to make updates when necessary. It’s also the best content for repurposing. Keep reading to learn how!

4. How to Repurpose Content

First of all, let’s talk about why you should repurpose your content. Since you spend so much time and energy creating valuable content, there’s no reason to toss it after only one use! Upcycling your content allows you to maximize your reach while saving you time.

3 Steps to Slice-and-Dice your Content

  • Take a bit of larger content and slice it into valuable snippets.
  • Package those snippets into platform-appropriate content.
  • Share across multiple channels.

To learn more about repurposing your content, visit our blog, How to Repurpose Your Content to Maximize Your Reach.

5. Types of Content You Should Try

  • E-books: This evergreen content is time-consuming to produce, but is great to use as its own campaign since it can be gated. This means that in order for people to access the content, they have to provide an email address that you can then use to share more relevant content with them.
  • Case Studies: Case studies allow you to share your credibility with your audience. They are great little SEO boosters AND your clients will love the brag opportunity.
  • Newsletters: Email marketing is up to 40 times more effective than social media, so providing consistent email content to your audience is a great way to remind people who you are and what you do.
  • Blogs: Sharing blogs is a great way to display your thought leadership in the industry, and is also a good way to show your company’s credibility.
  • Infographics: These informative visuals are especially useful for blogs or social media content and are widely underutilized. If you’re not sure where to start, try Canva for some helpful templates.
  • Video: Videos are great as engaging content and outperform text on every platform.

Engaging content is essential to succeed in a digital world. These tips will get you on your way to a winning content strategy. Reach out to us if you’d like to learn more, or could use some assistance getting your Content Marketing strategy off the ground!

If you enjoyed reading, then don’t miss out on our current webinar series which is all about website design. Learn more here!