It’s the time of year again where turning over a new leaf just makes sense. “New year, new you” can reach way beyond adding a few crunches to your morning exercise routine. What better time to take a fresh look at your content marketing strategy?
Start the new year off right with resolutions to make your content as useful and valuable to your consumer as possible. Make goals you can reach, measure, and mine for data as the year progresses.
Using our 2016 content marketing predictions, we came up with a few suggestions to get the new year off to the right start.
Add Video & Multimedia Content
Gone are the days of having a 500-word blog posted a few times a week. Sure, those blogs are still important but think about repurposing the content into short, instructional videos. Or create a series of content that makes your consumer laugh.
Start with small changes like adding a gif to your post on social media or publishing a few useful infographics, and work your way into the rich world of video campaigns. We’ll be looking to Moz’s Whiteboard Fridays and Content Marketing Institute’s #CMWorld for inspiration.
Ask for User Generated Content
Most people love to feel like they have a voice, and it’s no different when it comes to the brands they love, trust, and use. Whether it’s just reviews, or a photo series of your customers using your products, or a full series of testimonials, your customers will be re-enthused by your content when they feel included.
Get to Know Your Consumer
As you collect user-generated content, mine it for data on exactly who your consumer is. You may think that you cater to stay-at-home moms or millennials who love the outdoors, but the user-generated content might show you a completely new story.
Don’t ignore the picture as it starts to develop, even if it isn’t exactly what you expected. Getting to know your customers will not only help you develop better (and more useful) content, but it may also help you understand more about your advertising, products, and future goals.
Have an Overarching Goal
Speaking of goals, set them and aim high! Decide at the beginning of the new year what your major goals will be. Maybe you want 1000 new followers a month, or you want to generate 10x the content.
Whatever you set as your goal, create a content strategy focused on how you’ll do it and how you’ll measure results. Remember, this is an overarching goal to work toward all year, so you might need to re-adjust your strategy sometimes and there’s nothing wrong with that!
Let Your Team in on the Love
On one final note, make sure the content process is as zen as possible by clearly communicating strategy, goals, and the benefits of your resolutions to your team. Usually content marketing (as with any creative mode) is driven by lots of ideas, collaboration, and constant inspiration.
Content is best when it is a team effort, so resolve to capitalize on all your channels.
Featured Image Courtesy of Flickr: Last Light © Sarah J.