There are still questions and confusion when it comes to “content marketing.” The concept is simple when it is thought of as a means to an end, which is ultimately driving traffic to your website or blog. The more great content you have, and the easier it is for people to find your content, the more visible your brand becomes.  Here are the top 5 ways to use content marketing that will generate leads, sales, and potential clients.

1. WRITING ENGAGING AND HIGH QUALITY CONTENT

Your content doesn’t always have to be about your products or services. Creating a story and providing value is what will engage and drive current and potential clients to your business. The goal is to build a relationship with your audience by creating an emotional connection and establishing the humanity of your brand. Finding out what makes your business unique and sharing that story is important in making your content more shareable and valuable, while making a connection with your audience.

2. OPTIMIZATION

Make sure that your content is optimized for search engines. Content is still king, so it’s essential to have well-written and unique content that will focus on your primary keywords or keyword phrases. Keeping your content fresh is what will improve your rankings – it adds relevancy to your site in the eyes of search engines. In addition to fresh content, there are many other SEO tips that are important when creating your content strategy. Stay tuned for a more in-depth blog posts regarding search engine optimization.

3. DISTRIBUTION

Distributing your content is a vital component in driving people to your website or blog. There are many different ways to ensure that you are sending people to your site from various sources. Your content should be distributed through various channels including social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin, Google+, etc) as well as through other not so obvious channels. Press releases, email-marketing, newsletters, and guest blogging are other valuable and necessary ways of sharing your content throughout the web universe. There are also a variety of tools to help you do this such as Hootsuite, Buffer, AddThis, Slideshare, and many more.

Just as important as content itself, is the ability to display your content in a visually appealing way. If you don’t have an intriguing image(s) to accompany your content, you risk being overlooked by your average reader. Using infographics or images that are compelling and attractive will allow your audience to connect and share your information. In addition, social media networks statistically show higher engagement rates if your content includes an image that is appealing and valuable.

5. FOLLOWING UP

Just as important as creating and distributing content in a meaningful and tactical way, is making sure that you follow-up on all of your leads. Are you engaging with people who like your posts? Are you adding them to your email lists and newsletters? Ignoring those that comment, engage, or like your content is not only wasting your efforts, but will not help your ROI. Although this is important, keep in mind that not everyone that shares, comments, or downloads your content, is your ideal customer.  Knowing and determining your target audience and ideal customer up front will make the follow-up process that much more rewarding.