Let’s assume your team has collaborated together to deliver interesting content for your audience. Everybody on your team is convinced that this article should result in a strong marketing campaign, and the expectation is huge hoping it will go viral building momentum.
So, what is the key in making it go viral?
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. To leverage a successful content marketing campaign, it requires your team to market beyond your internal resources.
The question then becomes – how do you make people want to read your article, and how do you get it in front of the right type of people. For example, if you are writing content about social media, it’s important you find an audience which will find it valuable.
Here are a few things you should consider to get this done. Your feedback and opinion will be greatly appreacited. Let’s get started.
Tactic 1 – Start With a Better Title
Ever heard of the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover?â€
It was probably developed by those who bought a novel or a magazine based on the marketing details on the cover. Unfortunately, its cover page did not correlate to the content of the book.
When we search online for content we click search results which have titles that sound like it is the right one. Â When it comes to content marketing campaigns, you need to have headlines and titles which produce a click.
By incorporating a few of the following words, you should see an increase in your click-through rates from your listings.
Consider the following words to incorporate in your title or tags, and headlines the next time you publish content. These are some words which I have tested, and work very well to achieve a higher CTR.
- How to
- Free
- Tips
- Best
- Hack
- Why?
It’s important you try different headlines until you find the ones which perform better than others. Then you can stick to the same title’s going forward.
Tactic 2 – A Better Conclusion Ends With a Question
I do my best to avoid being fooled by videos with great titles and headers because sometimes looks can be deceiving. Many times I’ll click on a video and it’ll be SPAM, so I have to be careful before wasting time watching something which provides NO value.
What can I do? Here are a few things you can do going forward.
When it comes to YouTube, I’ll go through the comments to see what others have written about the video. I’ll also look at the “Likes†and “Dis-Likes†to get a better idea of the quality. If previous viewers were captivated by the content of the video, then you know it provides value.
If previous viewers felt that the title mislead them then the posts will reflect EXACTLY that. When it comes to content marketing the replies are what suggests to me that the it was an informative read.
Posing a question at the end of your blog creates an opportunity for the reader to consider providing you with a sign of appreciation and engagement. It’s like writing content, and asking the readers for feedback. This is a great way to get opinion, and some awesome future content idea’s.
Tactic 3- CrossPromote Your Twitter Profiles
When it comes to building a site authenticity, you need to ensure that you use every possible bit of resource available to you. Some resources will play a significant role in your keyword rankings, while others such as Twitter can give you that extra push. We all know the importance of social media, and how it can build momentum to your blog quickly. Keep in mind, you can find enormous relevant traffic on the main social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
Most companies have their own Twitter accounts, and their employees will have both a corporate, and personal profile. By making a tweak in one’s bio allows you to cross promote between your corporate and personal profiles. Spend the time to educate your team to modify their account, and create this additional opportunity for you. Having this awesome setup, you’ll be able to reach out to more people because of the additional marketing resource.
Tactic #4 – Collect Emails Using Facebook Connect
Facebook Connect allows users to subscribe to your blog with a click of a button. They will not be required to fill out any annoying forms, and provide additional information. The one click provides you with their email address and personal name. Â Facebook also has another icon available called Facebook share which allows your audience to share your article on their profile. This too is a great means of increasing reads.
The key advantage of obtaining an email list via Facebook Connect is so that you can increase your email distribution. The way I look at it is to apply the Apple strategy in marketing. You want to make things simple so people are more likely to opt-into whatever you are offering. People don’t have time to go around installing huge programs, etc. Make things simple for your users because in the end, you’ll be the one who benefits from the extra exposure achieved.
Tactic #5 – Â It’s Not An Essay
It is important to consider the subject matters you are offering for discussion to your users. For example, if you are not reporting on the results of your research, then writing an academic type essay would not really resonate with your readers…right?
Consider how things are rapidly changing in the last few years. Many people are now searching content through their smartphones so you want to ensure your content can be viewed easily. It’s also important to consider the load time, and how fast your pages are being displayed on desktops and mobile phones. The more easier you make it for your readers to pull out the information they need, they higher chance you’ll be able to convert them obtaining a ROI.
Tactic #6 – SEO
When it comes to content marketing, Google Analytics is your number one tool because it provides you with all thr major statistics you need. It’s so crucial for site owners to take full advantage of its service offerings. The in depth analytical information it provides allows site owners to view details of their clicks at no charge. Who clicked it, what hardware did they use and how long were they on your site are some of the information it provides. To obtain this information you must ensure to properly embedded Google Analytics into your site. Simply, head over to GA now, and add your property then embed the code into your template. GA provides you tutorials on how to do this correctly.
In order to increase your rank Google requires sites to up-keep the standards they have outlined. For example, the excessive use of anchor text i.e. keyword stuffing is not favored by Google, and will MOST likely get you a warning. If you continue to build links using un-natural methods, then your site will be banned from the search results. However, it’s important to keep in mind that linking sites to one another does increase site authority…right? You have to make sure the sites you link to are relevant, offer value, and have a high DA (domain authority).
Although Google is very intelligent it does take nearly 3 months for results to be recognized. This is why you should take the time to write content which provides value to searchers. The more value you provide, the higher engagement which will lead to an increase in your SERP rankings.
Pay close attention to the choice of keywords that you use, and cross reference their results. In addition, you are able to view your users CTR which will give you a good indication of the keywords they like to click, and will help you with future content since you’ll know what they like to read. Remember, if your click through rate is high then your site rank will be heavily favored by Google as it fits into a handful of the 200 rankings factors.
Whenever you upload a new article be sure to modify your keywords by making sure they are relevant, in the right places, and with high search traffic.
Tactic #7 – Keep An Eye on Your Competition
No matter what niche your involved in your going to have competition so it’s important you know how to get ahead. Here are a few things you can apply to your content writing to stay ahead of your competition.
The first thing you need to do is identify your top six competitors, and I suggested 6 because you should ideally choose 3 above you, and 3 below you. By monitoring the guys below you it allows you to be up to date with any potential or sudden increases in ranks. However, on the contrary you should pay attention to the guys on top because you can learn from them especially what they have been doing. I like to study where they have been building links, and the type of content they like to read.
I strongly believe that content which yields higher shares amongst social media platforms will eventually yield better site authority, and page ranks. This is something which has been seen numerous times because social media “shares†ultimately determines how valuable the content truly is.
Once you have identified your top 6 sites, then plug the URL’s into Quick Sprout Analyzer Tool. Pay attention to the “social media analysis†tab.  This will allow you to see which blog posts were successful based on the platform, and the number of shares. There are others tool you can use like Topsy.com and Buzzsumo.com to find out more about the competitor content too.
Identify 5 top producing shares despite which blog write it. I like to visit these sites going through certain factors like frequency of posting, number of shares, comments, etc.
Once you’re ready to start writing new content, you can start with the first topic, and work your way down. Keep an eye on the results because you’ll be able to find which ones have been producing results, and which haven’t.
Tactic #8 – Set Deadlines
Followers of your site want to view fresh new content. You want them to be confident to check your site everyday because this increases the likelihood of engagement. One great way to do this is to write content, and have a solid email marketing strategy in place. With this approach you’ll not only write content, but be able to alert readers when something new has been posted.
Next,
If you are using WordPress, you have so many plug-ins which will keep track of your writing schedule. If you do a quick search in Google, you’ll be able to find the top content planning plugins which you can install. This is a great way to plan your content, and get alerts at the same time.
Final Thoughts
Go through each one, and start implementing them into your content writing. Remember, install Google Analytics so you have a way to track your data to optimize at a later time. In the beginning it will be hard to find out what’s working, but later you’ll have an easier time because you’ll be sticking to what the GA results tell you.