Content and creativity go hand in hand. While traditional content strategies are the building blocks of a successful content marketing plan, we like to keep things fresh. At Zero Gravity Marketing, our content team always looks for new ways to spice up a marketing strategy.
While we do believe in the saying, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” finding new ways to create content is key to staying competitive. Let’s explore why a fresh content strategy is so important to our agency (and our clients!).
High-quality content is one of the most effective ways to reach, engage, and convert first-time purchasers into loyal customers. But, like most things in marketing, creating great content means keeping up with trends. There are always new creative strategies emerging. So, getting your hands on these tools and implementing them into your overarching marketing strategy puts your brand ahead of the game (aka, the competition).
If your brand is experiencing a lull and needs a little boost of content inspiration, here are eight ideas to refresh your content marketing strategy and get the ball rolling.
Teach your audience how to use your products. Whether this is a product demo video or a blog post, when readers take away something of value from your content, you’re earning their trust as a resource. Publish a blog that inspires shoppers with a few ways to style your brand’s best-selling accessories or help customers create the perfect Mother’s Day gift basket from your women’s collections.
Whatever it is you choose to walk your readers through, be sure that it is relevant to your brand or incorporates your products. For example, an online flower shop could create a how-to guide for arranging summer flower bouquets from their seasonal florals! This content will be useful to users searching for something along the lines of “How to arrange summer flower bouquets” and potentially get your store in front of new customers. You can then direct these visitors to your online store to purchase everything they’ll need to create their beautiful bouquet!
Creating high-value content is key, but you can take this a step further by making your most valuable information only accessible to select audiences. Gated content can only be accessed if a user relinquishes their personal information (email address or phone number), which can then be leveraged for email and SMS marketing techniques to send these users promotions, newsletters, and more. Gated content is a great way to collect customer contact information (as an effective lead-generation strategy) in exchange for a valuable resource.
Give your customers a look into the inner workings of your brand! Make them feel like a part of the process and earn their trust with behind-the-scenes access to developing and testing your products, everyday business experiences, or even working with influencers to create sponsored content.
When you allow users to see your brand for what it really is, this honesty makes customers feel like they can trust you. This is especially true if your brand is big on influencer-generated content like sponsored ads. Because consumers put so much purchasing faith into influencers, incorporating them into your content marketing strategy is a super sweet way to bring their audiences to your brand. Showcase your relationship with these influencers to show buyers you’re the real deal and choose to work with influencers who share your brand’s values.
Speaking of influencers, collaborating with these mini celebrities is a great way to give your brand a face and voice. Work with influencers to develop creative content like product demos, try-on hauls, takeovers, giveaways, and any sponsored content that promotes your brand to relevant audiences.
One of the best ways to earn the trust of potential customers and win conversions is to show them how happy your brand has made other consumers. Be sure to share positive customer feedback on your site and social media. You can even include testimonials in your email and social ads.
Take this a step further and build out positive reviews into a blog, showing the faces and featuring direct quotes of real people who enjoy your product or services. The more personable it is, the better. You want your customer reviews to feel real and tangible for new audiences, so they can step into the shoes of other happy customers and build their desire to be one of them.
While constantly creating new content is the easiest way to stay relevant and keep up with trends, this process can be timely and not always necessary. If you can work with (and re-work) the content you already have, you’ll maximize profitability, saving yourself time and money in the long run. Repurposing content is seriously underrated.
Most of the time, content won’t reach its full potential when it is first published. With a few tweaks and optimizations, content can be repurposed or reused across different channels or platforms. Through excerpting, updating, reformatting, or curating, you can get more out of a single piece of content by giving it a second or even third chance. You’d be surprised how successful reformatting can be when it comes to returns on investments and making the most of a single piece of content, whether it be a blog, social post, or ad copy, you name it!
The value of visuals is always underestimated. But in a world that is increasingly visual and virtual, moving away from text-heavy content and introducing some visual content can be leveraged to boost user interest and engagement. Infographics provide a very seamless way to communicate information in a short amount of time.
From simple charts to more sophisticated graphics with links, infographics can introduce audiences to new concepts and ideas visually. Infographics also provide customers with information in a way that’s digestible. The easier it is to absorb your content, the better! Customers don’t always have the time or attention span to read a 500-word blog to get one piece of information.
Maybe a bit unconventional for brands, but podcasts are a super unique and creative way to boost engagement – they’re really taking the world of content marketing by storm. While videos are visually stimulating and blogs are rich with information, podcasts are a really personable way to reach audiences. They’re also a convenient way to access information and content for those on-the-go customers.
If your brand wants to shake things up, consider launching a podcast! Cover relevant topics, discuss the process of developing your products, and even feature guests like influencers, loyal customers, or brand ambassadors. If you’re collaborating with another brand to drop an exclusive collection, a podcast is a really unique way to get the creators together to talk about the collab and launch. They’re also a great tool to generate excitement about new products and upcoming promotions!
Looking to freshen up your content marketing strategy? Our marketing team is here to make it happen. To learn more about our content marketing services, contact our team.