They say marketing is like magic. We use its strategy to mesmerise people. Just using the right “charm”, we can attract people’s attention at the drop of a hat. Well, the truth is, it is not that simple. In this era where almost everything is digital, it has become more common for businesses to have their own website, because a website can help in boosting business’ brand awareness in so many ways, and that, needs marketing. Those who have been in the business world use marketing strategy to attract new customers to their business. However, most of them don’t know the key point in building the content marketing strategy, thus they end up hitting rock bottom, since the strategy is not “screaming” success enough, and worse, eventually using head games to “attract” people.

We have seen so many stories about some companies luring people to their “lair” saying “Congratulations! You’ve won the 4-diamond stamp and this is a rare occasion since nobody managed to win that the whole day!” The 4-diamond stamp means that the customers get a fat chance to win a car, a motorcycle, a mobile phone, etc. and would be featured to the newspaper, but they have to pay for the advertisement that costs about $1,000. The classic outcome of this lottery drawing is that unbeknownst to them, those tricksters already “stuffing an unknown product” as one of the prizes, and so the poor victim “won” that “prize”, and sadly not the car or the motorcycle one, but their own product itself. Basically, the customers were not paying for the advertisement, but they were actually buying the product. Therefore, it was just a sly marketing strategy from the start. Sounds more like a desperate marketing strategy, doesn’t it?

That being said, we are lucky that we’re living in the world in this era, because with more developed technology and trends, there are also heaps of experts who can inspire and give some tips for us to improve strategies. This is very important because a good content marketing strategy can get you more leads and can increase your company’s online visibility. This article re-tells you about the advices on content marketing strategies from the experts, so that you can get a better understanding about it and be more inspired to keep going. Whether you are a business owner, a marketing manager, or someone who works in the marketing field, this article is for you!

Set your focus on target audience

“It is better to have a much smaller audience that is targeted than a larger one that doesn’t convert.” – Neil Patel of Quicksprout

One principle you should never rule out is that your content should be relevant, focusing on your target audience only. For example, your company offers sport equipment; therefore, your target audience should be those who love sports only and your content should be based on sports too. You can’t attract culinary enthusiasts just to get more traffic to your website. That would ruin your brand’s authenticity.

Broaden your knowledge and education on web marketing

“That said, my one “tip” is to check out Buzzsumo and use its search function to see what content has previously been successful in reaching the audience you’re attempting to target.”

– Rand Fishkin of Moz

We can never stop learning. The moment you want to stop learning, that’s when you know you won’t grow anymore. Even if you have already become an expert at what you are doing, you still need to learn more in order to grow and be more successful. Just like most of the things in the world, everything changes with time, so does marketing. Therefore, you have to adjust to the trends and keep learning more to earn more.

Think about your target audience first

“So think about your audience before your start, but know that you will only know so much. Then listen. LISTEN. And your audience will tell you what works and what they crave more of.  If you do this over the long haul, you’ll win.” – Jerod Morris of Copyblogger

The most important thing in marketing is that you should put yourself in your audience’s shoes. Feel what they feel, see what they need, listen to what’s bothering them, and understand what they want. Therefore, you can provide the right content that will be meaningful and impactful for them.

Know your goals

“Do not shy away from asking for feedback. Don’t be afraid of your customers!  You want to know when your content isn’t meeting the mark, right? If you do something as simple as add a “let us know what you think” call to action on your content, or even come right out and ask on social “hey, what’d you think of this piece?” you might get some invaluable feedback.”

– Nicole Kohler of WebpageFX

You can’t provide useful content if you don’t know what you want to tell people and what purpose you’ve got in mind when telling that. Therefore, you must have a goal in your mind. The best way to keep it together is through asking for feedbacks from your audience, as well as knowing what information they would like to know more. Don’t be shy to ask them what they need, because in order to know your goals very well, you have to know what you are going to provide for your audience. This can also give you more insights for what content you should provide next. With the feedbacks in mind, you can produce more creative and informative content for them.

Know your audience and create content schedules

“For procrastinators like me, a schedule is helpful and super important.” – Rick Eliason of Reload Digital

According to Rick Eliason, before you start your content marketing campaign, you should start with two things, prospective audience and a more detailed schedule. You don’t guess your target audience at random and then churn out content, hoping it would resonate with most people. This can make most of your real target audience feel insignificant or not special. Learn more about your target audience, so that you can know exactly who your target audience is, and when you set focus on them, create content schedule to help you get on track with everything. This can also help you a lot if you are used to procrastinating your works. Keep in mind that in order to create a well-detailed and well-planned schedule, you have to be creative with your content from the very start, since creating schedule means you are up for upfront work.

That’s all the experts’ advices you can learn from! Remember, as long as there are good ways to improve your content marketing strategies, you can create the most effective and creative content for your target audience. Don’t use head games in marketing strategies; it would ruin your brand’s good reputation. Start from learning more from the marketing experts and the most important thing of all is, don’t give up. Marketing strategies will keep changing with time and there might be ups and downs in the future, but you have to keep going and improving for better results. Not only should you keep up with the trends, but you should also be the trend. With that mindset in mind, you can produce better and better content for your target audience and you will get more and more potential customers turned into real paying customers!