The diversity of people online, consistent evolution of technology, and constantly changing media consumption habits are critical factors that have changed the way brands communicate online.

Related to this is the concept of content marketing—a strategic marketing approach anchored on the creation and distribution of relevant and useful content. By virtue of these attributes, content marketing hopes to draw audiences, engage them and hopefully, retain them as a means to drive sales or profitable customer action.

This means, that having a blog and posting content on it is not enough. You have to have an objective and a goal that you’re working towards and a clear audience that you’re speaking to.

So how can you become a content marketing rockstar with loyal fans and followers? Here are 5 ideas you can try—

1. Visuals are key

To build trust among your customers, it’s important that you are able to give them enough motivation to do so. This will depend on what elements on your site are able to foster credibility. And one way that you can do this is by incorporating a lot of images to your content.

Unlike brick and mortar stores, there’s no way for customers to check the product out, hold it in their hand and inspect it carefully. So you want to make sure that you build the credibility of your product or service by adding as many images of it as possible.

• While it’s not necessarily needed to hire a professional to take photos, you have to make sure your product pictures are of a certain quality. Make sure images are clear and crisp.
• Add a discreet logo or watermark to the images to clearly identify it as your own.
• Be sure to add captions to your images help optimize it for search engine searches.

2. Don’t underestimate video

How-to videos are an easy way to get people to spend more time on your site, especially if you’re selling a specific product or service. These videos can help you demonstrate how to use your product, give users ideas on how they can maximize their purchase and give you an opportunity to engage with customers.

• Keep it short. As much as you’d like to go into full detail into what your product can do, bear in mind the users short attention spans.
• Be creative. You know your product best, so be sure to highlight unique ways that they can make the most out of it.
• Technology means creating videos doesn’t have to be complicated anymore, why not crowdsource videos from your existing fan base and feature it on your site? It’s a great way to establish rapport with fans and encourage engagement.

3. Leverage on influencers

Consider the authorities and personalities within your niche. Make a list and reach out to them, they might want to be featured on your blog, be willing to be interviewed for a post, or be willing to try a sample of your product for free, in exchange for a review or a post on their own site, which you can repost.

• No matter how famous the influencer or personality is, don’t be apprehensive about reaching out. If you trust in the efficacy of your product, then chances are, they’d be more than happy to give it a try.
• Be sure to inform the influencer about your intent to leverage on this partnership to promote you product.
• Ensure that your product or service lives up to your promise.

4. Don’t stop at content creation

What use is a great blog or social media content if you’re not working to make sure that all this content reaches your intended audience?

• Get to know your audience well. Understanding your customers means you are able to pinpoint which platforms you can best communicate from. Younger audiences might prefer social media, with shorter content; while older audiences might respond better to actual blog posts.
• Set aside a budget for content distribution—sponsored posts for critical posts could prove to be a worthwhile investment.
• Be sure that you’re in places that actually matter to your audience.

5. Research to stay on top of what’s relevant

Keep yourself in the loop. Latching your content strategy onto trending topics, socially relevant subject matter, and high traffic news can help boost your visibility on search engines.

• Make sure you regularly keep yourself up to date by reading and learning about what’s actually trending.
• Don’t just ride on trending news without first ensuring that what your brand has to say is actually relevant.
• Repurpose content if you can and make commentaries on existing news and topics.

Marketers have always maintained that ‘content is king.’ While it’s true, it also has to be relevant, well written and engaging. These 5 tips can help you to make sure that it is. Give it a try and see how well it works for you.

If you have any questions, comments, or simply want to share your own ideas on how to ensure your content marketing becomes more effective, leave us a comment below.