There’s no doubt that you can pour your heart out into your content marketing. You can even make your content stronger with well-researched facts. Still, writing a piece and posting doesn’t assure readership—unless you’re satisfied with a handful of your relatives and some close friends reading your work. If you’re lucky, you get tweeted by two or three people, maybe even get five likes.
But tomorrow? Chances are your content will be long forgotten in favor of the next viral content. However, hope remains, in the form of curated content, which is still considered as an effective content strategy for Web publishers and social Web users. In addition to being curation-savvy, web writers also need to learn how to use
#1. Inspiring and Thought-Provoking
People are constantly looking for inspiration, and this is true even online.
To make thought-provoking content, the first thing to do is to think like your readers. If your goal is to write content that appeals to twenty-something’s who are working at their career while looking for meaning, you need a good idea of what motivates them.
Your industry also has a particular relevance to inspiring content. For instance, you can always express your opinions in a tasteful manner regarding trends in social media such as over-sharing or using hashtags to spread awareness about natural disasters.
Perhaps the best advice to develop inspiring content is to focus on developing your unique voice and independent thinking. A great way to do this is to have a space for you to write in, even before you start posting content online.
Use a personal notebook to come up with a list of creative solutions for different problems you observe around you, so that you have a master list for all your great ideas. This also helps you formulate and develop your own opinions better.
Best of all, original content is also part of content curation. In considering your
Remember, very little is more inspiring than an individual who can speak his or her mind. Over at Cordeliacallsitquits.com, for instance, you can find articles that strongly reflect the opinions of Kelly Gurett on how to aim for self-improvement without hating yourself for it.
#2. Helpful Product Reviews
Nothing says leadership and credibility more than a helpful product review.
This kind of content is particularly effective if you want to be seen as a leading authority in your industry. By writing about your product experiences, you build a channel for conversation with key developers and service providers.
To get started, think of drafting your product review as similar to building a relationship. Forget about hard-selling and opt for a softer, conversational tone.
It also helps to be transparent. Whatever your connections in the industry are, it’s still best to be up front about them and give a little backstory to why you’re reviewing the product in the first place. This establishes trust between your content and your target audience.
Keep in mind that there’s a pattern for the product review. Lastly, never forget: take pictures whenever possible to build your creativity. It’s important to feed your audience with relevant and highly-engaging visuals.
Again, images go a long way into contextualizing your content; they also help you communicate your point better when you have a difficult time expressing yourself or finding the right words.
#3. How-To Content
These days, the Web seems to have the answers to everything. For your content to stay at the top of the game, it’s best to know how to write excellent guides. Typically, guides are quite lengthy compared to other posts.
To ensure that you write guides that are helpful to your readers, try and pick three words to describe the audience you want to address. It helps you realize what your readers need from reading your guide to make it useful for them. For better credibility, also consider referring to official definitions, succinct anecdotes, and important resources to back up your claims.
Because it’s not just another blog post, your guides also need more visuals. In fact, you also need a good designer to ensure that such content visually pleasing. This ensures readability and easy navigation so that you don’t turn your audience away, which is a no-no in content marketing.
For excellent guides, plan work on your layout and make sure your how-to article is a great read as well. To get you started, look at how articles on Lifehacker hold the answers to specific little problems people face daily, such as this piece on how to make easy-to-peel boiled eggs.
#4. Helpful Lists
Lists are perennially attractive to people, and you can see writers using them from online content to traditional print materials like magazine and newspaper articles. People—yourself included—have a tendency toward lists, and you can utilize this for better content.
More importantly, readers are drawn to lists for several reasons: they help de-stress, can improve people’s relationships, and reach goals for the short term. To generate helpful lists, first select your topic and then the number of items on your list. Next, keep it simple. Follow the prescribed format that includes an introduction to your topic, your concise points, and a conclusion to sum it all up.
When writing lists for your content production, it’s also best to remember the following:
- Keep it detailed
- Long lists can also be helpful
- Any-number of items will do for your list
#5. Conversant Content
More than ever, your readers expect you to include them in the conversation. Let’s say you’re in the gadgets industry. Instead of just writing an opinionated piece on the latest iPhone, engage with your readers. For great conversational pieces, there are two rules to follow.
- Use the right pronouns. That’s right; the best way to convince your reader that you’re only concerned about yourself is to use personal pronouns like I or we. Always re-read your work to make sure that you talk to your readers.
- Next, ask questions. Certainly, your audience wants to read about what you think. Still, there should be enough opportunity for readers to voice out their opinions about what you’re writing about.
This means you should also ask them for their opinion. Do you think the new iOS is efficient? What are the best places to hit this summer? And so on and so forth.
Take a look at NetDoctor, which encourages readers to speak up.
#6. Intelligent Infographics
Simply defined, an infographic involves the visual presentation of data.
Perhaps because they are much easier to read, infographics get the most shares and views: they are liked four times more than presentations and twenty-three times more than documents on SlideShare, while also shared twice more than presentations and thrice more than documents on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
Having a difficult time discerning if infographics are for you? Remember, it is about three things:
- Data
- Story
- Visuals
Best of all, however, infographics are the best way to break down complex data in an appealing way. For instance, MindBodyGreen uses an infographic to explain the global water crisis.
Given this, it’s recommended to tap graphic designers who specialize in infographics. With the right designers, you can relay information that sticks to your readers.
Never, ever forget, however, that good visuals are an embodiment of you. They are excellent indicators of your personality and your voice, so forget about scrimping on visuals. Content marketing, if it is to succeed, must always feed your audience with relevant and highly-engaging visuals.
#7. Video Haven
Videos are a great way to leave a lasting impression on your readers.
As a matter of fact, with the right videos, viewers are anywhere from 64-85% more likely to buy after watching a product video. Of course, it also helps that 967.78 million smart phones were sold in 2013 alone, which gives you an idea of how many prospective web visitors will eagerly use their gadgets to watch your web videos.
To get started on effective videos, remember that a good script is fundamental. It dictates what will happen to your videos. Next, make sure that you use video sharing sights for goof
It’s important to plan your video production well. Keep in mind that investing in a good video requires a particular budget. However, your investment may well be worth it.
#8. Content is the Future
The above are just some kinds of content that will endear you to your target audience and help you in content production. Take note that content marketing involves knowing which type best matches you. To learn that, always study your website’s analytics and hone your content curation strategy.
Lastly, provide only the best visuals. These should be substantial enough to enhance your content and, together with your words, make a lasting impact on readers.
Images: “Content marketing distribution concept. Woman carrying a box with the word “content” in front./ Shutterstock.com“
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