How to Morph Your Marketing Content to Boost Results

To quote Winston Churchill, “To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often.” Yeah, yeah, we all know change can be a really scary thing. However, for your content marketing to stay relevant and insightful, you absolutely must shift and adjust your strategies on a regular basis. To discover what works, and what doesn’t, put effort into evaluating and evolving your plans. Experiment with different content and mediums – and then track how your audience responds to each.

You know this already, but I’m going to remind you anyway: If you’re posting the same old stuff in the same old place, you’re probably getting the same old results. And if those results aren’t working for you, it’s time to get out of your “content rut” and change things up!

Here are some fresh, new ideas to help you get started:

• Get visual – Visual content is huge! If you want to take advantage of social media reach today, create a visual marketing strategy that works well with your written content.
  Try some of these innovative concepts:
  • Custom images for your articles will improve the way they look on your social media. A professionally designed image with relevant content often receives exponentially more clicks and shares. Make it stand out. Create a branded look and stick with it, like we have in the below example:
  • Create cinemagraphs that tie to your written content. These appear to be static images, however, they actually provide a very subtle animation in the photograph. They typically warrant a second look just to make sure your eyes caught what changed in the still image and can inspire a double take from your content readers. Here’s a great example from Cinemagraphs.com. 

    

  • Create an interactive infographic that tells your story visually. Interactive infographics show additional web elements and information when the reader passes certain points of time or a positions on the graphic with the arrow of their mouse. This one is an awesome example that shows the future of car sharing.
    
• Make your content fit the platform – There are SO many types of content today… podcasts, videos, whitepapers, case studies, social posts, images, ebooks and Slideshare presentations are just some And that’s a lot! Think about how you can create content that are ideal for different platforms. That way, you are not only providing content in different mediums that are preferable to multiple people but also gaining a broader reach. See the excellent GE example Jeff Bullas used in #4 of his article, “Unusual Visual Content Marketing Tips to Drive a Ton of Traffic”
• Mix it up – Refrain from “talking shop” 100% of the time. Remember that 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of what you post should be about everything besides you, you, you. Your audience wants content that is informative – that educates and inspires. Engage with them. Ask questions. Share a little of your brand’s personality through photos and videos. Vine and Instagram are great tools for that – show them who you are.
• Time it right – Do you know when your content is reaching the most people? When are your fans and followers engaging with it? If you don’t – find out. Many have found that posts on Saturdays and Sundays garner more attention since there is less competition on those days. Experiment with different days of the week and times of day and you’ll soon gain an understanding of what works best for you. Note: Quicksprout posted this awesome infographic that you might find helpful in finding the ideal times to post for your target audience.
• Test frequency – How often are you posting? We’ve seen higher percentages of success from clients who post more often than from those who post less frequently. We recommend no more than twice a day on Facebook, once a day on LinkedIn and twice a day on Google+. Spacing out the posts. On Twitter, anywhere from 3 – 7 times a day is fair. But again, this is something you should test. The key is to strike a balance between being informative and annoying. Predict. Measure. Adjust. Repeat.
• Repurpose your content – Try repurposing your content in new mediums. Use blog content to create a SlideShare or creative ebook; update and republish organic content, such as older blog posts, on Google+ or LinkedIn; or create a podcast based on one of your more popular articles.
• Keep it short – Help your audience wade through massive amounts of information by making the majority of your posts succinct, yet packed with helpful content.
• And try long form content – Occasionally try a longer, in-depth article on an evergreen topic. People and search engines tend to like highly informative content that provide tons of value.

Remember the customer journey. Companies are finding that online content that relates to customer experience, such as videos tutorials, support documents, user communities, etc., build confidence with both current and potential customers. Try showcasing some of your own quality customer experience content. This information is often very impressive and helpful to those who are researching a company and its products before making an actual purchase.

What would you add to this list? Need any additional info on some of theses ideas? Let us know!