The (Not So) Secret To Creating Effective Content Campaigns

Content can be magical – if you get it right. Most of the time, however, creating an effective content marketing campaign doesn’t happen overnight.

According to Content Marketing Institute’s research into B2B marketing, the majority of businesses find their content efforts to be ineffective. This is because you need to nurture, edit and develop your content regularly in order to make a real impact.

Below, we’ve listed three questions you need to ask yourself to turn your content marketing campaigns around and start making real, tangible results. 

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE CUSTOMER BUYING JOURNEY?

Regalix found that understanding your customer’s buying journey and developing relevant content assets at each touch point is integral to your marketing processes.

Understanding this journey doesn’t have to be difficult. In general, each customer-buying journey includes various stages: awareness, consideration, decision and delight (hopefully!)

Firstly, your customer will realise they have a problem. This problem is why they search for a solution, and at this stage, they don’t want you to force your brand upon them. Instead, they want to understand their problem and gather relevant, informative material that will help them to develop their comprehension of what they are experiencing. At this stage of the customer journey, the content you create must be informative, such as eBooks, blog posts or infographics.

Then, your customers will experience consideration, where they try to make a decision about what product or service will be best for their problem. They’re still not completely bothered about who helps them achieve their end goal, just how you are going to help them achieve it. Use this opportunity to create content that highlights your unique proposition and emphasise your success stories.

After this, your customer will make a decision on the best business to help them achieve their goal. They’re likely to compare your offering to your competitors to make what they feel is the best decision. This is where you can shout about your brand and business – tell them who you are and what makes you special.

Lastly, your new customer needs to experience delight. You should exceed their expectations and ensure that they receive a positive experience. Here you want to offer future promotions and discounts in order to foster an emotional connection. Get it right and customers are likely to be loyal to your brand, shouting about your business when they know others with the same original problem they experienced.

You should segment your audience based on their behaviour. If a user is visiting your website frequently, they’re aware of your brand. If they’re filling in forms to gain more information, they’re probably considering your product or services. By driving your content to align with the buyer’s journey, you can optimise your campaigns and maximise the success of your content. 

IS YOUR CONTENT WORKING WITH YOUR OTHER FORMS OF MARKETING?

Content marketing costs around 62% less than other forms of marketing and can generate up to three times as many leads. However, this doesn’t mean your content shouldn’t be aligning with your other forms of marketing.

Take search engine optimisation for example. Content and SEO must work hand in hand. With good SEO, your relevant specific content will get in front of the right person at the right stage of their customer journey and provide them with a good user experience.

As well as this, remarketing on social media can be a valuable outbound marketing strategy to complement your inbound content marketing. You can reach people interested in your business who may have visited your website previously and have already seen some of your content. 

DO YOU REGULARLY CHECK YOUR ANALYTICS?

Research shows that most effective content marketers check their metrics at least three times a week (Hubspot). The only way you can optimise your campaigns is by looking at the results you gather; cutting out anything that isn’t working and increasing the amount of successful content you create. If you’re only checking your analytics once or twice every few months, you’re not maximising on your content’s success.

Consider: How many people are reading your content? How often are they visiting? What content are people sharing? How many people are engaging with it?

By gathering this information, you can get a deeper understanding of what is working effectively and what types of content needs more time and affection to nurture success.

EDGE Creative

Getting your content marketing campaigns correct doesn’t have to be a stressful experience. By hiring a content and marketing agency, you can rest assured knowing your campaigns are in safe hands with experts who know what they are doing.

We are currently offering free consultations with a Marketing Director, so that you can develop your understanding of how your campaigns can perform better. If you are interested in this offer, please email our Content Creator Jess at jessica@edge-creative.com.