What’s the top challenge you face as a content marketer? According to a study conducted by SEMrush, one of the most significant issues of digital marketing professionals is finding ideas for online content. If you run your own blog or you manage the online content of a business, you’re probably aware of the importance of publishing content on a regular basis. Finding fresh ideas can be a tough assignment.
However, there’s a task that is even more important when it comes to content marketing- finding the right content format. In fact, finding new content ideas is not enough for a successful marketing strategy. What’s crucial is choosing the type of content that will allow you to not only improve ranking, traffic, and the number of website visitors, but also convert these visitors and make money, either through your online business or through ads. Whether you’re just starting a website or you want to improve your podcast, blog, or social media content, there are many elements you must consider to choose just the right content format.
Table of Contents
Your industry
Look at your competitors — their websites, blogs, social media profiles, email marketing, etc. Can you spot any common trends? Try to understand what their audience appreciates, interacts with, and shares.
Your audience
Study your customers and current users. Try to talk to them directly to understand what type of content they prefer to consume. You can do that by using surveys, polls, and reading social media and blog comments.
The information you share
The right content format for your business will be suited to the information you share. If you want to share in-depth informative content, articles and videos often do a better job than social media content.
Your resources
You might already have some good ideas of content you can create. But can you actually create it? Do you have the resources you need to make this content idea a reality? You need to consider the following factors:
- Your time commitment: How much time can you dedicate to creating content? And how much time do these content formats require, on average?
- Your skills: What type of content can you or your team create without any outside help, and without having to spend time learning new skills?
- Your equipment: Will you need to purchase additional software, tools, or equipment to create this content format, or can you take advantage of free tools available online and still do a great job?
- Your budget: How much money can you actually spend to create new content? And how much money do these content formats require? Furthermore, are you able to calculate the Return On Investment (ROI) these will bring to your business?
Now you have a clearer idea of the factors you should consider when it comes to resources you need to create new content. Consider whether you can do this in-house or if your budget allows for occasional content marketing outsourcing.
Your business goals
You don’t create content for the sake of doing it. The goal of content marketing is to present yourself as an expert in your industry and to nurture an audience that will eventually trust you, convert, and become loyal to your brand.
Your priorities
Just because you have the resources to create a type of content and it matches your marketing goals, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should work on it now. Make sure you prioritize content that will have a greater impact on your business, in terms of KPIs you assign to your content marketing strategy.
The marketing funnel stage
A content format might be right for your business and audience, but it won’t necessarily be right for all of your audience. Make sure you provide the right content at the right stage of the marketing funnel (which is divided into awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty and advocacy. For example, you can use social media to spread awareness and case studies to convert readers into customers.) To choose the right content based on the stage of your audience, you can use this content types wheel:
Wrapping Up: How To Choose the Right Content Format
Now you have a good overview of the factors you need to consider for a successful content marketing strategy. To understand if a specific content format is right for you, follow this flowchart by answering the following questions.
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Originally from Rome, Italy, Giacomo holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Hult International Business School. He’s an experienced marketer with a focus on SEO.
- Choosing The Right Content Format - August 27, 2021
