You can ensure that marketing game plans don’t go to waste in this unpredictable year by focusing your team on a content-first strategy.
Are you betting everything on the best-case scenario of in-person events? Instead, make a marketing game plan based on what you know works now and will continue to work in the future.
Didn’t the pandemic yank the rug from under almost everyone’s feet? Therefore, it’s no surprise that marketing has had to adapt in the last couple of years.
Many organizations’ attention has turned away from in-person meetings. They have put less focus on events like trade exhibitions and conferences. Consequently, they have put more energy toward methods that work remotely.
Content Marketing Takes the Stage
Without a doubt, content marketing has been the beneficiary of all of this transformation.
A poll of 49 B2B organizations was conducted in the summer of 2020. The goal was to see how they approach marketing. It found that more than 80% of them agreed that content is now a core business strategy.
Content marketing is a strategy for connecting with people. It doesn’t require physical contact. In addition, it spreads widely and consistently regardless of where people are in the world. Furthermore, it can assist current customers in better understanding the value of a firm. Additionally, it can also perhaps serve as a means of attracting new customers.
Perhaps the epidemic is to blame for most of the strategy’s appeal. However, content marketing’s recent prominence is unlikely to fade after the crisis is over. Furthermore, many marketers had been pushing for a more content-focused strategy well before 2020.
Therefore, this past year has merely provided them with the opportunity to demonstrate the strategy’s genuine worth.
What’s the best way to develop a marketing strategy for whatever tomorrow may bring?
Marketers have been experimenting for the previous few months. They have seen both wins and disappointments.
However, the numbers have established the promise of content marketing. Nevertheless, certain firms’ shortcomings in this strategy are now apparent. Weaknesses such as bad SEO and a lack of cash for content generation have been prevalent.
There is a dilemma now for marketers. It is this: how do they properly integrate a content strategy into a plan for the future? It must go beyond the current health crisis and into the coming year. Here are some marketing game plans for that future to consider.
1. Concentrate on SEO in your marketing.
No amount of high-quality content can help you if no one can find it. If you want to make the most of what you’ve accomplished this year, make improving your SEO a priority.
Perform a technical website audit. This will verify that your website is set up to be found by search engines. In addition, conduct a keyword audit. This will ensure that your content is relevant to the searches of your target audience.
Your keyword research should lead your upcoming content. However, it should also guide your updates of previous material to keep it relevant. Updating outdated information is frequently the most effective technique.
However, don’t only focus on keywords. Enhance your chances of turning visits into conversions. Accomplish this by doing a deep dive into your audience’s activity. In this way, you figure out exactly what they’re looking for.
After all, what you think you know about user behavior and what is actually true can differ dramatically.
Pop-ups, for example, are the most popular kind of sign-up, according to HubSpot. However, they only convert three percent of visitors. In addition, the least popular type of sign-up form is the landing page. However, landing pages have the greatest conversion rate.
2. Create extra information to help with sales.
Content that is effective can be used for more than just marketing. It can also be used by sales professionals to improve communication with potential consumers.
Listen to sales calls to see which questions are most frequently asked and which are the most difficult for your sales staff to respond to. You can then build sales enablement content for the team to refer to and pass on to prospects, such as blog articles and infographics.
You may also leverage your largest customer wins as case studies to help future clients comprehend your worth.
This will not only help you sell customers but will also help you gain internal support for a content-centric strategy.
3. Avoid betting on in-person events.
Over 90% of event planners plan to hold virtual events in the coming year.
Don’t expect major in-person conferences and trade fairs to come storming back. It’s not likely that they will take over your marketing plan. Even if everything goes flawlessly over the coming year, it’s still not a sure bet.
That’s why the majority of marketers will be developing new methods. Successful methods will be equally valuable for both virtual and in-person events. Regardless of what happens, content will still be just as powerful. Therefore, create a plan based on what you know works today. Think about what is likely to continue to function in the future.
While the pandemic may have caught everyone off guard, the lessons learned this year can be applied to the next. This is true even if we don’t know what the year ahead will bring. By focusing more on a content-first strategy you ensure that no matter what the future brings, there will be lasting success for your company.
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