2. Social media options
eMarketer reports that, as of December 2008, social networks have surpassed email's reach. Now marketers need to ask themselves where and how their consumers are using these forums. Once armed with this information, it is up to them to make it easy for users to find their brand and share information with peers.
Once interesting content has been created, enhance it with social media buttons that enable users to become evangelists and republish the content. By allowing users to Digg, bookmark, tag, and share content, brands will gain additional credibility and drastically increase their reach. Creating unique and targeted RSS feeds also keeps consumers in the loop about company updates and new content.
These sharing tactics accomplish two things. The first is that they keep a brand and messaging in front of consumers who have expressed interest in a company. Second, they allow users to choose the channels they would like to use to interact with a brand. The great and nerve-racking aspect of social media is that users maintain control and have the choice of whether they are going to pay attention. But once they exercise the choice to follow updates, advertisers know they have found a qualified brand fan.
3. Branching out from text content
Content no longer applies to just text. Videos, podcasts, blogs, and user-generated content (especially reviews) are a few examples of content types that are strong traffic and conversion drivers. Bazaarvoice research shows that 89 percent of online consumers read reviews before making a purchase, and 90 percent of those consumers trust the reviews they read. Staggering statistics like this prove that marketers need to branch out from old-school static text and incorporate interactive features to create quality user interactions. When posting multimedia content, be sure to place it in relevant locations on a website and syndicate it through channels that will help consumers find it. An important thing to remember is that content -- whatever its form -- needs to be an asset that adds value to the online conversation -- not a distraction or blatant sales pitch.
4. Focus on quality and quantity
To drive users to a website, it is important that content is relevant and fresh. Ideally, sites should be "sticky," meaning that they should spur user engagement and return visits. If consumers are encouraged to linger on a site, there is a better chance that marketing efforts will make an impact. The more content advertisers have in their arsenal, the better -- but the quality of content is the main reason why users repeatedly visit a website. It also reflects well on a brand because it keeps messaging at the forefront of consumers' minds.
Providing real user value is especially important because consumers will not pay attention to alerts if content is not interesting. It does not matter how many updates are posted if the content is boring or sales-speak. Be funny, controversial, or ridiculous -- grabbing users' attention and engaging them in meaningful ways is the end goal.
5. Get creative with your strategy
Once solid content is in place, marketers need to take steps to pull additional users from search engines to their websites. Creatively including misspellings or slang terms into search engine marketing strategies is one way to do this. A very simplistic example is to include "NYC" and "New York City" in a keyword list. It is important for marketers to think of the language users actually employ when searching for a brand. Since incorporating misspellings into a keyword strategy usually makes companies cringe, marketers need to develop imaginative ways to incorporate these common typing errors into content. While neglecting a hyphen or jumbling letters may not conform to a corporate style guide, the alternative is missing out on qualified traffic.
Conclusion
Aligning every content outlet is the crux of an effective content strategy. It not only drives users to a site, but it also adds value to the brand-consumer relationship. To get the most out of digital content, marketers should take steps to ensure their offline, social media, and on-page content strategies augment and contribute to one another. By creating synergies between messaging and language, successes in one area can feed into other advertising efforts. Quality content-driven strategies will unearth additional traffic and yield conversion numbers that will keep ROI numbers high and smiles on bosses' faces.
Andrew Rodrigues is an SEO and social media consultant.
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