No matter how committed you are to developing quality content marketing, every business owner or writer has experienced the feeling that their content has gotten stale. Whether it’s a drop in search rankings, a fall in readership, or just a sense that you’re struggling for fresh angles, you’re not alone. It’s a common issue – particularly for businesses that have been publishing content for a while or have recently been in an intensely generative phase. The good news is that there’s a systematic approach you can use to quickly evaluate what’s working and get your content back on track with new topics and fresh insights.
Take Stock of Your Current Content
When is the last time that you audited your content assets? Do you have a clear understanding of your current blog posts, articles, eBooks, and other content? With that information, it’s possible to launch a campaign to understand how they’re performing. Evaluate your Google Analytics data to see how each piece is performing and look for patterns. Are certain topics recurring hits? Is there an angle that your customers are excited about? A content format that resonates? The more data-driven you can be about targeting content types and topics that work, the better you’ll be prepared to develop content that performs well with readers.
Ask Your Readers What They Want
Keyword research, mining your existing frequently asked questions, and other research strategies can help you develop an editorial calendar. But nothing is better for revealing what the market wants that asking them directly. Businesses and publishers can do this in a variety of ways. An online survey can be a quick, effective way to test ideas and get input. Other options include having short chats with customers to ask what information they need from you the most, or asking people to let you know when they sign up for your newsletter what insights they’re looking for the most.
Implement Strategies for Finding New Ideas
Don’t assume that inspiration is something that happens. People with a steady stream of interesting things to talk about are plugged in, deliberately. They’re reading blogs, newsletter, and professional publications in their space. They regularly attend conferences and webinars. They’re reading market research, white papers, and other thought pieces. Perhaps they’re even following other disciplines outside their own industry and thinking about how to apply these ideas to their own space. Make time in your schedule to seek new insights and inspiration.
Experiment With New Formats
For many companies, it’s easy to fall into a rut with the content that you’re creating. Your standard offering becomes a 500 word blog post or a 1000 word article. By varying your content formats, you’re opening the door to new ways to connect with your audience. Experiment with different lengths. If you usually write, work on developing visual content such as videos or infographics. Interactive quizzes are picking up in popularity as well. For example, an interior designer might create a “What’s your design personality?” and then steer readers toward dedicated landing pages with ideas related to “minimalist design” or “romantic design” inclinations.
Are you ready to add some variety to your online content? Contact us today to learn how Be Locally SEO’s team of digital marketing experts can help you deploy successful content marketing campaigns.