Content amplification is a great way to give your digital marketing efforts a boost and realize a larger, faster return on investment (ROI).
Digital marketing specialists — such as the team at Be Locally SEO — work hard to create fresh, engaging content optimized for organic search results. But most clients won’t see the full effect of these efforts for weeks or months because organic SEO is a long game rather than an overnight sensation.
That said, you don’t have to sit idly by while waiting for your site to get the top of the search engine placement results (SERPs). By implementing some content amplification strategies, you can potentially move the process along at a faster pace.
Just like a microphone increases the range and power of your voice, content amplification increases the range and influence of your digital marketing.
The most effective content is created to help you achieve your digital marketing goals. So if your goal is to get more people to click or call to set an appointment, for example, content marketers will have a twofold focus:
1. Attracting well-qualified prospects to your website
2. Driving your site visitors to take the desired action (clicking or calling)
Based on the way organic SEO works, however, it will take time — and ongoing content creation — for Google’s algorithms to start boosting your position in the SERPs. And that means that you will see traffic to your site increase gradually over a period of weeks or months (depending largely on your industry and location).
Content amplification is a highly effective set of techniques that you and your digital marketing guru can use to hurry this process along.
You can amplify your content in a variety of ways, depending on your goals, using owned, earned and paid channels. Like SEO and the other elements of digital marketing, this isn’t a one-and-done approach. But if you can’t afford to wait around for Google to do its thing, consider giving your content a signal boost.
The most effective content amplification strategies for your company will depend on your goals and objectives, your industry and the competition you’re up against. We also consider the customer’s path to purchase when choosing content amplification platforms, to maximize our effectiveness.
Best of all, if you implement the right mix of amplification strategies, you can improve your organic rankings.
With that in mind, here are five of the go-to content amplification techniques we use here at Be Locally — a nice mix of paid and organic options.
Google AdWords is one of the most effective content amplification platforms that we use here at Be Locally SEO.
Paid searches work particularly well when you determine the specific questions your prospects are asking and use your ads to provide actionable answers. This will help ensure that your content is reaching the prospects you need it to.
To get the best ROI for AdWords campaigns, we invest the bulk of our time in doing keyword research. Choosing specific, long-tail key phrases will lower the cost of PPC ads and help your message reach a more qualified audience.
This strategy works especially well when you can leverage local and hyper-local SEO.
Email newsletters are a powerful tool for content amplification as well as nurturing leads and driving traffic to your website.
Businesses often focus their marketing efforts on generating leads but then drop the ball when it’s time to help these prospects down the path to purchase. Carefully crafted email newsletters can improve brand awareness and engage your prospects to interact with your business.
Emailing your prospects is one of the most cost-effective digital marketing platforms we have today. Done correctly, you can successfully amplify your content and enjoy a substantial ROI for your efforts.
This is one of the most commonly used content amplification techniques — and one of the most effective.
Sponsored Facebook posts, in particular, offer a highly affordable way to get your message in front of a select audience of qualified prospects. Structured correctly, a sponsored Facebook post can amplify your content exponentially through likes and shares.
The key to a strong ROI with sponsored posts is the precise alignment of message, target audience and engagement. Social media platforms are designed to inspire conversations and interactions. Your audience will know immediately if you’re trying to sell to them. Provide exceptional, engaging content, however, and you’ll trigger these invaluable interactions.
It may come as a surprise, but press releases can be a powerful addition to your digital marketing toolkit. You can use press releases for boosting your SEO and building brand awareness, as well as for content amplification.
This approach only works well when you have content that’s newsworthy, however, so craft your content carefully if you plan to use this approach for amplification. New product launches are ideal for this platform, as are seminars and other special events that your company may plan to host.
If it’s appropriate, you can target your press releases based on a specific geographic location. This helps reduce the cost and ensures that your message gets in front of the right audience.
We saved the best — and potentially most challenging — content amplification strategy for last.
An influencer is any individual, company, publication, etc., that your prospects pay attention to. On a global scale, companies may pay celebrities (or provide them with free merchandise) to use their products in public or post on social media about it. This influences the celebrity’s followers to try the product themselves.
On a more practical level, an effective influencer for your business could be a thought leader in your industry or anyone who has established a community of followers that you’d like to reach. In this case, you don’t want to pay the influencer, but you want to earn their attention and endorsement.
For instance, if you own a plant nursery or garden center, you could try reaching out to a locally or regionally known gardening guru — maybe someone who has a TV or radio show or who does appearances at local home and garden shows. Or if you are a home remodeling contractor, look for someone who writes a home renovation column for your local newspaper.
Create content that would specifically appeal to the influencer’s audience and then drop them an email with a brief introduction and a link to your content. It’s important to note that you’re not trying to advertise your business to influencers — or get them to advertise for you. But if what you have to share is truly beneficial in some way to their community, they will definitely amplify your content.
Would you like to learn new ways to get your digital content out to a wider audience? Be Locally SEO helps businesses achieve their growth and marketing goals through digital marketing. Our unique approach to SEO, web design, content creation and PPC campaigns ensures that your message is reaching the right audience. Contact us today to learn more about incorporating content amplification strategies into your digital marketing.