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How to Create a Content Marketing Budget That Works For Your Business

Content marketing is a necessary evil! Okay, necessary? Yes. Evil? Not necessarily —provided you take the proper precautions. Content marketing is the lifeblood of your online presence, but it can also be a massive drain on your resources if you’re not careful.  That’s why creating a content marketing budget will allow you to produce the unique content your audience demands without breaking the bank. Roughly two-thirds of small businesses in the US don’t have a formal budget, and many of those that do are not allocating enough resources to their efforts. This is often because business owners don’t understand how to create a budget that will suit their needs. Consequently, companies spend money on digital marketing initiatives and miss out on opportunities to connect with their target audience. Creating it is not as difficult as it may seem. Following a few simple steps, you can develop a budget to help your business achieve its goals. This article will provide a step-by-step guide to creating a budget that works for your business.  What Is a Content Marketing Budget? A content marketing budget is the money a company or organisation spends to create and distribute content for marketing purposes. The budget may include hiring writers and designers, paying for distribution platforms, and purchasing advertising. The size of a budget will vary depending on the goals and resources of the company or organisation. A small business with limited marketing resources may have a budget of just a few thousand dollars, while a large corporation may have a multimillion-dollar budget. Content marketing budgets are often part of larger overall marketing budgets. For example, a company with an annual marketing budget of $100 million might allocate $10 million to content marketing efforts. Why Do You Need a Content Marketing Budget?  There are several reasons why it’s essential to set aside money for content marketing. First, content marketing can be an effective way to reach your target audience. Creating and distributing content can engage potential customers and build relationships with them. Second, a well-executed content marketing strategy can help you save money on other marketing efforts. For example, building a strong online presence through content marketing can lead to increased organic search traffic and reduce the need for paid advertising. Third, a budget can help you measure the results of your efforts. By tracking how much money you spend on content marketing and comparing it to your results can help you determine if your efforts are paying off and make adjustments as necessary. Finally, a budget can help you plan for the future. By setting aside money for content creation and distribution, you can ensure that your business continues to have a strong online presence and connect with customers.  How to Create a Content Marketing Budget Now that you understand the importance of creating a budget, let’s discuss how actually to create one four steps you can follow: Determine Your Content Marketing Goals  The first step in creating a content marketing budget is determining your goals. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Generate leads? Your budget should be aligned with your overall marketing strategies. For example, if you’re trying to increase brand awareness, you’ll need to create a lot of content and distribute it widely. On the other hand, if you’re focused on generating leads, you’ll need to create targeted content and ensure it’s distributed to the right people. Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your efforts. This will help you track your progress and determine whether your budget is well spent. Decide How Much Money You’re Willing to Spend  The next step is to decide how much money you’re willing to spend on content marketing. This will depend on your goals, resources, and marketing budget. You may need to get creative with your efforts if you have a limited budget. For example, you could create blog posts instead of videos or host a webinar instead of an in-person event. On the other hand, if you have a larger budget, you can afford to be more aggressive with your basic content strategy. You could hire a team of writers and designers to create original content. Choose the Right Mix of Content Marketing Activities  Once you’ve determined your budget, it’s time to choose the right mix of content marketing activities. You can create many different types of content, so selecting the ones that will best help you achieve your goals is essential. Some of the most popular types of content marketing include blog posts, infographics, ebooks, webinars, and videos. Once you’ve selected the type of content you want to create, you’ll need to decide how you’re going to distribute it. It’s also important to consider the format of your content strategy. For example, if you’re creating a blog post, should it be text-based or include images? What kind of data should you include if you’re creating an infographic? Once you’ve selected the right mix of content marketing activities, you can start to allocate your budget. Be sure to leave room in your budget for experimentation so you can try new things and see what works best for your business. Track Your Results and Adjust Your Budget Accordingly  Finally, tracking your results and adjusting your budget accordingly is crucial. This will help you determine whether your efforts are paying off and make necessary changes to ensure you’re getting the most out of your budget. You can track several metrics, but some of the most important ones include website traffic, generated leads, and deals closed. Be sure to track these metrics regularly and adjust your budget accordingly. If you do not see the desired results, don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of content or change up your distribution strategy. Sometimes it takes trial and error to find what works best for your business. Creating a budget may seem daunting, but it’s essential for any business that wants to use content to achieve its marketing goals. Following

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The Know-How

The Know-How to Boosting Your Content Marketing ROI

You’ve probably heard it said that “content is king” when it comes to online marketing. That’s because high-quality, well-written, informative content can help attract and engage potential customers, build trust and credibility, and drive conversions. But what’s often missing from the equation is a discussion of content marketing ROI – or how to measure the return on investment on content marketing efforts. There are many ways to determine content marketing ROI, but before we get into that, let’s take a step back and look at what ROI is and why it matters. Content Marketing ROI “ROI” stands for “return on investment,” a way of calculating the profitability of an investment – in this case, content marketing efforts of any business. Therefore, content marketing ROI is the return on investment you get from one’s content marketing activities. Content marketing ROI is important because it helps you to understand how effective your content marketing performance is in relation to the amount of money that you have invested. Interestingly, there are a number of different ways to calculate it, but the most basic formula is: ROI = (Net Income – Cost of Investment) / Cost In other words, ROI measures how much income or return from investment in content marketing activities minus the cost of those activities, divided by the cost. For example, let’s say you spend $100,000 on content marketing in a month. From that investment, you generate $200,000 in return. The ROI would be: ($200,000 – $100,000) / $100,000 x 100 = 100% So, in this case, the ROI is 100%. That means you’re generating an additional dollar as income for every dollar spent on content marketing. If there are doubts about things to include in the calculation of the ROI, a good rule of thumb is to think about anything that goes into producing and distributing the content, such as: Writing or creating the content itself Editing and proofreading Tools for content marketing Publishing or hosting the content Promoting and distributing the content Measuring and analyzing the results And anything else that’s involved in the process Make sure to have Google Analytics set up to track traffic from the website to the content accurately. That’s because Google Analytics is very handy in determining which pieces of content are most successful in attracting an audience and what topics they’re most interested in. It’s also useful for understanding how people interact with what’s on the website after they’ve read the content. It provides deep insights into the changes needed to improve the user experience. Once you have google analytics set up and can track organic traffic from the website to your content, you can start calculating the content marketing ROI – easy After calculating the ROI, use that number to compare the profitability of different content marketing successes, activities, and strategies and decide where to allocate resources going forward. This way, you can continue to invest in and improve upon what’s working for your business. 6 Reasons Why Content Marketing ROI Matters When content marketers don’t track and measure the ROI of their content marketing efforts, they simply won’t know whether or not they’re actually paying off.   And if they don’t know whether or not their content marketing is working, they could be wasting time and money on activities that aren’t actually helping you achieve their business goals. So, why does it matter after all? Here are six reasons:  1. Improved Decision Making With awareness of how much profit your content makes, you can more efficiently use your resources by making smart decisions on where to invest time and money in the future.  For example, let’s say you’re trying to decide whether to produce more blog posts or create more videos. If you know that each blog post generates $100 in revenue on average, but each video generates $500, then it’s a no-brainer – you should create more videos. 2. More Accountability Measuring ROI holds content marketers accountable for their actions and ensures they produce profitable content.  Having high website traffic and social media engagement is not enough. The content must ultimately drive profits for the company. With this, content marketers will be motivated to produce content that generates revenue for the business.  3. Better Budgeting To maintain or increase your budget, you need to be able to justify your expenses – and that’s where content marketing ROI comes in. Suppose you show that a content marketing program generates a positive return. In that case, it will be much easier to convince decision-makers to give the needed resources to continue doing what you’re doing. 4. Setting Realistic Goals Measuring ROI helps set realistic goals for content marketing strategies and campaigns. It can clearly show whether or not a campaign is successful and if it needs to be tweaked or improved upon in the future.  It will make it possible to measure progress toward reaching specific business objectives, such as increasing sales or website conversions. Usually, setting specific and measurable goals is a crucial step in successful content marketing.  5. Competitive Advantage Competitive advantage is said to be achieved when a company can successfully offer the same or similar products or services as other businesses but at a lower cost or higher profit. Businesses that don’t bother to calculate their ROI are flying blind when it comes to making decisions about their content marketing strategy. So, understanding your content marketing ROI can help compare and analyze how your performance stacks up against competitors in the industry. This can give any business a competitive edge and provide insights on where to improve for future success.  6. Better Demonstration of Value Measuring ROI allows content marketers to demonstrate the value and impact their efforts have on the overall success of a business. This can be crucial for securing buy-in or budget from higher-ups in the company. In essence,  tracking ROI helps justify the time and resources spent on content marketing.  What’s more?  It can also attract potential investors or partners as they will be

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how to dominate

How to Dominate Your Industry With Content Marketing: A Roadmap

To dominate your industry, you need more than a great product or dream to sell. You also need an effective content marketing strategy. Every business wants to be the thought leader in its field, and content marketing can make all the difference.  Content marketing can be the ace that takes your business from obscure to becoming a dark horse. In business, visibility is vital. The more people know about your company and its services, the more likely they will use your products or services. By making and sharing high-quality content, businesses can build thought leadership, establish themselves as experts in their field, and attract new customers and clients.   However, simply producing content is not enough – you must also have wholesome strategies to distribute and promote your own content to maximize its impact. This post will discuss the roadmap to success for content marketing. It will go over everything from creating a content strategy, tools, and resources to promoting your content. Using the tips, you can develop your own strategy. What Is Marketing? Marketing is any action or process that aims to get people interested in the products and services you offer. This process includes advertising, selling, and delivering products or services to customers or clients. It is also essential to understand that marketing is not just about selling things but more. Marketing is a broader concept than sales. Marketing takes a keen interest in the psychology of the potential consumer. It helps them realize a need they did not know they had or, in some cases, creates demand for the product. Marketing involves creating a demand for what you are selling and then providing a solution to that problem. It’s about understanding your audience and developing strategic marketing approach-focused content that appeals to them. The marketing field is vast, with myriad innovative ways to get products to the target audience. There is a legion to choose from, from the more natural, organic, and subtle marketing strategies to the disruptive, shocking marketing. What Is Content Marketing? Content marketing focuses on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract, persuade, inform, educate, inspire and retain a clearly-defined audience—and, ultimately, drive profitable customer action. For example, a company that makes electric cars could have a content marketing mission statement or a blog post about electric vehicles rather than writing a sales pitch for their cars. This way, they position themselves as a reliable option for information, control the narrative and create brand awareness.  Content marketing is an effective way to build thought leadership, establish yourself as an expert in your field, and attract new customers and clients. However, content marketing is often confused with other marketing efforts, such as traditional advertising or public relations. But content marketing is different in that it focuses on consistently creating valuable content rather than interrupting customers with messages they don’t want to see. In other words, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruptive, providing information that your target audience is actively seeking out. And it’s an ongoing process, not a one-time effort. The ultimate goal of marketing is to convert to sales. Content marketing attempts to do this while also creating value for the audience. Recent approaches to content marketing focus on delivering content that feels natural to the audience through organic searches. It creates value and subtly draws in the consumer, referred to as inbound marketing. It is a gradual approach with higher conversion rates and a tendency to build a community of fiercely loyal consumers. Why Is Content Marketing Strategy So Important?  Figures don’t lie. The data on content marketing shows proven benefits over other forms of marketing. This has led to a shift in marketing, with 36% of enterprise marketers saying they’ve shifted paid advertising budget dollars to content marketing. Content marketing is different from traditional marketing in that it is based on creating value. It aims to attract consumers with valuable information rather than sell the product to them in an interruptive manner.  The customer actively looks for the value you offer while positioning your brand so it can be found. Here are some benefits of content marketing: Education  Information is critical, prospective clients need information, and content marketing is a way to get it across that is most appealing to the target audience. It also helps show potential and existing customers how your products and services can solve their issues. Long-lasting Relationships Aside from selling your product eventually, a content marketing strategy allows you to build relationships with current and potential consumers of your product. Such relationships based on having received value from the brand usually attract a sense of loyalty, which is handy in retaining clients.  Conversion Content marketing has been found to have better conversion rates than traditional marketing strategies. According to the Content Marketing Institute B2B content marketing report, 72% of the most successful marketers say that content marketing generates leads, with 57% claiming that content marketing has directly increased business sales.  Community  It builds a community around the brand. This, more often than not, translates to more significant sales. Every business needs its own “fan base”. That is, a group of people who are not just customers but also advocates of the brand. Good content marketing can help you achieve that.  Types of Content Marketing  Content marketing is not a one-size-fits-all for brands. It requires proper curation of the content and content positioning. Ultimately, the marketing strategy a brand adopts is tailored to its audience and the motives behind the plan. Interestingly, the different marketing types are not mutually exclusive; a single strategy can embody more than one type of content marketing.  For example, a brand’s content marketing strategy can include infographics, videos, and text-based content marketing on social media. Some of the types of content marketing, include: Infographics Content Marketing  Infographics are an all-time favorite, especially with difficult-to-understand concepts. It involves using text and pictures in a graphic format to dispense information.  It

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How a Content Management System Can Transform Your Business

In today’s business world, a website is essential. It’s a way to reach customers, market products or services, and connect with potential new customers or partners.  But creating and maintaining a website can be expensive and time-consuming, especially if you don’t have the right tools. That’s where a Content Management System (CMS) becomes a lifesaver. As businesses continue to move online, a CMS can save you time and money by simplifying the process of creating and maintaining a website. In this article, we’ll discuss what a content management system is, how it can help your business, and provide tips on choosing the right CMS for your needs. How Did CMS come to be? The History of CMS Content Management System (CMS) can be traced back to the first website in history, created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990. This original website was modeled on an internet-based hypertext system known as HTML. At this time, HTML only represented text and links. It was later developed as a tool to help manage their clients’ websites more efficiently.  A few years later, CMS was being marketed as a way for non-technical users to manage their websites. This marked the beginning of the CMS industry, with many other companies soon following suit and releasing their own CMS solutions.  CMS became even more popular in the 2000s with the rise of open-source CMS options such as WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal, allowing anyone to use and customize these tools for free.  Today, countless CMS options are available to businesses and individuals, ranging from simple one-person operations to large enterprise-level solutions. What is a Content Management System? Basically, it is a software application that helps users create, manage, store, publish, and edit web content. Content in this context refers to digital assets such as text, images, and multimedia files, as well as the structure or organization of this content, such as web pages and menus. You can use it to power any type of website, from a simple blog to a complex e-commerce site. Businesses often use it instead of hiring a web developer or designer to make and manage their website. According to estimates, more than “73 million websites have been built with CMS”, making it one of the most popular types of web software. There are two crucial components of CMS: Common features of a CMS include tracking who created or edited what content when it was created or edited and an approval workflow for publishing changes. Another important feature of a CMS is its ability to support multiple users and roles. It allows different people within an organization to be responsible for different parts of the site’s content while still maintaining a consistent overall look and feel. How Does a Content Management System Help Your Business? A CMS (content management system) is used to create and manage digital content for your website. Here are just the most important reasons: 1. It is both Time and Cost Efficient Creating and maintaining a website can be costly and time-consuming, especially if you don’t have the right tools. A CMS can help by providing an easy-to-use platform for creating and managing your content. It can save you time and money in the long run, as you won’t need to hire expensive web developers or designers to make updates to your site. 2. It can help you reach more Visitors A CMS helps improve not only your website’s design but also its ability to draw in visitors and keep them engaged. With a CMS, you can quickly and easily create new pages or blog posts, add images or videos, and make your site more engaging and user-friendly. A CMS can also make sharing your content with social media networks easy, which can help increase your reach even further. 3. It can make it easy to create and update content A CMS can make it easy to create and update content. If you don’t know HTML or other programming languages, a CMS can make adding and updating content on your website much easier. You can also use a CMS to manage your website’s content in one place, making it easier to keep track of everything. 4. It can help you manage your business more effectively A CMS can also help you manage your business more effectively. With a CMS, you can centralize all your content in one place. This makes it easy to find and update information as needed. In addition, a CMS can help you track site activity and analyze visitor data. You can use this information to improve your marketing efforts and make better business decisions. 5. It can scale as your business grows As your business grows, a CMS can grow with you. Most CMS platforms offer a variety of features and plugins that you can use to add new functionality to your site. As your business expands, you won’t need to start from scratch. Many content management systems are created to be scalable to manage high traffic volume and data storage. Interestingly, a CMS can be a valuable tool for businesses of all forms. If you’re looking for a way to save time and money, reach more customers, or improve your business operations, a CMS may be the right end-to-end solution for you. Heedless vs. Legacy Content Management Systems In the past, many companies used legacy content management systems (Microsoft SharePoint or Lotus Notes) that were more expensive and technically challenging to use. These traditional CMS systems often require extensive training and ongoing maintenance. However, with the rise of cloud-based CMS options, there is now a new option for businesses: heedless content management systems. These platforms are user-friendly and require minimal technical expertise, i.e., coding. Examples include WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal – which provide customizable features and the ability to scale higher as your business grows. So, which option is better for your business? It depends on your specific needs and resources. Legacy CMS systems may offer more advanced features but can also be costly

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20 Content Marketing Examples From Brands That Get It Right

Lately, it seems like everyone is talking about content marketing. That’s because more and more businesses realize how important compelling content is to draw in new customers and keep the ones they have. Even if you’re unfamiliar with the term “content marketing,” you’ve almost certainly been exposed to it. And there’s a good chance you’ve even consumed some content created by a company trying to sell you something without realizing it. Content marketing is beautiful when executed well and doesn’t feel like marketing. Instead, good content marketing provides readers with valuable information that entertains, educates, or inspires them. If you’re still not convinced of the power of content marketing, consider these examples to see how some of the best brands in the world are using it to drive actual results. What Is Content Marketing? Content marketing involves multiple formats of creating and sharing online material (such as videos, blog posts, long-form articles, visual content, white papers, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services. Many businesses use it to build rapport with their audience segments and create a more personal connection with potential and existing customers. When done correctly, it can be an extremely effective way to drive leads and sales and perform well in search engines. Some of the most popular content formats include: If you’re looking to get started with content marketing, it’s essential to understand the basics and how they can be used to achieve your business goals. Let’s take a more in-depth look at some of the most compelling examples. 20 Examples of Successful Content Marketing Content marketing is a popular and effective way for businesses to attract and engage with customers. Here are 20 examples of successful campaigns from various industries. Canva’s Design School One of the most famous examples is Canva’s Design School. The company, which offers a graphic design platform, has a robust blog post full of design tips and tutorials. This provides valuable content for their audience and positions Canva as a thought leader in the design space. Graphic design platform Canva launched its weekly “design challenge” series on Instagram. They encourage their followers to recreate a featured design with their software and share it for a chance to be featured on Canva’s Instagram page. This creates user-generated content while also demonstrating the capabilities of the Canva platform. Key Takeaways MailChimp’s All in a Day’s Work Series MailChimp, a popular email marketing platform, launched its “All in a Day’s Work” series to showcase how small businesses use their platform in unique and creative ways. Each episode highlights a different business, delving into its day-to-day operations and how they utilize MailChimp for its marketing efforts. This campaign educates potential customers about the platform and highlights the success of real businesses using MailChimp. This is a fantastic way for the company to showcase its product in action and establish thought leadership within the industry. Key Takeaways Spotify Wrapped Frequently, content marketing campaigns can feel gimmicky or inauthentic. However, Spotify’s annual “Wrapped” campaign is a prime example of successful, engaging content marketing. Each year, the streaming platform compiles personalized data for each user, including their top listened-to artists and songs and their total minutes streamed over the past year. This campaign encourages users to continue using the platform and sparks conversation and interaction amongst friends as they compare and contrast their Wrapped statistics. In addition, Spotify utilizes user-generated content by allowing users to share their Wrapped results on social media, further expanding the campaign’s reach. Key Takeaways Duolingo’s Tiktok Account Sitting at over 4.5 million followers, Duolingo’s TikTok account is a premium example of successful content marketing. The language-learning app uses its platform to showcase the unique and entertaining ways its product can be used, such as learning sign language or speaking in a foreign accent. Their videos also often feature clever animation and catchy music, making them visually appealing and highly shareable. Additionally, Duolingo smartly includes a call-to-action as a link to their app in the video description. Overall, Duolingo’s TikTok presence successfully showcases the benefits and fun aspects of its product engagingly, ultimately driving more users to download the app. Key Takeaways You Suck at Cooking Starting as a funny YouTube channel, You Suck at Cooking has grown into a successful channel with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. The host, Bryan, uses humor and relatable cooking blunders to connect with his audience and make cooking approachable for the everyday person. Bryan’s ability to consistently create new and engaging content sets this channel apart from others, from recipe videos to tutorials to product reviews. He also promotes products and brands naturally and authentically, making him an attractive partner for companies looking to reach his audience. Key Takeaways Slack’s Frontier Conference Hailing as one of the top business communication platforms, Slack used its Frontier Conference to showcase the value and power of its platform by bringing together thought leaders and industry experts to share insights on team collaboration and productivity. The conference provided attendees with valuable information and allowed Slack to position itself as a go-to resource for companies looking to streamline their communication and improve their overall performance. The videos of the forums are also published on the company’s YouTube channel, allowing a broader audience to access and benefit from the content. This not only strengthens Slack’s brand as a thought leader in the industry but also drives traffic to its website and potentially converts viewers into customers. Key Takeaways Warby Parker Email Marketing Founded in 2010, Warby Parker disrupted the eyewear industry by offering high-quality prescription glasses at a fraction of the price. One of their key strategies for success has been their email marketing campaigns. From clever subject lines to personalized recommendations, their emails consistently drive customers back to their website. Additionally, they offer exclusive promotions and deals to email subscribers, creating a sense of exclusivity and boosting customer loyalty. Key Takeaways Design Personality by Airbnb Airbnb’s

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The Ultimate Guide on Repurposing Content for Businesses

Are you looking for ways to get more mileage out of your content? If you’re like most business owners, you’re probably always on the lookout for ways to get more bang for your buck – repurposing content is a great way to do that. Reusing and repurposing old content can save time and money while still delivering fresh, relevant, and engaging content to your audience. This guide will show you how to repurpose content for maximum impact. We’ll cover everything from how to choose the right pieces of content to the different ways you can go about doing it. What is Repurposing Content? Repurposing content simply means taking an old piece of content and using it in a new way. This could mean turning a blog post into an infographic or a video, or converting an ebook into a series of blog posts. By repackaging your content in different formats, you can reach a new audience, generate more leads, and achieve other marketing goals. There are endless possibilities when it comes to repurposing content. The key is finding creative ways to reuse your existing material to resonate with your audience in a new and different way. For instance, blog content can be easily repurposed into a video or a guest post for another blog or made into your blog. In the same way, you can create social media posts Youtube videos, or other video content. Sometimes, all it takes is to look at your content from a different perspective to come up with new ideas for how to repurpose it. Other times, you may need to do some research to find a suitable format for your audience. The important thing is that you take the time to consider all of your options before settling on a particular approach. Whichever, make sure the final product still contains your original message. It not only gives you a better chance of success but also helps you avoid any potential pitfalls. Why Repurpose Content? There are many reasons why business owners choose to repurpose their content. In most cases, it boils down to the following objectives: Get More Mileage Out of Your Content: Repurposing content allows you to get more mileage out of your existing content. Instead of creating all new content, you can reuse old material in a new way that still adds value for your audience.  For example, let’s say you have a blog post that performed well, with many shares and comments. Repurposing this content into an infographic or video can help you reach even more people and drive further engagement.  That way, you don’t have to create new content; instead, you can focus on repackaging and promoting your best-performing pieces. It is like hitting two birds with one stone.  Saving Time and Money You would agree that creating high-quality content takes a lot of time and effort, especially when you’re doing so from scratch. If you’re only going to use that content once, you’re not getting the most out of it. Why? Because once you’ve published a piece of content, it doesn’t just disappear into thin air. It remains on your website (or wherever else you published it) and can continue to generate leads and traffic long after you hit the publish button. By repurposing old content, you can get more mileage out of it without having to start from scratch every time you want to publish something new.  This saves you time and money – because you’re able to get more use out of the content you’ve already created. Reaching a New Audience When you create new content, it’s crucial to think about how you can reach a new audience with it. For example, if you have an entire blog post that’s doing well with your target audience, you can turn it into an infographic and share it on social media. This allows you to reach people who may not be familiar with your brand but who are interested in the topic you’re discussing. Generating More Leads One of the main goals of content marketing is to generate leads – repurposing content can help you do that. A good example is that you can turn an engaging ebook into a series of actionable blog posts and use it as a lead generation tool. By including a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of each post, you can encourage people to download your ebook and become leads. Building Relationships with Customers and Prospects Another goal of content marketing is to build relationships with customers and prospects. And one of the best ways to do that is by creating helpful and informative content. If you have just one blog post that’s doing well with your target audience, you can turn it into an email course and use it to nurture prospects and build customer relationships. By sending people valuable information regularly, you can keep them engaged with your brand and build a rapport with them. Increase Your Visibility Repurposing content can also help you increase your visibility and get more eyes on your brand. When you create new content, be sure to promote it across your social media channels, email list, and other marketing channels. You can also submit it to directories and aggregators such as Alltop and the like. The more places your content is, the more likely people are to find it and learn about your business. Boosting SEO Rankings Finally, repurposing content can also help you boost your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) rankings. When you publish new content, it gives you the opportunity to include relevant keywords and phrases that people are searching for. Optimizing your content for search engines can improve your chances of ranking higher in the search results. Not only that, but republishing old content also allows you to attract new readers and keep your existing readers coming back for more. Types of Content That You Can Repurpose Almost any type of content can be repurposed, including: How Best to Repurpose Content Now that you

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inbound marketing

An Ultimate Guide to Successful Inbound Marketing

Digital marketing can be overwhelming, with a constant stream of new tactics and technologies to keep up with. But at the end of the day, all inbound marketing comes down to making good content and connecting with your audience in a tangible way.   Customers don’t want to be bombarded with sales messages – they want valuable content that speaks to their needs and interests. And that’s where inbound marketing comes in. Building real relationships seems to be a lost art these days, but it’s an integral part of successful inbound marketing. Yet, building connections can be done by throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks- it’s about creating a strategy that works for your business and then following through with consistent execution.  So, how can you make sure your inbound marketing efforts are successful? In this ultimate guide, we’ll cover everything from creating a buyer persona to measuring your ROI. Let’s dive in.  What is Inbound Marketing? Inbound marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on creating and distributing valuable content to attract, convert, close, and delight customers.  It simply shows you the process of bringing customers to you instead of you going out and finding them. It serves the goal of attracting strangers and turning them into happy customers. What’s more? Inbound marketing is holistic and consumer-centric. This means that it goes beyond just getting your business name out there.  NO! It’s more about building relationships and creating a positive brand image that will last long after the sale.   When you offer such an exceptional customer experience, it’s pretty easy for them to do business with you again and recommend you to others.  What Are The Benefits of Inbound Marketing? Several benefits come with using inbound marketing to attract and convert customers. Some of these benefits include: Inbound Marketing & Outbound Marketing Inbound marketing and outbound marketing are two sides of the same coin. Outbound marketing is the traditional form of marketing that involves interruption tactics like cold-calling, TV commercials, and pop-up ads.  Inbound marketing, on the other hand, Inbound marketing focuses on building customer relationships by giving them helpful content. The main difference between the two is that inbound marketing takes time and outbound marketing gives you results right away. However, in the long run, inbound marketing is more effective because it builds trust and credibility with the customer, which leads to more conversions.  Outbound marketing is usually less effective than inbound marketing because it is more disruptive and can be expensive.  Inbound marketing is generally more effective because it’s more targeted and efficient. Inbound Marketing & Content Marketing Inbound marketing and content marketing are often used interchangeably, but they are two different things.  Inbound marketing is a more holistic approach that covers all aspects of the customer journey, while content marketing is just one piece of the puzzle. This means that inbound marketing and content marketing are that inbound marketing covers the entire customer journey from awareness to purchase. In contrast, content marketing focuses on the relationship between a business and its customers.   Be that as it may, inbound marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on attracting customers to your business. On the other hand, you can use content marketing to support your overall marketing goals. It involves creating and sharing valuable content to attract and retain customers – blog posts, ebooks, infographics, etc. Although content marketing is often used as part of an inbound marketing strategy, you can use it independently. Why is Inbound Marketing Important? Inbound marketing has become increasingly important as the world of marketing has changed. Outbound marketing tactics like cold-calling, TV commercials, and interruptive ads were the norm in the past.  Today, that has completely changed!  Potential customers are much more likely to do their research online before ever contacting a company. Why? Because they can.  The internet has enabled customers to find the information they need without talking to a salesperson.  Interestingly, they often don’t even have to leave their living room to do it.  That’s why inbound marketing is so important. It’s a way to reach your target audience where they are – online.  So, inbound marketing is crucial because it helps you: Whatever your product or service, inbound marketing can help you attract strangers and turn them into customers.  If you’re not using inbound marketing, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to grow your business. How Can You Use Inbound Marketing? There are several ways you can use inbound marketing to attract and convert customers. Some common methods include: Blog Posts Blogs are a great way to reach your target audience and show that you are an expert in your field. You can do this by regularly creating, publishing, and distributing relevant content in different forms, such as articles, infographics, videos, and others. SEO “SEO” stands for “search engine optimization.” It is an excellent way to get search engines to notice your website and the content you post. When you optimize the content on your website, you can reach your target market once they search for information related to your business.  In other words, SEO makes your content appear higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). By doing this, your website may increase in search results, leading to more traffic.  To effectively achieve this, you have to choose the right keywords, create an engaging title/headline and make the format of your content easy to read.  Social Media Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are excellent ways to share your blog posts and other pieces of content with a broader audience. Recent statistics show that While 91 percent of companies use some kind of social media for marketing, 96 percent of people who discuss brands online follow and interact with those brands. Social media provide that platform for building relationships with potential and current customers and promoting your business.  You can also build relationships with current and potential customers by answering their questions and concerns through social media.

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Content calendar

What Is a Content Calendar and How to Create One?

If you’re like most businesses, you’re probably trying to find new ways to adjust to the realities of the modern-day market and improve your marketing strategy. One way to do that is by creating a content calendar. A content calendar is a document that outlines all of the content that will be published on your website and social media channels over a given period of time. This is a must-have for businesses that want to ensure they’re always publishing evergreen content and for people who want to plan and improve their content strategy. This article will teach you everything you need to know about content calendars and how to create one that works for you. What Is a Content Calendar and Why Do You Need One? As a business owner, you probably already have a lot on your plate. Trying to keep track of all the content you need to publish across multiple channels can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Publishing content is an essential part of marketing for businesses of any kind. In a content calendar, you plan out all the content you will post on your website and social media. It keeps track of topics, titles, publishing dates, and any other important information about your content. A content calendar helps you stay organized and on top of your content strategy. It allows you to plan and ensure that your content is aligned with your goals and target audience. It also enables collaboration within your team, so everyone knows what’s being published and when. Content Calendar vs. Content Strategy It’s important to note that a content calendar is not the same thing as a content strategy. Your content strategy should be your overarching plan for what kind of content you want to create and how it will help you achieve your business goals. Once you have a content strategy, you can start creating your content calendar. This document will serve as a roadmap for your content strategy and help you track your progress over time. Content Calendar vs. Content Format In understanding what a content calendar is, it is also important not to confuse it with your content format. Your content format is the actual structure of your content, such as blog posts, infographics, videos, etc. Once you’ve decided on a content format, you can start creating individual pieces of content that fit into that format. Most of the time, a content calendar will show the formats you’ve chosen for your content. Types of Content Calendar Depending on your needs, you can choose a few different types of content calendars. Some common types include: Social Media Content Calendar This type of calendar is designed to help you keep track of the content you publish on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and even YouTube. Using a social media content calendar template can help you make sure you’ve covered all the bases. Most of the time, a social media content calendar should include all the social media platforms that can be used with your content strategy. Editorial Content Calendar This type of calendar is used by content creators, such as bloggers and journalists, use this type of calendar to plan the topics and timeframe for their articles. It is typically used by publishers and news organizations. It helps keep track of content deadlines and ensure their content is up-to-date and useful. An editorial calendar can be used to show upcoming content like blog posts and editorial features, Email Marketing and Ads Content Calendar This type of calendar is used by businesses to plan and track their content marketing campaigns. Email marketing is a more direct way to reach and convert potential customers, so it is usually advisable to have a plan. Also, if your brand adopts a hybrid strategy that includes traditional marketing, you will need an ad content calendar to keep track of your advertising. Video and Infographic Content Calendar This type of calendar is most commonly used by businesses and brands that require a lot of visual content and by YouTubers and Vloggers. Any of the types of content calendars already discussed can have video content. This type of calendar is just more useful for brands that are heavy on video marketing. Benefits of a Content Calendar Because of how important it is for businesses to stay on top of their content management, it is often essential to create a content calendar to help your marketing and sales team manage your social media content and every other content relevant to your business.  There are many benefits to having a content calendar, including: Helping You Stay Organized and on Track A content calendar can be very beneficial to your business because it helps you stay organized. You can see what parts of your content strategy have been implemented by monitoring the published content through your calendar. A content calendar also helps you to plan ahead, take note of important dates on the calendar, and prepare content to fit. Your social media accounts will definitely be better managed. Making It Easier to Measure the Performance of Your Content When you have a content calendar, it becomes much easier to measure the performance of your content. You can track social media engagement, website traffic, and conversion rates. While most platforms have built-in tools for analytics and tracking performance, a content calendar makes the process easier as you have something to reference easily. Helping You Better Understand Your Content Strategy A content calendar can also help you to understand your content strategy better. By looking at what content has been published and when you can start to see patterns and get a better understanding of what is working and what isn’t. This understanding will help you optimize your social media and website content strategy and adjust accordingly. Ensuring That Your Content Is Consistent and Aligns With Your Overall Marketing Goals. One of the most important benefits of having a content calendar is that it helps to ensure that your content is

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b2b content marketing

B2B Content Marketing: The Best Guide to Generate Leads and Sales

As a business-to-business (B2B) marketer, your primary goal is to generate leads that convert into sales and revenue for your company. And to do that, you need an effective content marketing strategy. B2B content marketing is an extremely effective lead-generation tool when done right. Indeed, 91 percent of B2B marketers who use content marketing believe it is an effective method of reaching their target audience and generating leads. But with so much noise out there, it can be tough to stand out and get noticed, given all the competition. So, how can you make your B2B content marketing strategy more effective and generate the results you need to grow your business? Here’s how to get started with an effective B2B content marketing strategy to drive organic traffic and boost sales. What is B2B Content Marketing? B2B content marketing is creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined business audience – to drive profitable customer action. The goal of B2B content marketing is simple and direct – to generate leads that convert into sales and revenue for your company. No more, no less! But note that while the concept is relatively simple, the implementation can be quite complex. After all, there’s a lot that goes into quality content creation that will resonate with your target audience or potential customers. You also need solid distribution channels to ensure the right people see your content at the right time. Usually, B2B marketers will create content that educates their target audience on a particular topic, with the ultimate goal of driving them further down the sales funnel. The result should be more lead generation and, ultimately, more sales. Key Benefits of B2B Content Marketing B2B content marketing has been regarded as one of the most effective marketing strategies for businesses in recent years. There are many benefits of implementing an effective B2B content marketing strategy. Some of the key benefits of B2B content marketing include: Generate More Leads Content marketing can help you generate leads at all stages of the buyer’s journey.  Since B2B content marketing aims to educate your audience on a particular topic, it can assist you in generating leads that are more likely to become potential customers as they move into the sales funnel. According to the Content Marketing Institute’s 2022 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report — lead generation is a top priority for 72 % of B2B organizations, followed by sales. So, invest in content creation and marketing if you want to increase the leads. How can you achieve this? By creating useful and valuable content that will attract your target audience – and drive them toward the decision to become a customer. With this approach, you can generate more leads and target higher-quality ones. It is fire-proof! Educate Your Target Audience You can provide your target audience with education on a particular topic through a B2B content marketing strategy. This could be done through rich and informative content such as blog posts, infographics, eBooks, or even webinars. It is important because, for them to do business with you, they need to trust you and believe that you’re an expert in your field. Build Relationships With Your Target Audience Another benefit is that it allows you to build relationships with your target audience. Your audience will learn to trust you if you prove helpful by giving them value-packed content. The simple logic is that the more helpful and valuable information you give, the more likely your audience will consider doing business with you.  It is popularly said that in B2B, relationships are everything. And, as we all know, people do business with companies they know, like, and trust. As evidence would suggest, a content marketing strategy can be extremely beneficial for businesses — especially when it comes to generating leads and building relationships with existing customers. Improves Search Engine Result Page (SERP) Rankings B2B content marketing can also help improve your SERP rankings – because search engines prioritize valuable, informative content. By creating keyword-optimized content, you’re making it more likely that your target customers will find you when searching for information on Google and other search engines.  Keyword research is an important part of content marketing as it can help you identify the terms and phrases your target audience is searching for. And, when your target audience can find your content easily, they’re more likely to read it — which can help improve your rankings even further. This determines the organic traffic you’re likely to get to your website — which translates to more leads and sales. Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy According to the Content Marketing Institute, B2B marketers who use content marketing spend 62% less than those who don’t. B2B content marketing not only helps generate leads and sales but it also offers a cost-effective solution for businesses. In fact, B2B marketers who prioritize content marketing have seen an average of 6 times higher conversion rates than those who do not invest in this strategy.  With such measurable success, it’s clear that investing in B2B content marketing can pay off in the long run. Enhance Brand Awareness and Recognition Content marketing can also help in enhancing or building brand awareness and recognition. By creating and distributing quality content, you’re increasing the chances that your target customers will see, read, and remember your brand — making it more likely that they’ll do business with you in the future. Content marketing campaigns that focus on brand awareness typically have a longer-term focus, as their goal is to slowly but steadily build up recognition over time. In other words, B2B content marketing is an excellent option if you want to improve how well-known your brand is. Position Your Products & Services By creating content focused on solving a particular problem that your target audience is facing; you’re positioning your products and services as the solution to that problem — making it more likely that your target audience will do business with you. Many marketers make

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