Content marketing is one of the best techniques to spread your message to your target audience. But with so much competition and outside noise, it can be hard to craft content that truly resonates. That is why knowing the content marketing best practices is a must for businesses.
In this article, we compiled the 10 best and proven content marketing best practices to guide you in your marketing strategy and make your business stand out.
Just like any marketing strategy today, content marketing constantly changes and evolves, but these best practices are some that remain consistent in delivering results.
Content Marketing Best Practices
The benefits of having a successful content marketing strategy will have a big impact on your content creation process.
Before, you can just create high-quality content without thinking about the marketing strategy for it.
But now, you have to create your content while thinking of how to reach your target audience.
With that said, let’s start with the best practices of content marketing.
1. Evergreen Cornerstone Content
Writing content is like planting a seed. Those seeds can either be a strong and tall tree or they might never grow because of the way it was planted or because the seed itself is not of those strong trees.
Creating content that will be evergreen is like selecting a seed that can grow into a big tree. Now all you need to do is to plant it correctly or write it with all the best practices.
But remember trees don’t grow overnight, and the same for your evergreen content, they can last long if done correctly but just like any article, they will need some time to rank and be recognized by the search engines.
This is what Evergreen cornerstone content is all about.
Key Features:
Long-lasting – It will stay relevant even after a long time.
Foundational or Cornerstone Articles – Covers the basic topics with in-depth content.
Value-driven – Continuously gets traffic to educate readers
Low Maintenance – Requires update a few times not regular revisions.
Unless you are writing a news article, creating content that is evergreen and can be the cornerstone of your website is a must. These can be the digital assets that have the potential to earn paying customers, attract your target audience and help you be an authority in your field.
2. Content Syndication
If you don’t know what content syndication is, it’s like writing a best-selling novel, would you like that novel to be just found in one bookstore?
No right, you’d want it to be in a lot of bookstores. The same for content syndication but in the digital world.
Instead of keeping all your publish content in your website or blog post, it would be a good strategy to market it on different platforms too and expand your reach.
Similar to how novels or books sell a lot more if it is present in more bookstores, the more people who can access your existing content the more audience you will gather and engage with.
Key Features:
Extended Reach
Brand Awareness
More Backlinks
Increased Engagements
By making use of this method, you get the best out of your created content. Spread the value you have made with your articles and see how much it boosts your business.
3. Repurposing Content
In content marketing, after publishing your post, the effort you should put into it is not done yet. This is because those valuable pieces of writing can be repurposed.
Some examples of this are making Twitter accounts and tweeting small chunks taken from your full blog post. Or taking your featured image and posting it with rich content on Pinterest. You can also repurpose content with Instagram and other social media posts.
Key Features:
Maintained Relevance
Platform Diversity
SEO Boost
Audience Re-engagement
By actively repurposing, content marketers are making the best out of their valuable content. Ensuring it has a longer lifespan, drives more traffic, and achieves results long after its publication date.
4. Pillar and Cluster Strategy
There are a lot of strategies in the world of content marketing. One of the most effective is the pillar and cluster strategy.
This method aims to create content around a central topic. Usually, this main topic will be discussed by one of the pillars or foundational posts. It can be a comprehensive guide, step-by-step tutorials, or any other discussion that covers the topic in detail.
The cluster contents are the ones surrounding the pillar content with supporting information. It can be to delve deeper into a specific section of the pillar post or add more relevant content that gives further value to the readers.
The pillar and cluster strategy is done by strategically making use of internal linking.
Key Features:
Topical Authority
Enhanced SEO
Organized Content
Lower Bounce Rate
5. Transparency and Behind-the-scenes Content
In the world of AI, where an article can be created in a few seconds. Readers are looking for authentic content and know that their brands are being managed by humans like them who care about the specific field or the niche they are talking about.
Offering a transparent view into your behind-the-scenes processes, your daily challenges and your real stories about your brand humanizes your business. This is something a lot of websites and blogs don’t have nowadays.
It builds trust and fosters deeper connections with your readers. By showing how you work, be it the making of a product or a service, brainstorming for your marketing strategy, or even sharing your content marketing metrics, you warmly invite your user base to appreciate your content more.
These types of content often touch the heartstrings in the buyer’s journey, allowing more potential customers to feel more connected to your brand and convert your organic traffic into profit.
Key Features:
Builds Trust
Enhances Buyer’s Journey
Engagement Boosts
Strengthen Brand Image
6. Optimize for Featured Snippets
Users in today’s world, crave quick answers to their questions. This is one of the reasons Google created featured snippets. It refers to the boxes you see at the top of the search page containing a short answer to the query often called, position zero.
By optimizing your content to answer a specific question or query, you are positioning it to be at the very first position that users will see and greatly increase its visibility.
While every content marketing team focuses on ranking highly on the search engine result page, aiming specifically for featured snippets can boost your content marketing efforts.
To achieve this, you have to target keywords effectively, align with content marketing trends and understand the specific format the answer to the question should be. It can either be in the form of short paragraphs, bullet point lists, or infographics.
The answers to the ‘People Also Ask’ section of Google can also be considered featured snippets. Try to answer some of those questions to have your content featured.
Key Features:
Position Zero
Direct User Engagement
Boosts Organic Traffic
More Backlinks
Aligns with Industry Trends
7. Niche-specific Platforms
In the world of the internet, creating content around a vast list of topics usually falls off. This does not mean that you can’t discuss a wider topic but in the beginning, you have to be niche specific before branching off.
You have to let Google and other search engines recognize your brand and business as an authority in your niche. Also, the use of platforms that are already niche-specific can be great for lead generation and attraction of new readers or clients.
For example, a tech article might get more traction on a tech forum or hacker news, while a fashion post can get more traffic on platforms like Lookbook. Or DIY crafts can have more engagements from Pinterest than other Social Media platforms.
Key Features:
Targeted Audience
Higher Engagement Rate
Better Conversion Rates
Keeps up with Industry Trends
Tailored Content Marketing Strategy
8. Testimonial and Case Study Content
Trust is one of the most important factors in any buyer’s journey. And the most effective way of gaining trust from your readers is by showcasing real-life examples of your product or service. This is where testimonials and case studies can help your business.
Testimonials provide feedback from your past clients or customers that were satisfied with your product or service. They are small yet very productive types of endorsements that can establish your credibility in your field.
Case studies go deeper into a customer’s journey. It is very effective in gaining the trust of your readers but it also usually takes a lot more time to make. Since case studies will usually involve showcasing the whole process and then the results to your readers. The time it will take to make it will be worth it though.
Key Features:
Builds Credibility
Demonstrate Real World Value
Influences Decision Making, especially in purchasing
Educates Potential Customers
Enhances Content Authenticity
9. Engage in Trend jacking
Trend jacking refers to the strategy which aims to create content around trending topics. This allows businesses to leverage popular keywords and create relevant content.
By making content around these hot topics, you can show that your brand is informed and up-to-date. But, businesses shouldn’t do this just for the sake of staying relevant. It must align with the company’s values and audience.
The key to trend jacking is still the creation of high-quality content, but this time the main keyword focus is a trending topic with a lot of potential for gaining organic traffic.
Key Features:
Increases Brand Visibility
Drives Organic Traffic
Promotes Timely Engagement
Demonstrates Brand Relevance
10. Audience Segmentation and Personalization
With the use of AI, content has become generic. This is why a good content marketing strategy is the personalization of content.
By segmenting your audience based on factors such as demographics, behaviors, interests, or buying patterns, you can create content that aligns with their values and habits.
Utilizing a content calendar in this strategy is crucial, you need to plan your posts tailored to your audience. Some will appreciate multiple contents daily, others will prefer a few per week.
Personalization is not just about addressing them by name but by publishing relevant content that resonates and captivates your readers.
Key Features:
Tailored User Experience
Enhanced Engagement
Efficient Content Delivery
Boosts Conversions Rates
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best content strategy?
The best content strategy is a seamless combination of topic research, planning, writing, and constant optimization. It should align with the business goals and comprehensively understand and discusses the target audience’s needs.
What makes content successful?
For content to be successful, it needs to have these attributes:
Offer Valuable Information
Engaging Presentation
Clear Purpose
Actionable Insights
High Shareability
How do I know if my content is good?
To know if your content is good, you can analyze the quantitative metrics such as page views and sessions, conversion rates, and target audience engagement. Furthermore, qualitative feedback from readers and search engine rankings can serve as indicators that your content is good.
Final Thoughts
The digital world is constantly evolving yet content is still king. With a lot of voices vying for attention online, standing out from the crowd can be hard. But with the right strategy and persistence over time, anyone can succeed.
These 10 proven content marketing best practices are some of those strategies that can bring your business to the top. It has existed for years and will continue to exist for more. So, knowing about them can greatly help.
As you forge ahead of your content marketing journey, these practices can serve as your guide and foundational knowledge that will ensure that your message can not only reach your target audience but resonate deeply.
As a professional web and software developer, the author possesses a strong foundational background in Computer Science. This equips him with both academic rigor and practical insights into the world of web-based entrepreneurship. As the founder of this platform, webpreneurships.com, he stands at the intersection of technology and business.
