
5 Ways to Make More Out of Your Content Assets
5 Ways to Make More Out of Your Content Assets
If you have a product or business, you know the importance of advertising. Thanks to the Internet, it is fairly easy to reach the masses simply by having an online presence, such as a website or blog. Of course, your site needs to have more than just bare-bones details on it, which is where content marketing comes in. Any content, whether it be well-written articles, graphs, photos or reviews, is a valuable way to draw potential customers to your business, and, hopefully to turn them into paying customers.
So, how do you get content on your website? If you enjoy writing and photography, are passionate about your field and have plenty of spare time, you can create your own content. However, most business owners are busy with other aspects of running the company, and don’t have the time or desire to sit down and write new articles every day or even once per week. In that case, you can either hire someone to create meaningful content, or you can purchase it from a marketing company. In either case, you’ll need room in your budget to do so.
Small companies tend to have small marketing budgets, so when it comes to content marketing they want to stretch their dollar as far as possible. One good way to do that is to repurpose their existing content. That doesn’t mean simply rearranging the words and calling it new. Rather, it means focusing on a certain detail of the product or service that is offered and expanding on it, or presenting it in a whole new way. Read on for 5 cool ways to make more out of your content assets.
1. Add Quizzes to Your Content
It’s no secret that people love quizzes. They’re really nothing new; print magazines have been drawing readers in by utilizing them for decades. The great thing about online quizzes, though, is that after readers take them they often share the results on social media. Their contacts click on it, and pretty soon those people on your site, too. What a great way to get the ball rolling in your direction. Just make sure that the questions and answers have something to do with your business.
2. Use a Slideshow
In content marketing, the key is to have shareable content. Use a slideshow on your site to get viewers interested in your business. Gather images or blurbs from your existing content and put it into this format. Give it a heading that draws people in, such as “Top 10 Ways to Trick Your Wheels,” or whatever is relevant to what you are selling. Viewers click from one image to the next, and learn something valuable about your product. They’ll be intrigued, and hopefully will share what they’ve learned with their online friends.
3. Chat About It
It seems like social media is all about hashtags lately. If there’s a conversation going on that has anything to do with your business, start a chat feature on your website. Allow users to join in and share opinions with each other, and be sure to enter the conversation yourself. You can include findings from your research that are published on your site, which may cause people to dig more deeply into your existing content. If you come across as an expert who is approachable, customers may feel more comfortable using your services.
4. Put Data in Motion
If your website has a lot of information on it, some customers may find it hard to sift through. In content marketing, sites with video are more likely to be seen. A great idea is to take that boring data and turn it into a creative video. By using widely-available office software, you can create slides with charts and graphics and put it into motion. Add a voice reel to it and grab more viewers.
5. Take a Poll
People love to have their opinions be heard, and they love to be counted. There’s no simpler way to let users voice their opinion than to take a poll. By asking just one pertinent question, you can get people thinking about a critical aspect of your business. For instance, a roofing company might ask users how many years the average roof’s lifespan is. As long as the question gets people thinking about your product or service in a positive way, it is a good question. Make sure that users can click to see poll results. Not only do people like to be heard, they like to know how their opinion compares to others.
Content marketing is a fascinating and relatively simple way to build trust between companies and customers. By adding relevant, detailed and true content to your website people will look to you as an authority in your profession. Adding fresh content can be as easy as changing the format or expounding on a topic that has only been lightly covered in the past. By using the above strategies, small businesses can stretch their marketing budget.