Online marketing doesn’t allow you to smell, touch, taste, or try it on for size. That’s why content marketing is such a powerful strategy for marketers and business owners to tell a compelling story that appeals to the emotions & senses of the viewer.

Content marketing gives you the opportunity to deliver free value, build trust, position yourself as the expert, promote brand awareness, build a loyal customer base, and it keeps your business top of mind when it’s time to buy what you sell. Here’s how:

3 POWERFUL CONTENT MARKETING TACTICS

This article aims to teach you some of the most valuable best practices when it comes to implementing a content marketing strategy. The goal is to teach you a few tactics that are easy to implement, but also, dramatically impact your success, helping you get more out of the effort you must put into it.

Let’s get started!

1. SHARE EYE-CATCHING CONTENT 👀

A little attention to detail goes much further than you think. Angles, color, setting, lighting . . . it all plays into biology and the way we perceive what we see. Triggering emotions, memories, instincts . . . these are powerful drivers.

Tell an authentic story that makes people feel ways inherently good.

Provide value that inspires action.

Keep in mind, we humans can slightly tolerate poorer quality in video more than we can in audio. Either way, our patience is thin for poor quality.

Eye-catching content is high-quality and/or compellingly candid.

2. KEEP IT SHORT.

Say it in 1000 words 📸 (meaning a photo, right?) and animate it.

Text will never die, but people these days like rich media: photos, videos, gifs, and memes that educate or entertain us.

We consume media like hungry hippos. We can’t get enough! That’s why the death scroll on Instagram and other platforms is infamous—it keeps our brains full on the algorithm-produced content they knew we’d love and we just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling . . .

But if your content isn’t attention-grabbing, it’s like we never even saw it pass right under our eyes. We pull an Ariana Grande, “thank U, next!”

. . . And we keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling . . .

So, your content needs to make us stop the death scroll. Here’s how:

3. USE VIDEO, IT’S MORE ATTENTION-GRABBING

Consumers consider short-form video content to be 2.5x more engaging than long-form. In fact, 66% of consumers report short-form videos to be the most engaging type of social media content in 2022, up from 50% in 2020.

That’s not to say photos don’t ever outperform video, they can & will when they’re perfectly compelling & placed in front of the right audience.

The key takeaway here is video has a wider reach, generates more engagement, and is preferred by consumers, so why not spend your limited resource—time—on the content that brings you the highest ROI for your effort.

Think Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Tiktok, Facebook Stories, and so on.

Here are a few statistics that will impact your content marketing strategy.

Social Media Video Marketing Statistics:

• 58% of viewers will watch the entirety of a business’ video if it’s less than 60 seconds long.
• 80% of Facebook Stories that have sound or voice-overs drive better lower funnel results.
• 91% of users watch videos on Instagram weekly.
• 73% of businesses report acquiring new customers from an Instagram Story.
• Instagram reel’s reach in accounts with up to 500 followers is a whopping 892%, whereas the reach of images in the same accounts is only 77%.
• 74% of consumers use YouTube.
• 75% of users report that YouTube makes them more aware of new brands.

LET’S TALK CONTENT MARKETING ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

No matter how you spin it, your business needs to be on social. But social is no joke or walk in the park. There are full-time teams designated to managing and growing social channels. It’s a full-time job! But you can still create success without being 100% committed to only social. Here’s how:

What social media channels should I be on?

According to Sprout Social, you can’t ignore TikTok’s rise to becoming one of the most popular social media platforms, but Facebook is still #1 and YouTube is quickly growing among consumers and marketers.

Research your target audience to identify the platforms they care about most, and then put your effort there. If you’re a solopreneur, one-man band, or wearer of all the hats, then pick ONE channel, just one, and grow that.

If you spread yourself too thin, you’ll become the master of none. But if you start somewhere, and master that channel, you can typically convert your loyal followers over to your new channels when you’re ready to expand.

What type of content should I post on social media?

Authentic content beats follower count!

People want to see high-quality, authentic content. When you research your ideal customer, you’ll learn more about their wants and needs, their pain points and challenges, their desires and fears, their questions and interests. Then use that data, that powerful insight, to post content that brings them value: addresses their questions, educates them, entertains them, and so on.

81% of consumers will unfollow creators if they post sponsored content more than a few times a week.

So, use the 80/20 rule here:

80% of your content should be value-based marketing (focused on educating, delivering value, not selling); and

20% of your content should focus on authentically articulating the value your product or service provides to your customers (UGC, customer benefits, etc.).

In the simplest of terms, values–based marketing is delivering value, not just promising it. This value is free. The goal is to build trust, position yourself as the expert on the topic, and grow a loyal customer base.

How often should I post on social media?

74% of consumers say 1-2x per day—though each audience is different, this data informs you that frequency and consistency matter, and people likely want to hear from you more often than not. If you can, build up to daily posts.

How do I know what to post on social media?

As we already mentioned, when you research your ideal customer, you’ll learn more about their wants and needs, their pain points and challenges, their desires and fears, their questions and interests. Then use that data to post content that brings them value: addresses their questions, educates them, entertains them, and so on.

Keyword research and building your buyer persona are powerful marketing tactics to help you get into the minds of your target audience.

Start Building Your Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing is a marketing strategy used to attract, engage, and retain an audience by creating and sharing relevant articles, videos, podcasts, and other media. This approach establishes expertise, promotes brand awareness, and keeps your business top of mind when it’s time to buy what you sell. So, use these content marketing tips to grow your business!