Like Any Sport or Hobby, Content Marketing Takes Commitment

With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, I've been thinking a lot about commitment. I think about each and every athlete who is playing in the big game. Most of them have been playing football since their Pop Warner days. Now that most of them are in their twenties and thirties, that equates to most of them dedicating their lives to football for over 20 years! You have to admire their dedication and commitment to the game. It”s because they love it, but it”s also because of the work they”ve put forth that”s allowed them to succeed.

To quote The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take”. I love this quote because it goes to show that 1) you need to take risks to be successful in life and 2) practice makes perfect. These facts are more apparent than ever in the world of content marketing.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is the process of creating and sharing content online in order to attract, acquire and engage potential customers. Content marketing’s basic premise is to provide some valuable information or entertainment – “content” – that stops short of a direct sales pitch or call to action, but which seeks to positively influence a customer in some way.

There are 5 clear steps in the content marketing process:

  1. Content curation – the process of finding, organizing and sharing third-party content. This is a great way to find ideas for your next blog article and engage other people in your industry by offering your opinions and outlook. You can also acquire some high-quality links back to your website if you do this right. Check out this article from the Content Marketing Institute on 14 Sources of Content Curation Inspiration.
  2. Content creation – once you decide what you want to write on, you have to actually go and write it! The easiest way to do this is by blogging.  We have found that by writing just one new page of content on a small business website, you can receive, on average, 55 new unique website visitors each month (source). The more blog articles or web pages you can write, the more content you have on your site and the more opportunities your target customer has to find you.
  3. Content optimization – after you create the content, you need to make sure you optimize it using the right keywords. You can”t just close your eyes and choose. There is a lot of research that goes into choosing the right keywords for your business website. You have to assess your online competition and make sure that the keywords you”re using are actually being searched for. Follow our instructions in this article to choose the right keywords, then use a tool like BoostSuite to make sure you”re-optimizing your pages properly.
  4. Content promotion – you”recreated and optimized your content. That”s great! Now you have to promote via social media because even the best-optimized content needs some promotion. Here are some from us that you should follow.
  5. Measuring results – the only way for you to tell what”s worked in the past at acquiring new business online is to measure the results of your content marketing campaign. This way you can address what is and isn't working, and leverage that knowledge.

Commit to the Content Marketing Process

By following the 5 steps above, anyone can get started getting more results with their website. It may seem a bit daunting, but just like sports, or any hobby in life, all it takes is getting over that initial fear of getting started and then a solid work ethic. You may not be an amazing writer right off the bat, but keep writing. That”s the only way you”ll get better, and you will!

The easiest way to stay committed is by setting a content schedule and sticking to it. Set aside an hour or two every week to work on the 5 steps listed above. Before you know it, you”ll be creating valuable content, engaging your readers, and generating more customers!

Content marketing is like riding a bike. As soon as you master it, you”ll never forget how to do it right. You may get a bit rusty if you don”t do it for a while, but your training will always prevail in the end! So get started right away and grow your business!

Do you have any other content marketing tips or suggestions on how to stay motivated with your content marketing commitment? Let us know in the comments.
Please share this article with your friends if they need a pep-talk on why content marketing is so important to success online!

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