Over the previous 20 years of digital marketing evolution, one standout phrase has continued to stay relevant and move brands forward. That well-known motto is: “content is king.”
If you talk to any big-ticket agency, they’ll pitch you on more content, content, and content. Here at Digital Neighbor, we agree that content is a great strategy to increase SEO performance, improve social media engagement, and drive traffic to a businesses’ website.
But not all content is high-quality and engaging, so our goal is to provide our digital neighbors with real tips on how to select the right topic for your next piece of content. As an added bonus, we’ve highlighted a local business who we think is doing exceptionally well in the area of relevant content: Sacred Jade Yoga, a local St. Pete studio.
Tip #1 – Set a goal
With every aspect of marketing, the first step should always be to set your KPIs (key performance indicators). The hard work of creating engaging content, curating and editing it, adding in related keywords, and amplifying the SEO on the backend is all for a bigger picture. You want to make sure these efforts are worthwhile for you and your team by setting measurable goals.
Maybe your goal is to measure performance based on clicks to your site from a third-party page. Maybe you want to measure performance based on how the content affects sales. Whatever the goal, you can use metrics as a benchmark for your digital performance.
At Sacred Jade, we can tell that one of their goals is to be creative and connect with their audience at a deeper level. Their Journal includes unique and high-quality content on moon phases, the healing nature of Yoga, and even a mind-healthy meal recipe. This range of content connects with the values of their current audience and may even help them reach a new audience that’s interested in these topics.
Pro Tip: Do a keyword analysis before you start writing to be sure you’re including the correct terms to help drive traffic or attract the right audience. You can simply use the Google Analytics tool and search under the “Organic Search” tab to find out the relevant top searched terms for your article.
Tip #2 – Stay Ahead of Trends
The keyword in this tip is to stay “ahead” of trends — you don’t want to get left behind by your competition. Within the world of content today, trends are moving at lightning speed. One strategy to keep your business cutting-edge is to set the standard of how to engage your audience on trending topics.
Think about saying “strike while the iron is hot!” To adapt that to your marketing strategy, you need to keep up with the news and dive into topics quickly to be part of genuine conversations. With the 24-hour news cycle and real-time social media, some hot trending topics right now might be old news by the end of the week.
Jade Yoga is more than just on-trend: they’re trend setters. They focus on broad topics that are interesting to their audience and may even spark new conversations about Yoga in general.
Content doesn’t need to be hyper-focused on what your brand does or who your team is. It needs to connect with a wider audience and teach them something. Later on, they’ll decide on their own that they need your product or service because you fit their values and can fulfill their needs. By having a variety of engaging content, Jade Yoga’s Journal is engaging & uplifting.
Tip #3 – Understand Your Audience
As a business, you should understand who your customer is and what their needs are. When selecting content topics, these needs should be at top of mind. Would your clientele read this or find this information interesting? Is this information valuable to them, even if they don’t currently use your product or service?
Think about the types of questions your clients usually ask. Sacred Jade does this well in their content: they clearly understand what topics their readers are interested in. They think outside of the box of just yoga-focused content. But all of these topics still link back to Yoga and having a healthy body and mind. Sacred Jade made it as easy as possible for their audience to understand what they do and how they fit with their audience’s needs and values.
Pro Tip: You can ask your audience what they’re looking for! This invites them to take a more active role by speaking up and having a voice. As a business, you should always be looking to engage your audience, so asking for their input is an easy way to start. A great strategy is taking your frequently asked questions and creating content for each question.
Here at Digital Neighbor, we specialize in “content, content, and content” — and that’s because we believe that PEOPLE are king. We want all of our neighbors to be successful with their content strategies and beyond.
We’re here to help by offering a free consultation of your current content and SEO strategy. Please reach out to us to connect!
