the importance of content in digital marketing

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Why is content so important when promoting your digital products?

Engaging an audience that trusts you is no easy task. That’s why you have to earn their trust by providing excellent content. Read on and learn how to achieve this!

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12/02/2016 | By Guest

What will we see in this post

You already have your own online course, but so far have been unable to reach your audience? Are you thinking about starting an online business, but still don’t know how?

Know that Content Marketing has to be an integral part of your strategies when promoting digital products!

Creating content is the best way of engaging your persona, educate the audience about your market and show them you know what you are talking about.

With authority and reputation, your brand will be able to earn the trust of people and they will, in turn, become clients.

If this is what you want, keep reading this post to understand why content is the key to the success of your business.

Content to promote digital products

Content Marketing is the strategy of generating value to people and earn their trust by providing content that is relevant and valuable, in order to attract potential clients and create business opportunities.

In digital marketing, you no longer use the traditional advertising tactics. Today, no one has to watch an ad during a TV show commercial break.

People now have the power over what they want to consumer. And, on the internet, the competition is one click away.

That’s why brands that stand out in the current market are those that attract and captivate the consumer with content that is both useful and interesting.

But how can this strategy be useful when promoting digital products?

Well, first of all, they are digital. Which means that, unlike a product available in a traditional physical store, the consumers are unable to touch, feel and analyze the product before buying it.

Therefore, when promoting the products, you need to make the product you will deliver as tangible as possible, to earn the trust of your potential consumers.

And creating good content is essential in this task: you are than able to show how beneficial and valuable the content in your course, training session, software or any other digital product you are selling is.

The importance of a blog

What is the first step in Content Marketing? Start a blog!

With a blog, you have a consistent and centralized platform in which to publish what you create. The content is then accessible to your audience and can be found on Google searches.

With a series of posts, you will keep your audience engaged, anxiously expecting what you publish next! Nothing better to build authority, right?

But the blog goes even beyond that – it also helps you to sell. When you arouse the interest of the visitor, you are able to generate a greater volume of leads and follow the consumers along the buyer’s journey.

9 tips to create excellent content

You will only be able to have an engaged audience if your content is really excellent and relevant. There’s no such thing as just a couple of basic posts on the blog, OK? Make an impact with these 9 tips:

1. Identify your audience

The first step in creating content is to know who you wish to reach.

To do so, you should create buyer personas, and therefore learn about the lifestyle, the needs, the pains of your audience, and how your product can help them.

Only then will you be able to write posts and create material that is genuinely useful for people, with the proper tone, answering their doubts and meeting their needs.

Don’t just talk about your products and how incredible they are. They certainly are wonderful, but that’s not a good approach. People don’t want to know about your product, exactly – they want a solution to their problems.

2. Follow an editorial calendar

Organization: you need it to manage your content production. So, an editorial calendar will be one of your best friends!

Plan regularly (monthly or even weekly) what will be posted and the materials that will be created, besides arranging contacts with specialists and blogs you are partners with. This way, you don’t get lost in the deadlines and publication dates.

Moreover, you can also develop some logic in content creation. For example, if you wish to write an ebook, you need to think which posts you should post first, in order to arouse the interest from your readers in downloading the material.

3. Explore in-depth content

With the rise of Content Marketing, many brands have started writing posts – a lot of posts. The problem was that the web ended up filled with content, but content that was shallow and of low-quality.

Don’t be “just another blog”. Make a difference by creating in-depth texts, with details that have never before been explored.

Use real information, practical examples, complex analysis, original insights, valuable tips – this is what really adds value to the content, not common sense.

Many Producers may be thinking: but if I offer so much content that is excellent, why would people pay for my product?

The effect is actually quite the opposite: you will earn trust and engagement, and people will pay whatever is necessary to get more incredible materials from you.

So don’t be afraid to create excellent content!

4. Put a lot of effort into your writing

More than shallow, low-quality content, there are also a lot of poorly written texts on the internet, with wrong data, mistakes in grammar and spelling, poor vocabulary, among other factors that make up a bad text.

That’s why you should put a lot of effort when you are writing, and even more when it’s time to revise. Offer a nice, pleasant experience to your visitors. Check out some basic tips when it comes to writing for the web:

  • Come up with flashy, persuasive titles
  • Use intertitles to make reading easier
  • Create internal links that direct the reader to other posts
  • Pay close attention to grammar and spelling
  • Only use reliable sources

5. Use different formats

Content Marketing is not limited to blog texts. You can and should explore other formats in the promotion of digital products. After all, each person has a different way of absorbing information.

Have you thought of making a podcast available? The audio format is still underexploited, but it does have a great engagement potential.

What about videos? They have the power of building a close relationship with the audience and humanizing your brand, especially if you use not only recordings, but also live transmissions.

Other formats that can be used are images, infographics, ebooks, newsletters, and others. All these materials can be used on your blog and distributed in different channels.

6. Build partnerships

So, you know all there is to know about your market. But probably, there are specialists in related areas that can also add value to your blog.

You can interview professionals, invite them to have a live chat with you, or create guest posts with partner-blogs, among others.

This way, besides bringing new opinions and points of view to your audience, you also attract the audience that follows the person you have invited, arousing the interest of more people in your content, and encourage more interaction with the market.

7. Promote your content

If up to this point you have understood that you need only write posts and wait for the sales to be made, know that it’s not enough. Your content needs to be found!

This starts with a comprehensive blog optimization, so that Google is able to correctly index your pages and display them in organic search results. But don’t count only on it!

Another organic way of promoting your content is on social media, where you have the opportunity to interact more with people. You should also insert sharing buttons on your blog pages to increase your reach.

Investing in promotion is also worth it. Facebook Ads and sponsored links are excellent tools to reach the right audience and attract potential customers. Pay close attention when it comes to segmentation, to optimize your results.

8. Convert your visitors into leads

There’s no point in attracting visitors to your blog if none of them becomes interested in purchasing your digital products. Now, it’s time to monetize your content.

Turn these visits into opportunities by inserting an email capture form. Then you will be able to generate leads to build a relationship with them and develop the intent to make a purchase.

To encourage them to provide their email addresses, you will probably have to offer something in exchange, such as an exclusive webinar registration, or a complete ebook.

Remember what we said about making your product more tangible? It may be interesting to offer a free trial, a sample or free consulting, depending on what you sell.

9. Measure your results

Excellent content is not created overnight. You need to study, practice, receive feedback and evolve.

Those who seek for constant improvement when creating find no better practice than in the monitoring of their results.

So, keep an eye on your most viewed posts, the ones with the most comments, that have been shared the most, etc. Understand what they have that other posts lack, and optimize future content.

Also, evaluate which materials are more profitable, that generate more leads that are more inclined to becoming customers. After all, you are looking for financial return.

Conclusion

Promoting digital products doesn’t require a lot of investment – a blog, for instance, can be created and updated organically. You no longer depend on paid media.

With a consistent work in the production of qualified content, you will gain visibility, reputation, and your own audience that trusts and is interested in your products. This makes selling much easier!

And, with the passing of time, the blog will become a valuable marketing asset, that permanently generates results.

It won’t be a walk in the park, that’s for sure. Creating content requires a lot of dedication, time, planning and organization. But with the tips you have just read, you know which direction to take.

Guest Post written by Rock Content.