Did you know that according to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing and generates three times as many leads? In addition, businesses that blog receive 67% more leads per month than those that don’t. So you want to know how a great content strategy can make you money?
The benefits of a great content strategy are clear: more leads, lower costs, and better ROI.
But how do you create a content strategy that will make you money? Well in this article, we'll actually show you 11 ways for how you can do it.
1. Know Your Target Audience
The first step to creating any great content strategy is understanding who your target audience is:
- What are their needs and wants?
- What kind of problems do they need solved?
- What kind of content do they already consume and enjoy?
Once you know the answers to these questions, you can create content that appeals directly to them.
There are a few different ways to get to know your target audience.
Here's how:
- Look at your current customer base. If you already have potential customers, look at who they are and what they've purchased from you in the past. This will give you some insight into who your target audience might be.
- Use social media listening tools. Social media is a great way to get to know your target audience. You can use social media listening tools to track conversation topics and see what kind of content resonates with your audience.
- Conduct market research. There's no substitute for good old-fashioned market research. This can help you understand your target audience, their needs, and what kind of content they're looking for.
- Create buyer personas. Once you have all this information, you can create buyer personas. These are fictional characters that represent your ideal customer. By creating buyer personas, you'll better understand who you're creating content for and what kinds of content they want.
- Work with influencers. Another great way to get to know your target audience is to work with influencers. These people have a large following and can help you reach your target audience. By working with influencers, you can better understand what kind of content your audience is interested in and how to reach them.
2. Set Clear Goals
What do you want your content strategy to achieve? More leads? More sales? Better brand awareness? Whatever your goals may be, make sure they are clear and measurable. You can track your progress and adjust your strategy as needed.
Take a look at your business’s overall goals. What are you trying to achieve? Then, think about how content can help you reach those goals.
Lastly, set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your content strategy.
Some examples of clear content strategy goals could be:
- Increase web traffic by X% in the next 6 months
- Increase leads by X% in the next 3 months
- Increase sales by X% in the next 12 months
Think about what kind of content will help you achieve your goals. Will blog posts be most effective? Whitepapers? Ebooks? Case studies? Videos? Podcasts?
Once you know what kind of content you want to create, you can start planning out your strategy. Then you can set up a content calendar for creating and publishing your content.
This will help you stay on track and ensure that your content is regular and consistent. Finally, ensure you have the resources to execute your content strategy.
This includes things like budget, staffing, and tech tools.
3. How a greate content strategy can make you money: Create Compelling Content
If you want people to read (and share) your content, it needs to be compelling. That means writing headlines that draw people in through engaging, useful, and relevant content to your target audience.
Write attention-grabbing headlines
Your article title is the first (and sometimes only) thing people will read, so it needs to be compelling. Write clear and interesting headlines using rich keywords to draw readers in.
Start with a strong hook
The beginning of your content should be strong and engaging, with a hook that draws readers in.
Start with an interesting statistic, a provocative question, or a compelling story.
Use formatting to make your content scannable
No one wants to read a wall of text—use formatting to make your content more scannable.
That means using short paragraphs, subheadings, bullet points, and other formatting techniques.
Use images, videos, and infographics
People are visual creatures—including compelling images, video content, and infographics in your content will make it more engaging.
Write for your audience
This point deserves repeating multiple times.
Your content needs to be relevant to your target audience—write about topics they’re interested in and addresses their needs.
Keep it updated
Ensure your content is always up-to-date—nothing turns readers off more than outdated information. If you can’t keep your content current, consider setting up an RSS feed or blog so readers can get the latest information.
Make it easy to share
Make sure your content can be easily shared—add social sharing buttons to your blog or website and create shareable content (such as infographics).
Use calls to action
Your content should have a purpose—use calls to action throughout your content to encourage readers to take the desired action (such as signing up for your email list, following you on social media, or clicking through a sales page).
4. Promote Your Content
Creating great content doesn’t mean people will automatically see it. You must promote your content through various channels, such as social media, email marketing, and even paid advertising.
Figure out where your target audience hangs out online
When promoting your content, you must go to where your target audience is. This means finding out which social media platforms they use the most and where they spend their time online.
Create share-worthy content
If you want people to share your content, you need to give them something worth sharing. That said, make sure your content is high-quality, informative, and entertaining.
Use social media to promote your content
Social media is a great way to promote your content and reach a wider audience. When promoting your content on social media, use relevant hashtags, post at peak times, and share visually appealing content.
Email your list
If you have an email list, promote your content to them as well. Your subscribers are more likely to read and share your content if they’re already interested in what you have to say.
Run paid ads
Paid advertising is another great way to promote your content and reach a larger audience. When running paid ads, make sure to target your ads to your specific target audience – at the most granular level (so your ad spend doesn't go out of control).
Reach out to influencers
To reach an even wider audience, consider reaching out to influencers in your niche. Influencers have a large following and can help promote your content to their audience.
And actually those influencers with a small but highly engaged following can sometimes work out best.
Guest post on other blogs
Guest posting is a great way to get your content in front of a new audience. When guest posting, write informative and engaging content that will appeal to the blog’s target audience.
That way you'll get the traffic boost along with the link juice.
For ideas of where to look, check out our massive list of blogs that accept guest posts.
Leverage social proof
When promoting your content, make sure to leverage social proof. This means using testimonials, reviews, and ratings to show potential readers that others have enjoyed your content.
Use content upgrades
Content upgrades are a great way to get more people to read and share your content. A content upgrade is simply an additional piece of content that’s related to the article someone is already reading.
Create an ebook
Another great way to promote your content is to create an ebook. This ebook can be a compilation of your best blog posts or a brand-new piece of content.
Repurpose your content
Finally, don’t forget to repurpose your content.
This means taking one piece of content and turning it into multiple different pieces, such as an infographic, video content, or a podcast episode.
Following these tips can promote your content and reach a larger audience.
Remember, the more people you can reach, the more likely you find ways to make money from your content from the revenue stream.
5. Analyze Your Results
It’s important to analyze the results of your content strategy so you can see what’s working and what isn’t. Use Google Analytics or another similar tool to track things like page views, average time on page, and bounce rate.
Set up Google Analytics or another similar tool on your website
It's essential to track your results so you can see what's working and what isn't. Google Analytics is a free tool that you can use to track things like page views, average time on page, and bounce rate. To set it up, create a Google Analytics account and then follow the instructions to add the tracking code to your website.
Check your results regularly
Once you've set up Google Analytics, check in on your results regularly. At a minimum, you should look at your data once a month. This will help you spot trends and adjust your content strategy as needed.
Look for trends
When you're looking at your data, look for trends. Are there certain types of content that seem to be performing better than others? Are there certain times of the year when traffic is higher or lower? You can adjust your content strategy by spotting trends to make the most of your traffic.
Make adjustments as needed
As you spot trends, make adjustments to your content strategy as needed. If you see that certain types of content are performing well, try to produce more of that type of content. If you see that traffic is lower at certain times of the year, try to adjust your publishing schedule accordingly.
Repeat!
Once you've made some adjustments to your content strategy, repeat the process. Check-in on your results regularly and make changes as needed. By continually tweaking your strategy, you can maximize your results.
6. Be Consistent
Consistency is key when it comes to a content strategy that makes money. You need to post new content regularly, whether once a week, twice a week, or even daily. Consistency will help you build a loyal following and achieve better results.
There are a few things you can do to be more consistent with your content marketing:
- Set a schedule and stick to it. Decide how often you should post new content, and then make sure you follow through.
- Make use of automation tools. Various tools, such as Hootsuite or Buffer, can help you automate your content marketing.
- Batch your content. If you find it difficult to produce new content on a regular basis, try batching your content. This means creating several pieces of content at once and then scheduling them to be published over time.
Repurpose old content. If you’re struggling to come up with new ideas, try repurposing old content. This could involve updating an old blog post or creating a new piece of content from existing material.
- Plan ahead. One of the best ways to be more consistent is to your marketing plan ahead. Set aside time each week or month to brainstorm new ideas, write content, and schedule it to be published.
- Outsource your content creation. If you’re finding it challenging to produce all the content yourself, consider outsourcing some or all of it. Many freelancers and agencies can help you with your content marketing.
- Use a content calendar. A content calendar can help you stay on track and ensure you’re publishing new content regularly. Various content calendar templates are available online, such as this one from CoSchedule.
- Track your progress. Keep track of your content marketing efforts to see what’s working and what isn’t. This will help you adjust your strategy and improve your results over time.
- Get help from a content marketing agency. If you need assistance with your content marketing, consider working with a content marketing agency. An agency can help you develop and execute a successful content marketing strategy.
Make content creation a priority. To be more consistent with your content marketing, you must prioritize it. Set aside time each week to focus on creating new content, and don’t let other things get in the way.
7. Diversify Your Content
Don’t just stick to one type of content. Mix things up and create different types of content, such as blog posts, infographics, videos, and ebooks. This will help you reach a wider audience and keep people engaged.
To mix things up and create different types of content, consider the following:
- Blog posts: It's essential to keep your blog updated with fresh content. Write about topics that are relevant to your business and will interest your target audience.
- Infographics: People love visuals, so infographics are a great way to get your point across. Use Canva or Piktochart to create infographics for free.
- Videos: Videos are a great way to connect with your audience. You can create how-to videos, product demonstrations, or customer testimonials.
- Ebooks: Offer something of value to your customers for your products or services in exchange for their email addresses. This could be a white paper, an ebook, or a coupon code.
8. Repurpose Your Content
Don’t let your content go to waste – repurpose it! If you have a blog post that performs well, turn it into an infographic or a video for making money rather than going in vain. You can also break down a longer piece of content into smaller, bite-sized pieces.
To get the most out of your content, it’s essential to repurpose it. Here are some ways you can do that:
- Turn a blog post into an infographic. When you break down complex data into visuals, it’s more likely to be shared.
- Create a video from a blog post. Videos are one of the most popular types of content on the internet, so this is a great way to get more eyes on your content.
- Share your content on social media. This is a great way to get more exposure for your content and reach a new audience.
Break down a long piece of content into smaller, bite-sized pieces. This makes it more digestible for your audience and also allows you to share it across multiple channels.
9. Collaborate With Others
Collaborating with other businesses or influencers in your industry is a great way to reach a new audience and create high-quality content. You can collaborate by guest blogging, doing interviews, or creating joint ventures.
When you collaborate with other businesses or influencers, you can reach a whole new audience that you wouldn’t have had access to otherwise. This is a great way to get your name out there and build up your credibility.
There are a few different ways you can collaborate with others. One way is to guest blog on each other’s sites. This is a great way to cross-promote your content and get exposure to a new audience.
You can also collaborate by doing interviews with each other. This is a great way to create exciting and informative content that will benefit your audiences.
Finally, you can collaborate by creating joint ventures. This is where you team up with another business to create a product or service. This is a great way to reach a new audience and get exposure for your business.
10. SEO: How to Enjoy Long-term Compounding Benefits
SEO is a long-term investment that has compounding benefits. Not only does it help your content to rank higher in search engines, but it also helps to drive more traffic to your site over time. And as we all know, traffic = money. First off, let's discuss why it's so powerful:
1) It provides compounding benefits for the long term.
2) It's highly targeted
Unlike paid advertising, which typically stops working as soon as you stop paying for it, SEO can continue to provide benefits long after you've made an initial investment. That's because once you achieve a high ranking in search engines, you'll generally maintain that position for a considerable period of time.
Second, SEO is such a powerful business tool because it is highly targeted. When someone is searching for something on the internet, they are usually looking for something specific. SEO helps you target specific keywords and phrases that people are searching for, which means that your potential customers are already interested in what you offer.
So if you're looking to increase your bottom line, SEO is a good place to start. But how do you optimize your content for search engines? Here are a few tips:
1) Use keywords throughout your content. Keywords are the words and phrases people use when searching for information online. Including these keywords in your content can help rank your content higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
If you're looking for a tool to help you research and track your competitor's SEO strategies, check out Semrush. It's a powerful tool that can help you to identify the keywords that your competitors are targeting, as well as the backlinks that they are acquiring.
2) Make sure your content is relevant and informative. Search engines reward content that is helpful and relevant to users' needs. So if you want your content to rank higher, make sure it's packed with useful information.
3) Keep your content updated. As new information emerges, make sure to update your content accordingly. This will show search engines that you're keeping up with the latest trends and that your content is relevant and timely.
SurferSEO helps you optimize your website for better search engine ranking. It analyzes your website and competitor websites to identify opportunities for improvement.
SurferSEO also analyzes your website’s backlinks, helping you identify and fix broken links. Find out more in out SurferSEO review!
11. Invest in Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is a great way to promote your content and reach a larger audience. You can use paid advertising on platforms like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Make sure you target your ads correctly so you don’t waste money.
Start by allocating a budget for paid advertising. Then, research the different platforms and find the right one for your business. Once you’ve selected a platform, create relevant ads for your target audience. Finally, track your results to see which ads perform well and adjust your campaigns accordingly.
Paid advertising can help you reach a larger audience, promote your content, and generate leads. Just make sure you invest wisely, so you don’t waste money on ads that don’t perform well.
12. Hire a Professional
If you really want to take your content strategy to the next level, hire a professional. Professional content creators can help you create a custom strategy tailored to your specific goals and needs. They can also help with content creation, promotion, and analysis.
When hiring a professional, make sure to:
- Do your research. There are a lot of great content marketing agencies out there, but there are also some that aren’t so great. Make sure to do your research and only work with a reputable agency. And check out our list of the best blog writing services.
- Set clear goals. Before you start working with an agency, you need to know your goals. This will help them create a custom strategy that is right for your business.
- Get a contract. This will protect you and ensure that both parties understand what is expected.
Hiring a professional content marketing agency is a great way to take your content strategy to the next level. Now that you know how a great content strategy can make you money, just be sure to do your research, set clear goals, and get a contract to protect your business.
How a great content strategy can make you money: The Bottom Line
If you read this far, you understand how a great content strategy can make you money. Here's a recap. A great content strategy can make you money as a content creator by generating leads, a sales funnel, and brand awareness. If you want to create a content strategy that actually works, use these tips. And if you need help, don’t hesitate to hire a professional.
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