As 2020 was drawing to a close, 2021 was hailed as a new beginning and a chance for change. Considering the year we’ve just had, this should not come as much of a surprise.
However, in the minds of marketers, the start of the new year often also means taking stock of their campaigns and devoting some time to researching strategies that will help them (and their clients) remain on top.
Let’s look at several content marketing strategies that should prove to be effective in 2021.
Create Content for Different Stages of the Buyer Journey
Content marketing should always be aligned with your sales funnel. By now, it should be quite clear that random targeting and pouring resources into content that targets no one specifically is a waste of effort (and said resources).
To make the most of your creative creations, make sure that you segment your content just like you do your audience. Come up with ideas that appeal to the top, middle, and bottom of your specific sales funnel. What would someone who has come across your brand for the first time like to know? Alternatively, what would a long-time shopper like to see?
Gili does a great job of targeting different audiences with their blog posts. They have a guide for beginners, but they also have a post on the nine things you need to know before buying your next SUP. Chances are that both experienced paddle boarders and those heading out to the water for the first time will be hooked.
image source: gilisports.com
Don’t Forget About Google
You also want to make sure that your content has the best possible chance of ranking high on search engines. Being the featured snippet for a popular query is a great way to get noticed.
Structure your content so that it’s easy to digest: go for short paragraphs and easy-to-read sentences, and provide plenty of headlines. Also, use structured data to help Google understand what your content is about.
Most importantly, answer a question clearly and concisely. Provide step-by-step instructions if that will help your readers solve the issue at hand. While you are essentially writing for crawlers, you are also genuinely trying to help your audience.
Multi-Channel Content Works Better
Selecting a single channel to market your content no longer works. Users want to see a multi-channel approach, and they want to be able to recognize your brand wherever they come across it. Not to mention, this allows you to provide multiple touchpoints for new and old customers alike.
Have a concise and cohesive brand image across all of your channels, online as well as offline. You want your blog and your social media channels to be a continuation of one another. The same goes for all the content you produce for others. Try to brand the images, always sign off in the same way, and create a specific punchline you’ll use.
LMNT has chosen to brand themselves through storytelling, sharing their mission and values with their audience. They also have a very distinct website in terms of visuals, which they’ve carried over to their social media channels, Instagram in particular. This helps them stand out and remain recognizable in the sea of other fitness/nutrition brands.
image source: drinklmnt.com
Build a Community
The online space, while it has always been envisioned as a community, truly seems to have become one in 2020. When they can’t socialize in person, people want to socialize online, both with friends and family and with strangers.
Building a community where you can share your ideas and your content is an amazing channel to invest in. That’s where content around your ideas, values, and brand will be generated.
It might be a Facebook group, a LinkedIn group, a mailing list, a Slack channel – whichever platform you choose, creating a community can be your ticket to reaching more people in 2021. Do bear in mind that you should never use it for promotion’s sake alone. You need to foster genuine community spirit, and the promotion will then happen naturally anyway.
Aura has been building a community for a while. They’ve chosen Facebook as their platform, and they advertise the group on their homepage. This way, anyone who is interested in selling on Amazon and comes across their website can join and reap the benefits of sharing knowledge and experiences.
image source: goaura.com
Let Users Generate Your Content
User-generated content has been a welcome sight in the world of content marketing for years. Firstly, it saves you the time and effort you put in to create content. But more importantly, it lets you showcase genuine experiences with your product, service, or brand.
While you can still use the images and videos of your customers (especially on social media), you can also take user-generated content to a new level and create case studies, use cases, and other knowledge bases.
For instance, ZenMaid has created an amazing piece of content, something their clients will certainly want to read through, and the entire idea has come from their involvement in the community. Namely, they’ve come across their interviewee’s post in a Facebook group, reached out, and created an entire post around his success in the industry.
image source: zenmaid.com
Be Ethical and Transparent
Finally, we need to touch upon a facet of content marketing you should pay special attention to in 2021, in the wake of Covid-19.
The one thing more and more users are beginning to realize about online content is that anyone can say anything. Knowing what’s the truth and what’s a mere bunch of baloney is getting increasingly difficult. In a pandemic, trusting your sources becomes more important than ever before.
To truly appeal to your audiences, aim to always be transparent and provide honest, genuine information that you’ve previously double-checked.
Transparent Labs does this well, and in an industry that is somewhat notorious for large claims without any data to back them up. They review all of their content with an advisory board, ensuring that what they put out there is fact rather than fiction.
image source: transparentlabs.com
Final Thoughts
Take our content marketing tips for 2021 into account before embarking on the next stage of content creation. We know every new beginning is hard, and that January can often feel like the longest month of the year. But with a bit of creativity and effort, you can craft content that will appeal to new and old audiences alike this year.
Venture out of your comfort zone and try to be as open-minded with your content as possible. Do something new; try out a new format or a new marketing channel. After all, content marketing is continually changing, and you never know when you might come across something new that works brilliantly.
