In the last few years, Google, in particular, has completely changed the search game for all time. In the past, you could increase your visibility by essentially “stuffing” your site full of the right keywords. Did you own a vacuum cleaner repair shop in Cleveland? So long as the terms “vacuum cleaner repair” and “Cleveland” appeared on your page as many times as possible, customers were going to find you through Google. The company changed all that along with their algorithm that sought to penalize low-quality content in favor of high-quality pieces that customers actually found value in. As a business owner, you probably spent a huge amount of time, money and effort over the last year or two revamping your website to make it as awesome and as valuable as possible.
And yet, despite your best efforts, no one is looking at your awesome content. Why is that?
The answer is simple: noise. There is so much noise on the Internet these days, it’s difficult for a business to truly stand out from the rest of it. Even if you very much understand the idea that creating relevant content as key, the fact that you’ve put that content online isn’t necessarily enough to get it noticed. You also have to know how to properly promote your content and, more than anything, you have to be willing to put your money where your mouth is. If you’re looking for a way to jumpstart your strategy and get the digital recognition that you deserve, you need to keep a few key things in mind.
Promoting Your Content on Facebook
Facebook has proven itself to be quite a bit more than just “another social media site” in the last few years. It’s a true platform in every sense of the word. It is a service with hundreds of millions of unique users who all spend an incredible amount of time there consuming content each day.
It’s also the key to getting your awesome content in front of the eyes of your audience.
At HIP, we’re a digital inbound marketing agency that has found great success with promoting content on Facebook. This is due in large part to the powerful data collection tools that are in place on the site, which can be used to help get your content in front of the eyes of the people who matter most: your target audience.
When creating an ad on Facebook, you’re able to specify a huge amount of information about the people that you’re trying to attract. You can choose who they work for, what their job title is, how old they are, their income level and more. You can even specify where in the country they live, what types of similar products or services they’ve bought in the past and even the version of Apple’s iOS operating system that they’re using – just to name a few.
The key is to not just put awesome content onto the Internet – the key is to create the type of awesome content that the people you’re trying to attract are looking for. Facebook acts as both your research tool and your delivery medium in one easy-to-use package.
The Process of Finding Your Audience
The content creation process in the digital age needs to begin with an idea that people will find valuable(maybe a free ebook or whitepaper). Think about the people you’re trying to attract and what questions they’re asking themselves or what topic they find interesting. Next, use Google’s keyword tool or headline analyzer to create a catchy title for your content posts.
Develop a schedule for blog posting based on things like your budget. Remember that any blog you post will also need to be promoted for the best results, so if your budget is low you should probably stick to one blog per month for the best results. Once you’ve written your blog and have published it, create an ad for it with Facebook using as much actionable information as you have about your readers.
The great thing about Facebook is that it also allows you to measure your daily results and refine as you go, allowing you to see exactly what works (and what doesn’t) and adjust as necessary.
Remember, promoting your content with Facebook is only the beginning. Once you’ve found success with Facebook, you can also move onto platforms like Twitter, StumbleUpon or even Outbrain to expand your reach further. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was a killer strategy for promoting your content. But with a little effort and perseverance, you’ll find people enjoying your awesome content again before you know it.
Success Story with Content Marketing
We recently worked with a client to create a DIY automotive blog, “ How to Clean Your ABS Sensor.”
Here are some of the results.
- 2,000+ Shares
- 1,600+ Likes
- 200+ Comments
- 14,000+ Visitors to the clients website
- Now ranked #3 on Google for the long-tail keyword “How to Clean an ABS Sensor”
So not only does this approach increase brand awareness and engagement, it also creates a lot more traffic to your website. Over time, your website content can start to rank for keywords organically.
Feel free to comment below and share your insights and success stories!
