Content Marketing Hacks That Will Help You Stand Out

CONTENT MARKETING HACKS THAT WILL HELP YOU STAND OUT Ross Simmonds www.rosssimmonds.com

Video is Content. Tweets are Content. Contests are Content. Blog Posts are Content.

Instead of spending billions of dollars on billboards and radio, the best brands are putting their dollars into rich, compelling content.

“ All advertisers need a lot more content so that they can keep the engagement with consumers fresh and relevant, because of the 24/7 connectivity. ” – Jonathan M, VP Global Advertising Strategy Coca Cola

1. WRITE YOUR HEADLINES LAST CONCEPT Committing yourself to a title before actually writing the post forces you to stay inside a bubble. It’s always good to have a concept, or at least an underlying message, that you want to write, but never look at your title as a concrete rule.

1. WRITE YOUR HEADLINES LAST TAKE AWAY “Rules are meant to be broken, and it’s those who break them that shine.”

2.RELATIONSHIPS EMBRACE BLOGGER CONCEPT Relationships all play a role in making a business work. In marketing, a new wave of relationships between brands and bloggers are becoming more and more important.

2.RELATIONSHIPS EMBRACE BLOGGER TAKE AWAY Sure, bloggers’ style is different and the content they write isn’t always up to “journalism standards”, but the inﬂuence that these bloggers have cannot be denied.

3.INFOGRAPHICS CREATE VALUE DRIVEN CONCEPT Take the time to think about your target audience and truly understand what type of visual you could create that they would ﬁnd real value in. Create an infographic that is worth being printed and shared.

3.INFOGRAPHICS CREATE VALUE DRIVEN TAKE AWAY When you build an infographic that has a sense of value, people share it. The death of the infographic has been greatly exaggerated as great infographics still have the ability to cut through the noise.

4.ADD CREDIBILITY USE THIRD PARTIES TO CONCEPT When possible, use a third party throughout your content in the form of research and academic studies. The use of research to conﬁrm a point is a great way to demonstrate this content took effort to create.

4.ADD CREDIBILITY USE THIRD PARTIES TO TAKE AWAY People love a third party conﬁrmation. Especially if the third party is someone who, in their mind, carries a signiﬁcant amount of credibility or authority.

5.GUEST POSTS CREATE AWESOME CONCEPT Understanding the existing audience of the channel, showing examples that add credibility, and embracing reader feedback will ensure that the post strengthens your brand.

5.GUEST POSTS CREATE AWESOME TAKE AWAY Too many brands and businesses are embracing quantity over quality with the hope of backlinks, instead of putting quality content in front of a new audience.

6.FOR THE MEDIA BUILD CONTENT CONCEPT Media coverage not only gives you a wide reach into a new audience, it also gives your brand a sense of credibility. It’s a great way to put your brand in front of an audience that is engaged with your story.

6.FOR THE MEDIA BUILD CONTENT TAKE AWAY You need to tell an interesting story if you want people to talk about you in the media or on social media. It’s not enough to blend in. You need to strive to stand out.

7. NICHE CONTENT. NICHE DIRECTORIES. CONCEPT The internet is ﬁlled with passionate individuals. As such, identifying where your audience is spending their time and creating content speciﬁcally for them, is a great approach to driving content marketing success.

7. NICHE CONTENT. NICHE DIRECTORIES. TAKE AWAY Understanding your audience is one of the most important pieces of marketing. Ask yourself what your audience is interested in and then do the research to ﬁnd out where they spend their time.

8. ALWAYS USE SHARE PLUGINS CONCEPT Social sharing plugins are a key asset for any piece of content you’re looking to spread. If you want your content to get shared on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn – Integrate social sharing buttons.

8. ALWAYS USE SHARE PLUGINS TAKE AWAY It’s a simple idea, but it’s one that is often overlooked.

9. PRESS SEND COLLECT EMAILS CONCEPT In today’s day and age, email is a very personal form of communication. When a brand sends out a tweet, they are sharing that content with the world. When a brand sends a potential customer an email, it comes off as more personalized.

9. PRESS SEND COLLECT EMAILS TAKE AWAY Studies have shown that email can play a signiﬁcant role in customer retention and acquisition.

MAKE YOUR CONTENT STAND OUT. 9 SIMPLE HACKS Write Your Headline Last Embrace Blogger Relationships Create Value Driven Infographics Use Third Parties to Add Credibility Create Awesome Guest Posts Build Content for the Media Niche Content. Niche Directories. Always Use Share Plugins Collect Emails. Press Send.

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE? Look out for my e-book Stand Out: A Content Marketing Guide With click-through rates on online ads plummeting and the amount of competition increasing, businesses are looking for results. In a world where there is more noise than ever before, it’s important to create content worth reading, creating and sharing. www.standoutguide.com

ROSS SIMMONDS www.rosssimmonds.com @TheCoolestCool