To help you enhance your content marketing approach, we’ve gathered ten invaluable tips from founders, editors, and directors. From embracing storytelling in content marketing to maximizing visibility with keywords, these industry leaders share strategies that have significantly improved their content marketing efforts.

• Embrace Storytelling 
• Incorporate Interactive Elements
• Focus on Valuable, Relevant Content
• Implement a Topic Pyramid Strategy
• Prioritize a Single Topic or Keyword
• Utilize Low-Lift Activities
• Engage Actively with Your Audience
• Foster User-Generated Content
• Adhere to SEO Basics 
• Maximize Visibility with Keywords

 

Embrace Storytelling 

 

 

In my early content marketing days, I emphasized quantity, believing it would yield better results. However, I soon realized my audience valued quality and relevance over volume. A pivotal tip that enhanced my approach was incorporating storytelling. It made the content more engaging, memorable, and fostered a connection with the audience. 

 

Once I integrated storytelling, I observed a notable increase in engagement, shares, and conversions. It also strengthened trust and the relationship with my audience. Creating content that tells a story, while also providing value and applying to the audience, is a potent way to refine your content marketing approach.

 

Nyla Rose, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, JuseBeauty

 

Incorporate Interactive Elements 

One tip that greatly improved my content marketing approach was to incorporate interactive elements into my content. Instead of relying solely on static blog posts and articles, I started experimenting with quizzes, polls, and interactive infographics. 

 

For instance, in one campaign targeting fitness enthusiasts, I created a quiz titled “Find Your Ideal Workout Routine,” which allowed users to answer a series of questions to generate a customized workout plan tailored to their goals and preferences. This interactive element not only increased user engagement but also provided valuable data about our audience’s interests and needs. 

 

By using interactive content, I could offer a more dynamic and engaging experience for my audience while simultaneously gathering valuable insights for future marketing efforts.

 

Steve Dinelli, Founder, MarketerInterview.com

 

Focus on Valuable, Relevant Content

 

 

A tip that can help improve a content marketing approach is to focus on creating high-quality, valuable content that applies to your target audience. This means understanding your audience’s needs, interests, and pain points, and tailoring your content to address those areas. 

 

The only way to do this is to look at various data points and not just one. For example, use Google Trends and overlay social insights on this to see what content is trending and on what platform.

 

Additionally, it’s important to use a variety of content formats, such as blog posts, videos, infographics, and social media posts, to reach your audience on different platforms and in different ways. 

 

Finally, consistently analyzing and measuring the performance of your content can help you refine your approach and ensure that you are delivering content that resonates with your audience.

 

Steven Wright, Co-Founder and Chief Editor, Lifestyle to the MAX

 

Implement a Topic Pyramid Strategy

 

 

A topic pyramid is a structural approach to create content pillars and achieve topical authority. The latter is essential for your SEO efforts and to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

 

The idea is straightforward. Define three to five connected major topics and build a foundation for your business. These topics would be the short answer to the question, “What do you do?” 

 

For each chief topic, define another five to seven sub-topics that support the principal subject. For example, if your chief topic is “Marketing,” your subtopics could be “SEO,” “Content Marketing,” and “Social Media Marketing.”

 

This logic works down to more granular sub-sub-topics. It’s important to establish links between all the topics to showcase relevancy.

 

A side effect of this approach is that you always have content ideas.

 

Stephan Wenger, Founder and Editor, B2B Marketing World

 

Prioritize a Single Topic or Keyword

It is easy to go wide with your approach to content marketing, but at the heart of every company, there is a single topic or keyword. If they own it, it will bring a significant amount of value to their business. 

 

So, a tip I learned long ago is to keep that single topic or keyword at the very front of your mind with everything you publish. Do your best to include it within every article, podcast, video, or post you create.

 

Jason Vaught, Director of Content, SmashBrand

 

Utilize Low-Lift Activities 

As a business of one, I don’t always have time each week to come up with original long-form content. So, I lean on low-lift services like HARO, Featured.com, and others to help me source quotes and content for my blog. 

 

This gives me an opportunity to constantly create new content without having to do all the writing and research myself. Other low-lift activities include optimizing existing blog articles, improving content, and creating new takes on existing ideas to post as guest blogs. 

 

These are huge time-savers and allow me to continue sharing my expertise with new audiences in new ways.

 

Alli Hill, Founder and Director, Fleurish Freelance

 

Engage Actively with Your Audience

 

 

When I initially began my journey in content marketing, I held the belief that quantity was paramount. However, as time passed, I came to realize that the true essence of success lay in quality and relevance. 

 

One transformative tip I eagerly embraced revolved around truly comprehending and engaging with my audience. Rather than simply disseminating content, I started actively listening to my audience’s feedback, inquiries, and concerns. This crucial shift enabled me to curate content that genuinely resonated with readers while effectively addressing their needs.

 

By fostering a dynamic two-way conversation and prioritizing valuable, relevant material over sheer volume alone, I witnessed a remarkable increase in engagement and conversions.

 

Khurram Mir, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Kualitatem Inc.

 

Foster User-Generated Content

 

 

Encouraging user-generated content can greatly enhance your content marketing approach. By actively involving your audience and allowing them to share their experiences, opinions, and ideas, you create a sense of community and authenticity. 

 

User-generated content strengthens the bond between your audience and your brand, increasing engagement and brand loyalty. Examples include hosting contests or challenges, encouraging testimonials or reviews, and featuring user-generated content on social media platforms.

 

Ben Lau, Founder, Featured SEO Company

 

Adhere to SEO Basics 

It’s very crucial to remember SEO basics when crafting content to improve content marketing. Utilize keywords, relevant tags, and optimized content descriptions. Also, focus on organic backlinks and visual elements, as they quickly improve search rankings.

 

Alex Murray, Search Director, Tilious

 

Maximize Visibility with Keywords

A great tip I have learned for improving my content marketing approach is to utilize keywords. Keywords are the words and phrases that you include throughout your content to help people find it quickly. 

 

When selecting your keywords, make sure they are relevant, specific, and accurately describe the topic of your content. Additionally, aim for a balance between long-tail (more specific) and short-tail (more general) keywords. By doing this, you can maximize the visibility of your content and make sure it’s easily searchable!

 

Amira Irfan, Founder and CEO, A Self Guru