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Content marketing is made up of two parts: content and marketing. Once you have developed original content and optimized it for search, it’s time to start thinking beyond inbound traffic to promotion and outreach for that content. Not everyone uses the internet the same way, and so while many people may be finding your content using target keyword phrases, others may miss the content entirely if you’re not thinking beyond organic search results.
Owned media includes all the web properties your brand owns like your website, blog, social media channels, email newsletters, etc. When you begin to promote new content, start with the audiences you’ve already captured in these web properties. They have either engaged with your content previously and/or elected to follow your company in some way because they are a fan. Treat this audience well (ex: sneak peeks, exclusive offers, etc.) because they can be your biggest advocates, but they can also point out issues before you begin marketing to the larger public.
When you have a budget for media to begin marketing your content, start with your most successful content. Build on what’s working. One of the hardest parts of ad campaigns is coming up with a compelling hook or offer to get your audience to click. If you’re promoting content that you already know is wanted by your target audience (Google Analytics or other performance metrics say it is), your paid campaign has a better chance at being a successful one.
Successful content is not only content that gets people to your website, but it’s content that also keeps your target audience on your website. Make sure that the content pieces you are selecting have low bounce and exit rates. Select content that has a better chance of driving visitors further into your website and converting.
Advertising anywhere, with any message, for any audience, is not going to yield the results you’re looking for from a paid campaign. Make sure you are prioritizing advertising channels that make the most sense for reaching your target audience. For example, if you’re a cannabis lifestyle brand for younger adults, you should have an Instagram account and consider Instagram ads as 71% of Instagram users are under the age of 35.
We are big advocates of testing to see what works for you, and we aren’t going to stop saying that now, but doing your research and picking the proper channels to advertise on is incredibly important, otherwise, you’ll absolutely be wasting your money and potentially damaging your brand.
With the recent steps toward legalization at the federal level, you may be seeing a lot of the more traditional advertising options begin to open to recreational cannabis companies.
Social media influencers are a pretty big deal right now, and it would be a mistake to completely overlook the industry influencers in your space. You may not be able to get someone with a million followers to pose with your product, but there are a lot of niche industry influencers with their own engaged audiences and are far more affordable.
And don’t forget the power of links! Even if a blogger doesn’t have a large audience, search engines look at links as cues that content is more valuable, the more people linking to your content, the more likely the search engines are to value that content higher and display it higher in search results. Reach out to anyone who is sharing their voice in your space and see what you can do to help each other drive more people to your websites.
