Most Important Content Marketing Tips In 2023

Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience to drive profitable customer action. It is an essential part of any comprehensive marketing strategy and can provide a range of benefits for businesses.

Putting a strategy in place can help you get optimal results from your content marketing budget. Here are the most important content marketing tips for this year.

Start With A Content Audit & Review

A content marketing audit and review is the process of evaluating the effectiveness of your existing content marketing strategy and identifying areas for improvement. This process doesn't need to be taxing or time-consuming; one of the benefits of working in the digital age is that you can get a full snapshot of your content marketing success from any channel through which customers reach you, including your business phone.

Start by reviewing your content and determining what resonates with your audience. Look at all of the content you have created and published over the past year. Evaluate each piece of content based on factors such as relevance to your target audience, quality, and performance (i.e., views, shares, engagement). 

Use tools like Google Analytics to track the performance of your content and get a sense of what is working and what isn't. Look at metrics such as traffic, engagement, and conversion rates to identify patterns and trends.

Consider how your brand is expected to change in the coming year. Ask yourself whether the existing content strategy aligns with the direction your company is moving in. Determine if your review highlighted any new markets or trends to explore. 

Research Latest Changes & Trends

Social media platforms and search engines are constantly evolving. Many affiliate-based blogs experienced a significant dip in revenue and traffic during 2022 due to Google's reprioritization of content types. One of the burgeoning trends of 2023 is creating well-developed content that answers all subjects about a keyword rather than pushing readers through links. 

Video marketing is another trend that continues to transform how we consume online content. Research the latest data about video marketing and determine how to best incorporate it into your plans going forward.

The trends of today could be completely irrelevant by this time next year. Use alerts and subscriptions to industry publications to ensure you're ahead of the curve — and the competition.

Create A Content Repurposing Plan

Use the review process to highlight any clear winners from the previous year and flag existing content for redistribution. Algorithms and changing audiences often result in content getting missed. Rather than creating all-new content, consider how you can refresh and repurpose existing content.

Consider reposting previously used imagery or videos on social media with updated captions. If the visual content no longer aligns with your brand, refresh it using a graphic editing program like Canva.

Conduct updated keyword research and refresh existing long-form content. Google recently shared a preference for refreshed content over new content when ranking links in the SERP. Remember to edit titles for relevance, changing the year and other time-bound indicators about when your content was created.

Finally, don't be afraid to repurpose your old content in new ways. For example, you could turn a blog post into a video or create an infographic based on an existing white paper. 

Focus On Quality Over Quantity

It's important to prioritize quality over quantity when creating and posting online marketing content. First, high-quality content is more likely to engage and retain readers. If your content is well-written, informative, and valuable, readers will be more likely to share it and come back for more. On the other hand, low-quality content that is poorly written or lacks substance is likely to be ignored and may even turn readers away.

Second, search engines favor high-quality content when ranking websites. If you consistently create and publish high-quality content, you are more likely to improve your search engine ranking and make it easier for your audience to find your content.

Finally, prioritizing quality over quantity allows you to focus on creating a smaller number of pieces of content that are truly valuable to your audience rather than trying to churn out a large volume of mediocre content. This can help you build a reputation as a thought leader and trusted source of information in your industry.

Solve A Problem For Your Audience

It's essential to focus on solving a problem for your audience when creating digital content. This is what will ultimately drive engagement and lead to conversions. 

Your audience isn't looking for a product or service — they're looking for solutions to their problems and needs. By providing valuable and relevant information that addresses their pain points, you can establish yourself as a trusted source of information and build a strong relationship with your audience.

Digital content is also a powerful medium for pre-educating and educating your audience about your industry and offerings. Take this opportunity to focus on your offerings' benefits (not features) and establish yourself as a trusted resource. People don't like to feel like they're being sold to. Sharing "free" information can help you establish a rapport. 

Finally, it's important to address all stages of the sales funnel with your content, as this will help you reach and engage with potential customers at every stage of their journey. This includes creating content that attracts and generates leads at the top of the funnel. Content that nurtures leads and helps them move further down the funnel, and content that converts leads into customers or retains customers at the bottom of the funnel. By addressing the needs and interests of your audience at every stage of the sales funnel, you can effectively guide them toward a conversion.

Create A Detailed Content Calendar

A content calendar is crucial for planning, organizing, and scheduling content creation and distribution. It helps businesses ensure that they are consistently creating and publishing new content and allows them to plan ahead and identify any gaps in their content.

An effective content calendar starts with clear goals. Determine the goal of each piece of content. For example, is it informative or transactional? Is it targeted at a certain stage of the funnel? This approach will help you create a cohesive strategy and ensure that your content aligns with your business objectives.

Remember to plan for different platforms and formats. Varying the types of content you create can help keep things interesting for your audience and reach a broader range of people. Consider using a variety of formats, such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, and social media posts.

Make sure to coordinate your content calendar with other marketing efforts, such as email campaigns, paid advertising, and events. This will help ensure that all your marketing efforts are aligned and working toward the same goals.

Finally, be open to adjusting your content calendar as needed. If you identify a content gap or an opportunity to jump on a trend, don't be afraid to add it to your calendar.

Take A Unique Approach

With billions of pieces of content published online daily, creating something entirely new is impossible. What's important is finding a unique perspective and making the content your own.

Ensure that every piece of content you publish across all channels is consistent with your brand voice. You might say the exact same things about the exact same subjects as your competitor, but it should look and feel unique to your brand.

When in doubt, remember that everything should be created with your ideal customer in mind. Consider making a customer avatar to channel all your creative efforts through.

Final Thoughts

While the trends change every year, the core ideas behind great marketing content are evergreen: create with your audience in mind, be a problem solver, and stay ahead of the curve. Always seek an opportunity to build upon and repurpose what you've already created and prioritize consistency and quality.