Best content marketing strategies for 2023 from the experts
If you’re like me who finds the world of content marketing fascinating, then you’ll want to know what works.
What is the difference between Brand A which converts a huge chunk of their target audience and Brand B which barely scrapes the crumbs even after investing so much money and time into content marketing?
It could be that Brand A figured out what works and stuck to that. Brand B didn’t and so they spent money on ineffective strategies.
But figuring out what works isn’t so easy. A Google search is very likely to give you theoretical strategies that have never been proven.
I figured that one of the best ways to find out the best content marketing strategy for your business is by asking others what they did to get their stellar results.
In this piece, I’ll share strategies from some of the best marketing leaders sourced from members of the MKTG WMN slack group and from HelpaB2Bwriter.
5 Best Strategies for Content Marketing in 2023 (with examples)
1. Create audience-centered content
The first step to developing an effective content marketing strategy is understanding your target audience.
What kind of people typically patronise you?
What new people do you want to project your business to?
If you want a more extensive survey to find out your target audience, here’s one.
Once you have answered these questions, the next step is to figure out what kind of content your ideal audience wants to see.
A lot of times, people assume that the best way to figure out what their audience wants is by looking at their competitors. But that is a sure way to fail.
Jenna Calderara, a content marketing manager at Rockbot highlighted the importance of audience-centred content above focusing on competitors, their winning strategy for 2023.
“I would say a big thing we are currently focusing on is zeroing in on our audience, rather than obsessing over our competitors. The thing is, when you obsess over your competitors, spend time figuring out what they're doing to win, make plans to do it and execute, you are already behind. To stay ahead, your focus should be the audience.”
For example, one way that Rockbot finds out what its audience wants to see is by asking questions and getting feedback on social media channels. This doesn’t have to be a formal survey. Rockbot does this by responding to tweets or looking through the comments on their post.
Find out what your audience needs to know about selected topics and create content that answers those questions. You can answer these questions by writing how-to blogs or sharing videos and guides on your social media channels.
If you’re a new brand and you don’t have a large following yet and are unsure how to ask your audience what they want, there’s a way out:
Find the trends or the kind of content that your ideal audience engages with the most. For example, you can find some trends by checking the hashtags they’re following on social media.
Study the top-performing posts you already have and create more of that kind of content.
If you already have an email list, reach out to your email subscribers to ask them what types of content they really love and use that to create your content.
2. Repurpose existing content
Once you’re sure what kind of content your audience engages with the most, one fail-safe way to never run out of ideas is by repurposing your content.
Repurposing content is one of my personal favourite content marketing strategies. I have a rule that works every time. I wrote about it in my blog; 5 content marketing strategies to boost website traffic.
“Here’s something to live by; the first time you create content about a topic, many people do not see it. Post it the second time, and they praise you for such great insight. Post it the third time, and they’ll send reviews of how they never heard that before!”
Here are some benefits you get from repurposing content:
Daniel Chabert, CEO & Founder of PurpleFire, a CRO agency, said that repurposing content is their favourite content marketing strategy and 2023 is going to be another repurposing year for the brand.
“Repurposing existing content into different formats, such as turning a blog post into a video or podcast allows for our content to reach more people and we have built an even larger audience using that method,” Chabert says.
“Additionally, it's a great way to improve search engine rankings. We create content that links back to different sections of our website. This is an effective way to drive traffic and send visitors to the landing pages.”
Purple Fire plays around with different formats of content. They break down complex topics into simple, short YouTube content and also write about them on their blog. In addition, they create bite-sized tweets and Instagram carousels or develop simple ideas for their email lists.
For example, this Purple Fire YouTube video was the 2nd most viewed video on their channel.
This was not a surprise because the video was an in-depth how-to video and included templates and examples.
They decided to repurpose this video to a blog post to help rank better on search engines, while still linking back to the video.
This piece did not just re-emphasize the video, it also helped to improve the website’s accessibility.
3. Make your website accessible
Ever tried to watch a video without subtitles on a noisy train? You probably won’t be able to hear a thing.
Now imagine the millions of deaf people who can’t use websites because they don’t cater to their needs. Website accessibility means developing or designing a website in a way that also improves the user experience for disabled people.
In 2023, website accessibility is not just a strategy. It is a need for every business owner who champions inclusion.
According to a Click-Away Pound survey, “71% of disabled customers with access needs will click away from a website that they find difficult to use. Those customers who click away have an estimated spending power of £11.75 billion in the UK alone, around 10% of the total UK online spend in 2016.”
Asides from the revenue benefits of having an accessible website, there’s SEO. Accessible websites rank higher on Google for blogs and every other kind of content.
For example, I did a quick Google search on how to study better at night. The first article on the SERP was this article that included descriptive pictures of each of the steps listed in the article to cater to low vision and dyslexic individuals.
Paige Arnof-Fenn, the CEO of Mavens & Moguls, a marketing consulting firm, says this is the strategy of the year for her clients in 2023.
“Searching by text, voice, and image must all be addressed going forward. For example, voice search adds usability/functionality to your site making it accessible to all users including those with limitations/disabilities, Arnof-Fenn says.”
Making your website accessible would involve paying attention to the intricate details of your website and the kind of content you put out.
One way to make your website accessible is by including alt texts for every image you use in your blog. For example, while writing this blog, I made sure to include alt texts for all images to make the images able to be read by screen audio readers. The alt text should not just describe the image but include the purpose of the image to enable the reader to understand why the image was included.
Here’s how to do it.
Right-click the image to show the drop-down bar that contains the option to include alt text.
You can alternatively use the shortcut, Ctrl+Alt+Y to add alt texts to your images.
When you click on the alt text button, you can now type the title of the image and a description.
Another simple way to optimise your content for website accessibility is to organize your content using headers.
When writing a blog, divide the headings and subheadings into organized forms using Ctrl + Alt + 1 for heading 1 which is the title of the website and Ctrl + Alt + 2 for heading 2 which is typically the first subheading and any other major subheading. Change the numbers using the same format to achieve different headings.
Also, use jump lists to enable users to quickly navigate blogs. Keyboard-only users who may have problems with mobility or navigating a mouse should also be able to access your blogs when you make sure they can click on links using “Enter” and can scroll down using the “Tab” key. Now you know how to make your website accessible for all users, let’s get into something that will make each user stay with your content and reduce your bounce rate.
4. Tell your story
Nothing beats storytelling as the best content marketing strategy. Stories make your content authentic, easy to understand, engaging, and valuable. When you tell your story, you’re creating authentic content that would resonate with your audience.
Headstream studied the reactions of consumers to brands and here’s what they found; “A captivating brand story has a significant impact on consumer behavior, with a 55% increased likelihood of future product purchases, 44% inclination to share the story, and 15% immediate product purchases.”
The numbers are worth taking a chance on and that’s why storytelling is unbeatable.
Mojire Agbetunsin, the creative director of The Herculean Media recommends creative storytelling as the best content marketing strategy for every brand in 2023.
“Use storytelling to take your audience on a journey through the value of your brand. Create content that your audience can follow from start to finish. This helps to draw your audience into your community.”
Creating original content through storytelling is important because humans get bored with seeing the same things. To gain visibility, you can leverage trends, but you should incorporate your unique style and scenarios. Take it a step further and create content that is completely new and different.
Think about brands like Guinness whose Made of More campaign told the story of diversity and inclusivity of women in Rugby or Apple whose stellar Detour film showed the wonders of the iPhone 7 Plus wrapped in a beautiful story.
Another seemingly boring brand whose storytelling concept endeared them to its audience is Evernote.
Because everyone loves to relive good moments, hold them close and make them last, Evernote told the story of saving every memory using Evernote.
Stephan Pachikov, Evernote’s founder, told the story in a video; further evoking emotional connection in a message that literally concerns everyone in the world.
The goal is that, in the end, these brands are selling a feeling rather than just their products.
But how do you create content that tells your story in the right way?
There’s a simple formula for creating a content strategy that tells your story perfectly.
There are three elements for your story.
First, the protagonist is your brand’s target audience. Your buyer persona
The plot of the story is a pain point they face
The climax of the story would be the solution your brand offers
Protagonist + Plot + Solution = A story your audience can relate to. You have to tie these elements into a creative narrative and present it to your audience in every content.
For example, Herculean media directed a story-driven campaign; Dare to be Bold for Debawks collection, a lip gloss brand. The goal was to inspire creators to create after the pandemic.
They told a relatable story about creators who were unmotivated to create because of post-pandemic trauma. They also reached out to users of their products and influencers who loved the brand to create content that conveyed that message.
They made a video for the campaign and that strengthened the storytelling.
More often than not, videos have that storytelling magic. It’s also a great way to improve your SEO.
Ben Tibbits reiterates the importance of increasing video content in 2023.
“If the last few years have shown us anything, it's that when it comes to content, video is king.”
In the end, telling your story would require so much work but your brand will definitely reap these benefits;
More sales
More website traffic
Customers become advocates of your brand.
A better value proposition
An edge over your competitors
5. Use the 3000-word and content-repost hack
Content promotion tops the list for the best content marketing strategies in 2023. It’s the part that requires the most work.
Content distribution can be done via various channels. In this survey, it is found that 89% of companies distribute their content through organic search.
Organic search refers to the usual course of events that make a brand’s content appear on SERPs without ads or paid listings. You can boost your organic search by using the 3000-content hack.
“Write 3,000+ word in-depth blog articles that cover a specific topic in detail. In the article, feature quotes from industry influencers and link out to research from other reputable blogs, then email them to let them know you featured them in your article to promote social sharing,” says Mika Tomada, PR Specialist at Pearl Lemon SEO.
The emphasis is on in-depth blogs that answer search queries, satisfy search intent, are unique, and are optimised for search engines.
Social sharing follows right after. The best way to do it is using the content repost hack shared by Mika Tomada from Pearl Lemon.
The Content Repost Hack (in these 5 steps)
Step 1: Send an email to your list with your article (at whatever time you have the highest open rate, based on your historical email stats).
Step 2: Share the article on your social media accounts as soon as the email campaign is sent.
Step 3: Look for channels relevant to your business and submit links there (eg: forums, FB groups, Slack groups).
Step 4: Wait for a few days to get some analytics data (stats, shares, and comments).
Step 5: Send emails or tweets to editors of big publishers who report on your content topic with screenshots of proof of traction.”
Suffice it to say, the results of content promotion are boundless and unlimited and there’s definitely no great content marketing strategy without a plan for content promotion.
Create a strategy that works
Now that you've seen that different strategies work for different brands, you should always start out with an open mind, ready to try out different strategies until you’re sure which works perfectly for your brand and your audience.
Start with an audit of what worked before and areas you need to improve on and go ahead to create a strategy that addresses that problem.
When you discover what works, don’t forget to tweak and fine-tune that strategy until it’s perfect for your brand.
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