Good content is an investment. And when the expertise and resources of the business are paired with the right strategy, the rewards are certainly worth it. In fact, according to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing, and costs 62% less. So, how can you make sure that you’re utilising your content marketing budget to full effect?
1. Atomise your content
This means creating one core piece of content based around multiple themes – an Industry Trends Report, for example – then slicing and dicing it to create a number of smaller content pieces that can populate your marketing channels ongoing. You could share key insights as graphical social posts, cut the copy into short-form blogs or use the original piece of content as a launching pad for an op-ed. This type of content marketing is often known as ‘Blockbuster’ and it’s a model on which Disney and finance brands alike can thrive.
2. Take advantage of your expertise
Your organisation is full of experts, so make sure you’re tapping into your own valuable resources before you go searching elsewhere for inspiration. CEO interviews, podcasts and well-curated social media profiles can win your finance brand credibility as well as provide additional avenues to extend your content’s reach. See our feature on the top 10 finance CEO LinkedIn profiles to see how it’s done.
3. Audit and reuse
In countless finance organisations content is created and shared once, never again to see the light of day. Why make another video when you already have one? Why write a blog if there’s one sitting dormant in the archives of your content hub. If a piece of content was valuable to your business when first created, it’s likely that value remains – it may just need to be tweaked here and there. To use your content effectively, first decide on the themes that are important to your business, then perform a full audit and reorganise your content under these themes, repurposing the great content you’ve already created to keep these themes in the spotlight ongoing.
If a piece of content was valuable to your business when first created, it’s likely that value remains – it may just need to be tweaked here and there.
4. Set measureable objectives
Before you start producing more content, it’s important to set objectives and calculate your anticipated ROI. This will help you when planning future content marketing campaigns, and means you can identify the content initiatives that are bringing home the bacon and avoid wasting time and money on the rest.
5. Explore partnerships
It is surprising how few brands have switched on to content syndication. Put simply, syndication means having your owned content published across other, partner, marketing channels. Used effectively, syndication can increase the reach and cut-through of your content dramatically. Read our guide to syndication to get started.
6. Optimise your copy for SEO
There’s no point in creating content if you’re not going to optimise it for search. Decide on what your keywords are before you start production to make sure your content gets found.
Finally, look at your marketing budget as a whole and decide where the true ROI lies for you and your business. Maybe content marketing is an area that is worth investing a little more in. Test, learn and optimise as you go. For help executing a content marketing strategy that will deliver ROI, get in touch.
