Itโs no secret that content marketing is a powerful growth strategy for businesses in the services industry. Thereโs a reason why, in 2024, the total value of the content marketing industry is estimated to reach $600 billion. However, itโs not as simple as just writing a few blog posts โ you need a comprehensive strategy and the right tools at your disposal. Keep these tips in mind to achieve content marketing success.
1. Know Who Youโre Talking To
Content is about communication. You cannot communicate effectively with someone you donโt know or understand. For your content to be truly effective and valuable, you must be able to define your audience. This means knowing more about them than just their preferences. You need to understand their pain points and their questions. What are they looking for? How are you providing them with solutions?
Part of knowing your audience also includes defining and understanding your customer journey. As a business in the services industry, itโs crucial to understand the path your customers take from awareness to conversion and then long-term loyalty. Defining this path can help you create the right content to help make it easier for your marketing leads to become customers.
2. Local, Local, Local
If you provide services locally, take advantage of the opportunities of local SEO. Create content that highlights work youโve done in and for your community. Too many businesses are unaware of the tremendous benefits of having a polished Google Business Profile (GBP). This profile highlights your business in search results on Google Maps or when someone searches for โxyz service near me.โ You can do great content marketing on your GBP by answering questions, responding to reviews, and adding plenty of images of your team and your location.
3. Whatโs The Point of Your Post?
More than ever before, content marketing needs to provide value to the target audience. Gone are the days of keyword-stuffed, 3,000-word articles that nobody ever wanted to read. Instead, you need to ensure that your readers get something out of your content. In the services industry, one of the best ways to create valuable content is to provide education. Use blog posts and social media to provide information about your services โ what you do, and why it matters. Educational content can also be used to help a potential customer solve a problem on their own. For instance, a company that installs complete HVAC systems might write a blog post explaining how and when to change air filters. People who have a problem will then be helped by your content and will be more likely to read about your company and services.
4. Go Beyond Blogging
Blogging gets a lot of attention in the world of content marketing. Although we highly recommend this method of content marketing, itโs not the only one to use. Another great content marketing strategy is to use email. Email marketing has a high ROI โ reaching $36 for every $1 spent! One of the best things about email marketing is its ability to be more targeted than other forms of content marketing. You can use your CRM to create custom marketing emails for each of your customer segments. In the content marketing space, your targeting is directly linked to the efficacy of your strategy.
6. Start Making Movies
No, content marketing doesnโt mean going to Hollywood. However, video content is performing extremely well right now and is only going up. Now is the time for small businesses and service providers to consider how they can incorporate video into their content storytelling. These days, everyone has a smartphone with a camera in it. Video can be an excellent way to demonstrate your personality and stand out from the competition.
7. SEO Matters
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an essential part of ensuring that all your effort on content marketing is actually discoverable. By optimizing your site for Google and other search engines, you make it easier for people to find your content and your brand. Just moving your site up a few ranks can significantly increase the amount of organic traffic coming into your site. That is traffic that can be turned into real revenue for your business. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to devise an SEO strategy that targets the keywords that matter most to your business. Then, create impactful content around those keywords and optimize your siteโs performance to ensure that it is ready for search engines to index it.
8. Focus on Continuous Improvement
The spirit of continuous improvement is all about tracking your performance and making changes based on what works vs. what doesn’t. Every brand is different. Every audience is different. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to content marketing because of these differences. Instead, the path to content marketing success is all about learning from your mistakes, innovating, and never being afraid to try something new.
Ready to learn more? Dive into our post on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Or, if youโve already got enough on your plate and donโt want to worry about content marketing, why not work with us?
