Written by The Melotti Content Media Team, checked by Christopher Melotti
Discover years of content marketing expertise condensed into one convenient guide designed to deepen your understanding of effective content marketing and show you why your Australian business needs to make this a key part of your ongoing marketing strategy.
Over the years, content marketing has evolved from something fun and interesting on your website to a must-have marketing strategy that shapes and amplifies your online presence and audience engagement.
It’s become the heartbeat of the modern marketing strategy, allowing brands to meet their audiences where they are and connect with them on a deeper level.
Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or completely new to the field, it’s important to realise that creating engaging and valuable content is crucial for building trust, enhancing brand visibility and driving your Australian customers to take action.
So, if you’ve ever wondered how businesses can transform a simple blog, video or social post into a magnet for leads and loyal customers, you’re in the right place!
Here at Melotti Content Media, we’ve put together the ultimate guide covering everything you need to know about content marketing in Australia.
In this guide, we’ll be sharing everything we’ve ever learnt about how to build and implement an effective strong content marketing strategy for maximum success.
So, get comfortable, because this is by far the biggest resource we’ve ever produced yet – and it’s going to seriously level up your marketing game in ways you didn’t even know were possible.
Chapters
- What is interactive content?
- What is interactive content marketing?
- Why use interactive content?
- What are some examples of interactive content?
- What’s the point of interactive content?
- How can you create interactive content?
- What about face-to-face content marketing?
- How can you get your face-to-face and content marketing in sync?
Chapter 1: The Fundamentals – How Content Marketing Works
Content marketing has become a crucial strategy for businesses in Australia, helping brands connect with local audiences and build long-term relationships.
However, there are still a lot of common content marketing FAQs that we get asked every day by clients.
Questions like:
- Where do I start with content marketing
- How does content marketing work?
- Is content marketing right for my business?
So, let’s kick this off by covering the fundamentals of content marketing and how it can work for you.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is the process of creating content aimed to pique the attention of people and engage both potential customers and current clients.
In Australia, businesses of all sizes – from startups to large enterprises – are adopting content marketing to engage their customers and build stronger brand loyalty.
This accessible marketing approach works by raising brand awareness and brand relevance on their terms.
For example, instead of a disruptive advert telling people to buy frozen meals, you can create a blog about the convenience and nutrition of your branded frozen meals that Australian audiences will enjoy reading whenever they are actively looking.
How does content marketing work?
Content marketing involves the strategy, creation, publishing and distribution of marketing content oriented around your ideal customer’s challenges and desires.
When you create content and place it online, you provide value, which we define as information and entertainment. Content marketing gets its strength from the fact that it’s available at the right place at the right time and leaves the decision with them.
Essentially, content marketing empowers people to make their own decisions – and that’s why it works.
For instance, an educational video about how to use your hardware products on a DIY project creates relevance and excitement from someone interested in it, rather than an ad that highlights the products and pushes it onto them when they’re not open to the message.
How does content marketing help businesses?
Content marketing helps businesses because it helps customers – it’s as simple as that.
It offers so many advantages to business, including:
- Increasing brand visibility
- Making your brand relevant
- Improving accessibility to your brand
- Informing and entertaining your audience
- Making your brand more appealing
- Answering people’s questions
- Providing a great customer experience
- Expanding your brand’s reach
- Improving your SEO
- Developing your brand’s personality
- Making you a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) in your field
And of course, content marketing helps you drive conversions and sales by influencing them and helping people progress down the customer journey.
How does content marketing drive sales?
While content marketing isn’t as aggressive when it comes to selling, that is also its strength.
Australian audiences today are a lot more selective about where to spend their precious attention and often get frustrated with direct sales attempts.
Content marketing plays a subtler game.
In our experience, people like to see around 8 to 12 pieces of content before they make a decision, depending on where they are in the customer journey.
So, providing them with value at every step of the way creates a powerful conversion funnel.
Does all content marketing work?
NO!
Just creating content isn’t enough. It needs to be well-thought-out, planned and executed carefully.
If it’s rushed, poorly targeted or not amplified correctly, it won’t go far and then you’ll be disappointed. Content marketing is not an “easy” form of marketing.
It takes a lot of ongoing hard work to get right and earn results. But it is possible.
For example, one blog every month won’t get you any decent results. You need to write blogs regularly to create a snowball effect. Content marketing gets results when it compounds together.
Chapter 2: Getting Started – The 5 Ways to Do Content Marketing in Australia
Now you understand the basics of content marketing, it’s time to show you how you can start to produce content to connect better with your Australian audience and offer them value, in return for recognition and interaction.
Step One: Your Content Strategy
Start with the goals and objectives that your content marketing is aiming to achieve.
These should tie closely in with your business and marketing plans so that everything is heading in the same direction.
For example:
- Business Plan Mission
To be a prominent figurehead and Key Opinion Leader in Australian Copywriting.
- Marketing Plan Mission
To offer our customers and the wider community a source of high-quality and relevant information about Copywriting and Content Marketing topics.
THEN… - Content Marketing Strategy
Weekly releases of blogs, articles and social media posts across all business platforms answering a recently asked question that attracts the attention of interested parties and puts them in direct contact with our brand and services.
If these all align (which they should), it means that your content strategy answers your marketing and business plans, which is the whole point.
So, start with a simple but solid content strategy to establish the rules of the game.
Step Two: The Content Plan
Next, put together your content calendar which outlines your schedule over the coming period, whether it be weeks, months or even the year.
Why? So, you can:
- prevent the last-minute scramble to find something to post
- keep your content aligned with your strategy
- ensure consistency
- allow your business to tie content topics to relevant dates and events
This plan doesn’t have to be overly complex!
Open an Excel sheet, put in a yearly calendar, brainstorm regular topics and themes, lock them all into times and dates, and you’re set.
Just make sure you refer to this document regularly and review it often to keep the content themes fresh.
For example, seeing Australia Day or ANZAC Day on your calendar will help your business create themed content around that time to reach your audience in a more meaningful way.
Step Three: The Content Creation Process
Now it’s time to get creating, which involves matching your strategy from Step One with your schedule from Step Two.
This is all about copywriting, photography, videography, printing, editing and so on to produce relevant and interesting pieces of content that your audience will connect with.
This step also includes implementing the procedures around the content creation process too.
For example:
- Who in your team will be responsible for curating the content?
- What parts need to be outsourced versus created in-house?
- What will the call-to-action be?
- What are the deadlines?
- Who will post or send out the content?
- Who needs to approve it?
- Is there a way to use automation or bots to streamline the process?
- Will the content be organic or paid?
And so on.
Step Four: Track Your Progress
As a business, we undertake content marketing to achieve results set out in the strategy, whether it be sign-ups, awareness, click-throughs and so on.
As a result, this step is about tracking how each piece is performing.
Fortunately, today, most content is disseminated digitally, which automatically tracks statistics, such as:
- Click Through Rates (CTR),
- Impressions,
- Bounce Rate, and
- Interactions.
This makes it much easier to see the results and follow each campaign’s progress.
There are also multiple online tools to help you as well, such as Google Analytics.
Just remember:
Tracking isn’t just about measurement – it’s about the insights that it provides as well.
For example, if results are surpassing expectations, then it may indicate a really effective message, and you should edit your content plan and strategy to capitalise on this approach.
But if results show your content is under-delivering, then it may be time to assess the message and relaunch or rework it.
Step Five: Rinse and Repeat
After you’ve completed these four steps, it’s time to start the cycle again.
Assess and update your strategy and your plan regularly, then put out new content accordingly. Track how it goes and repeat.
This cycle will keep your content fresh and engaging while being flexible and relevant.
Chapter 3: Content Types – Exploring Different Forms of Marketing Content
Content marketing is far more complex than simply putting words on a page.
In an information era where ‘content is king’, it’s vital to get it right – and that means matching the correct type of content with the target audience.
Content that interests
Content that interests is all about using entertainment and general brand reminders to attract potential customers who are currently strangers to your brand.
Interest-inducing content includes competitions, games, events, conferences and general branding reminders.
Content that educates
Content that educates is all about using facts, information and problem-solving solutions to attract potential customers who are strangers to your brand.
This content is more of an explanation of the solution on offer, such as informational videos, webinars, instructions, blogs, organisational reports and statistics.
Content that influences
Content that influences focuses on encouraging an aware audience who are still deciding whether to choose you or not.
This includes peer reviews, endorsements, ratings and case studies, all of which lower the customer’s hesitation barrier by serving them appealing content that makes them feel safe and secure, encouraging them to proceed.
Content that converts
Content that converts aims to close the deal by showing how relevant a brand, product or service is in their life – preventing buyer’s remorse.
Conversion content includes testimonials, product solution descriptions, demonstrations, Frequently Asked Questions, pricing guides, sales copy and strong calls-to-action.
Content that nurtures
Nurturing content is all about delighting customers after the sale so that they become advocates who spread the word and come back.
This includes content like ongoing newsletters, exclusive deals and other content that shows them they’re still important, even though the sale is done.
Why this content mix is crucial
All customers and businesses are different.
Therefore, getting the right mix of interesting, teaching, influential, conversion and nurturing types of content is vital, as it can mean the difference between ineffective material versus compelling content that supports customers gently through the sales funnel.
In addition, the accessibility, arrangement and execution of all of this content is equally as important, so that the correct type is balanced and easily found by the intended recipient.
So, what pieces of content does your brand need to create to be successful with content marketing?
If you’re creating one social media post or one blog and hoping that will cut it – I’ve got news for you. It’s not that easy!
You need to create a range of content pieces and spread them across multiple channels as part of an effective content marketing strategy.
The different pieces of content you need to consider include:
- Blog posts and articles
Blogs and articles are detailed written content pieces that provide helpful insights for your audience and offer real value to help gain their trust. - Newsletters and Emails
Newsletters and emails are great ways to reach your customers more directly and regularly keep your audience up to date. It’s important, though, to only send relevant messages to stop them from hitting the unsubscribe button. - Long-form content
Long-form content such as eBooks, whitepapers and in-depth reports can help you share in-depth knowledge, gain a competitive advantage and carve out your reputation as a leading expert in your field. - Case studies
Case studies are success stories showing how effectively you’ve dealt with a client’s requirements. They demonstrate the ways you work and excel in creating solutions for customers. - FAQs
People today tend to search using questions. This means that if you want to be the brand answering them, you need FAQ pages with quality answers. Think of your FAQ page as a customer service team that’s available 24/7. - Visual bites
You can create little visual snippets of information, ideas, quotes and insights to grab your audience’s attention and keep you top of mind. They’re a great way of reminding your audience that you always provide value and you’re a brand worth following. - Checklists
Checklist content is another strong-performing content type because it offers an interactive way to engage people, ask questions and give them practical information they can apply and use. - Podcasts
Audio content is becoming extremely popular across Australia, now that everyone is so time-poor. By creating engaging podcasts, your audience can be exposed to your branding while they’re on the move – listening while on public transport, driving, shopping and more. - Video
Australians love videos! So, don’t forget to create compelling scripts and strong visuals to get attention and tell great stories. Through video content, you can communicate a lot in a very short time.
What about social media?
Before anyone asks – social media is an amplification channel.
That means social media is used to distribute content and help it reach the right audiences, as opposed to an actual piece of marketing content.
But all social media channels should be part of your content marketing strategy.
Chapter 4: Quality vs. Quantity – Why Quality Over Quantity Matters in Content Marketing
They say “Content is King”.
For many, this means simply pumping out as much content as possible to keep the masses and search engines happy.
However, we like to preach a different line here:
Engagement is Queen.
And she’s so much more important.
That’s why we’re going to show you how to take a quality-over-quantity approach to content so that your kingdom will want to read, watch and listen to everything you have to say.
After all, content marketing is not about bombarding your audience with so much information that they become confused, overwhelmed and disenchanted.
It’s about producing well-considered content that engages them and earns their attention, making your brand relevant in their eyes, which then inspires them to act.
How can you create quality content over quantity?
It all comes down to six key rules:
1. Know your customer
Like, really know them. Your content will only truly be effective if you recognise their needs, understand their goals and appreciate their challenges.
Don’t just assume that “their need is my product.” Because it’s not.
Their real needs are:
- “I want more time to be with my kids”
- “I want to feel confident”
- “I’m looking for a way to impress my boss with excellent results”
- “I have to get my passion project off the ground”
- “I want to start living my dreams.”
If you can identify their deeply emotional needs, then you’re on the right track.
Do your research, host focus groups, produce questionnaires and anything else you can to get to know your audience better.
Quality will always trump quantity in content marketing
If you focus on these six rules, you will soon start to see the health of your content marketing improve.
Naturally, this makes sense.
If you’re catering more to the real needs of people, it’s in their best interest to read, watch or listen to your content.
People learn very quickly what brands are worth following and what ones aren’t.
By producing quality over quantity, you’ll gain a good reputation in the market and become the centre of their attention.
Chapter 5: Crafting a Strategy – 9 Things to Include in Your Content Marketing Strategy
Have you ever gone on a big trip without any plan or preparation?
We’re all for spontaneity, but you’d probably get pretty frustrated very soon without the right directions or essentials.
Well, it’s the same with content marketing. Without an organised strategy, it’s a pretty frustrating journey.
A business without a content marketing strategy is doomed to fail at content marketing. It’s as simple as that.
A lack of clear plans, tactics and goals can lead you farther away from accomplishing high returns, optimising your content and achieving long-term consistent growth for your business.
Here’s how to put the right foundations in place for your content marketing plan
While there are no set templates for building an effective content marketing strategy, as they need to be tailored to your own business needs, we’ve compiled a list of necessary items to address in your content marketing plan.
They will help lead you in the right direction to create content pieces that will better connect you with your audience.
1. Mission and Goals
Establishing a mission statement is a great way to remind your team why you’re creating content in the first place. It should talk about your target audience, the content you’ll offer them and the value they’ll gain through every piece.
Likewise, having goals allows you to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve for your business using content marketing.
2. Content Inventory
Having an overview of the types of content your business is currently using will help you narrow down what’s currently working and what’s not.
Performing a content inventory audit also allows you to determine what other content formats you can try to expand your reach.
3. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Setting KPIs allows you to determine if your content is delivering the results you intend.
From traffic, social media metrics and email marketing to revenue and sales, KPIs can help you track goals and measure performance.
4. Define your target audience
Your customers should always be at the very centre of your content marketing strategy.
As such, it’s essential to thoroughly know your target audience. Understanding their demographics, interests, needs and even their feedback can help you provide better content they’ll love and enjoy.
5. Establish your brand story
Incorporating your overarching brand story can help you draw the right marketing message to utilise in your content.
It also helps in differentiating your content from your competitors. Moreover, it guides you to become more consistent across all of your marketing.
6. The types of content channels to utilise
In your content marketing strategy, it’s also necessary to evaluate the platforms you intend to utilise.
Examine if these channels are preferred by your audience and then determine what kinds of content you can effectively produce for each one of them.
7. The right allocation of resources
What kind of tools and materials do you need to produce content? Who is the person tasked to monitor all of the content being published? How about the content workflows and calendar schedules?
As you build your content marketing strategy, make sure to answer these questions.
8. Method of distribution
A content marketing strategy doesn’t just include content creation. It must also contain the appropriate methods of distribution too.
Take the time to plan out where to upload your content, the approaches you’ll utilise to reach a wide range of customers and how you can best promote each piece of content.
9. Consider using marketing software
Sometimes, having too many manual systems can slow you down or make the process inefficient.
Consider upgrading to marketing software, like IntelligenceBank’s Digital Asset Management system, HubSpot’s Content Platform for creation and distribution and Heropost to help manage your social media management.
These are all tools we use here at Melotti Content Media, and they really help us get the results we’re after.
Remember: Developing your content marketing strategy is not a one-time thing
Rather, it’s something you must continuously develop and improve to guarantee that your content will add value to your business and customers alike.
Chapter 6: Avoiding Pitfalls – 12 Common Content Mistakes and How to Overcome Them
By now, you know that providing your audience with highly informative and entertaining content allows your business to drive more traffic, convert leads and nurture a loyal following.
But while it’s an effective strategy, creating content isn’t easy.
The competition for your audience’s attention is extremely high, so making mistakes when crafting pieces of content can be detrimental to your brand.
12 mistakes to avoid in your business’ content marketing
To help, we’ve compiled a list of things to avoid when producing content.
1. Providing an unrelatable message for your audience
Some brands tend to focus on their products and services and the complex features, without understanding the true needs of their audience.
To create pieces of content that will resonate with your customers, you must first have a comprehensive grasp of their problems, then tailor a message that resonates with them.
2. Using a generic tone of voice
Australian businesses often find it hard to stand out among the crowd because they don’t have their own style that will enable people to easily distinguish them.
Establishing your own brand’s voice can help you create content that is more appealing, consistent and engaging for your audience.
3. Writing a weak headline
Your audience won’t be compelled to give your content a second look if your headline isn’t powerful and interesting enough.
Make sure every headline encompasses what readers can expect from your content, while being engaging at the same time.
Draw their attention with a promise of value and then deliver on it.
4. An absence of storytelling
A lot of content can be intimidating because readers can’t follow the flow and sympathise with the message.
By engrossing consumers emotionally and earning their trust, storytelling can help your brand convey your message more memorably.
5. Offering complex content
Using jargon, complicated phrases and irrelevant topics are common reasons why people lose interest when reading content.
Everyone is busy – so you must always ensure your brand’s content is simple, straightforward and easy for them to read.
6. Spelling and grammatical errors
Do you know what will disappoint your audience? Grammar mistakes and spelling errors. These can lower your credibility and, worse, allow their focus to drift away.
To prevent this, it’s important to have your content written, proofread and checked by a professional writer in Australia.
7. Insufficient research
Nothing is more powerful than up-to-date data. It can enhance your credibility and can make your content more trustworthy.
So, start with research. This will ensure that the information you use in your content is relevant, useful and correct.
8. Not repurposing content
It’s hard to constantly produce fresh and new content. So, refresh and repurpose older content to give it new life.
People like to read, listen, watch and experience content – so cover all bases.
9. Not providing content at every stage of the buyer’s journey
Content marketing is meant to drive sales by supporting customers during every stage of their buying journey. However, this strategy fails when there are gaps.
Therefore, you must create content across your entire brand’s flywheel that will enrich your audience’s experience.
10. Not including a Call-to-Action (CTA)
Your content won’t lead to any conversions or sales if it lacks an effective call-to-action that will guide people towards what they should do next.
It’s also important to mention your call-to-action multiple times, so your audience won’t forget and to make it more convenient for them.
11. Not monitoring your analytics
If you’re not paying attention to your content marketing performance, it’s impossible to understand what’s working and what must be improved.
Evaluating your numbers, such as traffic sources, bounce rates, and dwell time, can help you produce more engaging content.
12. Focusing on quantity over quality
Brands often think that when they’re creating more content, it means they’re doing better.
However, the effectiveness of content marketing doesn’t depend on how much you produce, but on how good your content is. Place more emphasis on content quality than anything else.
Here’s a few bonus tips to help you get ahead
- Always have a content marketing strategy
- Don’t push the sale too hard too early
- Focus more on providing value than talking about your business
- Don’t forget to amplify your content with social media
Chapter 7: Measuring Success – Is Content Marketing Worth It?
As a marketing agency, businesses ask us this all the time.
Now, as content marketing copywriters, we always say yes, however, we’re not just saying that to keep ourselves in business!
Content marketing is essential for all businesses today.
You’ll often hear people saying “content marketing is dead”, because the space is saturated – and sure, there is truth to that.
So, why do we still advocate for content marketing?
Because your customer demands it, and it therefore works. It provides a great customer experience for them which paints your brand in a favourable light.
Here’s 8 reasons why we believe content marketing is worth it
1. First and foremost, your customer is looking for it. If you don’t produce engaging and interesting information across multiple media and channels, your competitors will.
That alone should be enough of a reason, however there are several more.
2. Content marketing piques people’s interests, whereas traditional ads do not.
3. Content marketing educates customers and makes them more likely to make a purchase.
4. Content marketing makes people feel like they are valued through two-way communication.
5. Content marketing attracts potential customers in very cost-effective (if not free) ways.
6. Content marketing encourages positive word-of-mouth through sharing.
7. Content marketing offers SEO benefits and increases your website traffic.
8. Content marketing is highly targeted towards your specific audience.
That’s quite a compelling list of reasons if you ask us.
But remember, these only apply if you’re creating quality content that your customers will get real value from. If you’re not doing that, then NO, it’s not worth it.
Is the market saturated with content marketing?
Absolutely!
But, so what? Should that stop you? NO WAY. Why?
For three reasons:
- Your customer’s demand for content isn’t slowing (in fact, it’s increasing).
- This saturation provides an incentive to always be the best in the market.
- Even better, because it’s not easy, your competitors won’t be able to keep up with you.
So, what’s the best way to rise above the crowd with your content marketing?
Introducing the power of organic content
Organic content covers all types of branded content that your potential and existing customers can find themselves proactively as they go about their own lives.
As opposed to paid ads, organic content allows your customers to interact with your brand on their own terms.
This means your organic content is readily available to anyone who searches for related content, visits your website or follows your social media profiles.
Organic content marketing is not forced onto your audience through paid searches or pay-per-click ads – hence the name “organic”.
Examples of organic content marketing include:
- blogs and articles,
- videos and podcasts,
- social media posts,
- optimised website pages,
- downloadable lead magnets,
- and a whole lot more.
You may already use some organic content in your business without really expecting much of an ROI – but we’re here to tell you that it can deliver, and it will – if executed correctly.
How does organic content work?
Organic content operates on the principle of gradual, sustained growth. It’s not just about producing standalone pieces but creating a cohesive tapestry of effective content.
Essentially, organic marketing should be created for multiple relevant platforms across different stages of the customer journey in various engaging forms over a period of time to ensure you achieve compounding results from your output.
What are the benefits of organic content?
When done right, organic content offers a multitude of benefits that contribute to your brand growth and audience engagement:
- A full content library establishes brand credibility and positions you as a thought leader
- Organic content marketing fosters authentic connections and enhances audience engagement
- With optimised organic content marketing, you earn long-term and compounding results.
Here’s a quick organic content strategy that you can follow
- Know your customers: What do they want? What are their problems?
- Choose the right platforms and try to be present wherever your customers are.
- Produce all types of content: videos, podcasts, articles, FAQ pages and more.
- Share and reshare your content across all available channels.
- Repeat steps 1 to 4 until you have an extensive content library.
Remember, organic content marketing isn’t just about getting leads. It’s almost as if you’re creating a legacy that will enable your customers to find you today and long into the future.
Chapter 8: Selling Through Content – How Content Marketing Helps Your Australian Business Make Sales
Have you ever noticed that some people already know a lot about your business, brand and product offering by the time they contact you?
That’s because they’ve hunted for your content and done the research.
Modern customers are bombarded with so many choices, so they’re always on the lookout for accessible information to help them make smarter purchasing decisions.
By this point, we already know that content marketing:
- increases your brand awareness,
- generates leads,
- gives your business authority,
- engages your audience, and
- earns their trust.
But how does all of this help to drive your sales?
Well, it’s simple really.
By attracting people’s interest, answering their questions and appealing to them on their level, content marketing helps to demonstrates why your business is the best solution to their pain points.
However, there are a few things to keep in mind…
Let's talk about the grey area of SELLING within your content
This is a tricky balance that all copywriters and content creators struggle to get right.
We want to provide value and interest, but it’s still business, right?
Isn’t it funny how even just the mention of the word “selling” in the context of a written piece can completely turn people off? Some readers will recoil almost immediately!
Why is this? And how do we manage this balance?
As content-hungry and time-poor people today, we hate being sold to when we’re not ready for it.
Instead, we all prefer to be looking for general info and going through the customer journey before we open our wallets. So, if your content marketing strategy doesn’t take this into account, you may risk going for the sales pitch too early and losing them.
Nothing turns people away faster than the early aggressive sell
To your customer, being “sold to” is likened to when strange salespeople used to rock up at your door with a suitcase full of things you didn’t need, or watching those awful 20-minute-long commercials that waffle on about why you need their limited stock so badly.
That’s not the impression you want your brand to be making!
So, how do you find the right balance within your content?
By understanding your customer first.
Remember: we are modern customers now.
People have evolved.
With the abundance of information at our fingertips, we all feel empowered and well-informed about our own buying decisions. We hate ads that pop up, disrupt or push us in directions we don’t want to go.
Here’s a good rule of thumb for selling through content
Your customer has to see how your brand and product is relevant in their lives before they will pay attention and take action.
This means your content must demonstrate the value you’re offering, then let people make the connection to their own lives, rather than trying to force the transaction.
In other words:
Inform to sell. Don’t just sell.
Become a key opinion leader and offer real value, so when your customers start to make their buying decision, you’re at the top of their mind.
This is the new and improved way to sell!
Chapter 9: The Changing Landscape – How Content Marketing is Evolving
Content marketing is evolving fast.
Don’t stress – everything you’ve read here still holds true, and it will continue to do so.
However, it’s important to recognise that, in general, human behaviour, technology and the market are all changing quickly, which means your business needs to change with it if you want to remain successful with your content marketing.
Here are the 5 trends changing content marketing that you need to be aware of
Let’s dive in!
1. Omnichannel marketing is no longer optional
Look at your customer today.
Better yet, look at how you behave as a customer.
- We use tablets, computers and smartphones all at the same time.
- There are hundreds of platforms, apps and websites we all use every day to find interesting information.
- The minute we have any downtime, we’re immediately scrolling on our phones.
As a result, your business needs to be across as many of these channels as possible.
2. Multiple forms of marketing are also compulsory
Just like you need to be everywhere, your business also needs to try everything.
From podcasts, videos and live webinars to blogs, eBooks and industry whitepapers, make sure to expand your content repertoire into many different forms of media to improve your reach and deliver a better experience for your customers.
3. Fresh is best!
You need fresh new content that people haven’t seen before.
Writing the same content that hundreds of businesses have done before you just isn’t going to cut it any more.
You’re targeting highly empowered people who know what they want. This means they’ve seen everything before.
Focus your content marketing efforts on new trends and topics that are relevant right now – in a way no one has done before.
4. Go beyond content
Don’t just hide behind closed doors, pumping out content and hoping for the best. You need to get out there and create real connections. Your marketing material is just a way to offer value and open the door.
Your customers still want a genuine relationship with you – not to be treated as a means to an end.
So, follow up your content with conversation and more personalised value.
5. Quality content is absolutely essential
Average content just doesn’t fly anymore.
Before the market was so saturated, you could produce something mediocre and still get away with it – for the most part.
Nowadays, your audience just won’t tolerate it. The minute the writing is poor, they’ll leave – and so will their potential advocacy.
BONUS: 5 quick truths about content marketing that will never change
While content marketing is constantly evolving, there are some things that will never change.
Here’s a quick snapshot:
1. Content marketing does not (and cannot) replace your sales team
All businesses must actively prospect if they want to continue to grow. Content marketing should simply be used to bridge that gap between marketing and sales.
2. Content marketing should NOT be your only lead generation method
This is marketing 101 – promotional strategy works best when you are using a combination of campaigns across several mediums where potential customers can be exposed to your message a few times.
3. Your sales and customer service teams MUST be involved in your content marketing
Having your marketing team work alone on your content is a wasted opportunity. Think about it: your sales team is in direct contact with your customers, meaning they have first-hand insight into their challenges and how to provide them with real value.
4. Content marketing takes time
We’re talking about both the production of content and the time it takes to earn results here. Content plays the subtle, long-term game by building goodwill on your customer’s terms.
5. You need to be realistic about ROI
Content marketing is relatively cheap compared to above-the-line marketing, which means that your return will also be relatively lower too. That’s why it works best as a support mechanism.
Chapter 10: Maximising Reach – Why Omnichannel Content Marketing is Essential
Marketing theory tells us that, in order to reach our audience, we need to use the channels where they are most active.
This makes sense.
However, the marketing landscape is expanding at a phenomenal rate, and with it, the number of channels connecting people with other people, businesses and brands.
What hasn’t changed, though, is that people still only have one attention span. They now just have so many more places to spend it – both on and offline.
So, how do you get your content in front of them successfully?
Let’s consider a multichannel approach
A multichannel approach to content marketing is a great start towards extending your reach.
It involves distributing your content across many platforms, such as:
- your website,
- print,
- advertising,
- Facebook,
- LinkedIn,
- Instagram,
- X (Twitter),
- Google Business,
- YouTube,
- and more.
This means that your target audience is better able to cross paths with your brand in their preferred way.
With a multichannel approach, you simply replicate or amplify your content across multiple platforms to cast your net wide and catch your audience wherever they may be.
Of course, it’s still impractical to utilise every possible channel, so while this is a step in the right direction, an omnichannel content marketing strategy is even better for meeting your audience where they hang out.
What is an omnichannel content marketing strategy?
An omnichannel approach is similar to multichannel, in that your brand is utilising many platforms to reach your audience. However, the key difference is that the focus is on providing a completely seamless customer experience.
Why? Because people have different expectations when they use different channels.
How they feel when flicking through Facebook will be very different to when they’re searching Google, listening to a Podcast or attending a live webinar.
So, adapting your content to meet these different expectations across each platform is what provides your target audience with a consistent, positive user experience. When you do this well, people will start to build a relationship with your brand.
How to master your omnichannel content strategy
To implement an effective omnichannel approach, your business must produce content that has a consistent look and feel, messaging, goals and objectives across all of your chosen channels – whether online or offline.
Each piece of content must be cohesive and complementary, and perfectly suited to each medium, so that your customers can easily move between each and always recognise your brand.
For example, if your print ads are promoting your Winter range, then your website should have a Winter theme, your Instagram should show off some of the Winter products, your blog should be discussing the latest Winter trends, and so on.
Why omnichannel?
Today, people don’t see your content in the order you intend. They capture fragments here and there and then piece them together. An omnichannel approach ensures that you’re giving them the whole story, even though it’s inevitably non-linear.
The advantage of an omnichannel content marketing approach is that no matter where your customer picks up their journey with your brand, they’re getting a complete picture which compels them to act.
Chapter 11: Refreshing and Repurposing – How to Prolong the Strength of Your Content
FACT: Most of your content should be working hard for you on an ongoing basis.
If it’s not, then it’s time to plan the use of your content better!
So, how can you ensure that your precious time spent developing high-quality pieces of content for your target audience is not a complete waste of time?
The answer lies in prolonging the strength of each execution!
Here’s 6 tips to help extend the shelf life of your content
1. Make a big bang the first time
Everyone loves a brand new post, and truth be told, this wave generally receives the biggest influx of eyeballs.
The goal is to ensure that this content is being promoted across all of your platforms and portals at the most high-traffic times of the day so that it’s engaging the right people.
2. Make it easy to share
Promoting your own content is good. Having your audience share it with their networks is even better.
Place tasteful social media share buttons and easy-to-copy hashtags and URLs, so when a reader decides they like your content enough to pass it on, they can do it in an instant.
3. Re-share the content a few times
Studies show that after the first launch, it’s safe to assume 90% of your target audience will have missed it. But that’s ok!
Studies also show that re-sharing the post within a reasonable time frame will more than likely capture some of those people who missed the first wave.
4. Apply the marketing “rule of three”
The rule of three states that when you produce one piece of content, you should be producing it in at least three different forms to ensure maximum impact.
So, don’t just write a blog post and leave it there. Turn it into a podcast, a short video and send it out via your monthly newsletter as well to capture more eyes.
5. Use statistics to make better content choices
Always track your content’s metrics to gain more insight into how well it’s being received by your audience.
Having these kinds of facts and figures means you can see which piece is receiving the most attention and then create “spin off” content with a similar topic to get more out of your audience.
6. Recycle your content
This means going back into the archives of your old content and editing, polishing and reposting it. Add new sections, update old references, delete obsolete parts and just generally give it new life.
It may sound like a cop out to reuse older content, but this offers so many advantages to both you and your audience.
Why refreshing your old content is so beneficial
Old content can dampen your overall digital marketing strategy.
Even “evergreen” content that’s supposed to last forever ends up out-of-date in Google’s eyes – as new content on similar topics gets published.
Think of refreshing your content as “maintenance” to continually improve your marketing output and ensure what you provide your target audience is always quality.
Here’s why refreshing old content is vital not only to your marketing, but to your overall business:
- Refreshing your older content generates more traffic for your website
- Refreshing and repurposing content helps you attract new people
- Search engines love updated content for SEO purposes
- Consistently updating your content solidifies your authority
- Refreshing old content saves your business time and money
How to refresh old content
There are many ways in which you can refresh your old marketing content.
Whether you plan to just update some information or rewrite it completely, here are some helpful suggestions:
- Review your content for relevance and value
- Check the readability of your content
- Update and add relevant links
- Include other forms of useful media like videos and images
- Produce new forms of content using your older content
- Consolidate old content together.
This guide you’re reading right now… this is made up of about 25 older articles that we’ve refreshed and brought together to form one ultimate content marketing guide.
Pretty clever, right?
Chapter 12: Content Experience – The Importance of Flow and Engagement
What do you think is the most common reason people come to us for content copywriting help?
Better word choice? Stronger messaging? Content creation assistance?
You’re right!
But, what do you think is the most common copywriting service we actually provide?
If you answered with “improve content flow”, you’d be right again. But we’re guessing you didn’t say that.
See, content flow is the biggest challenge all Australian businesses face when creating content, and yet most don’t even know what content flow is or that they’re even doing it wrong.
What is content flow?
Content flow is the story sequence and the pace of your content, both of which should intrigue people, keep them engaged and inspire them to take action.
Everyone enjoys a piece of content that takes them on an interesting and relatable journey from one step to the next with a flow and pace they can follow.
However, the minute you start jumping around or skipping steps, your reader will struggle to follow and they will leave – a bad outcome for both you and them.
Good content flow should do the following things:
- Pique interest
- Maintain engagement with absorbing messages
- Take people on a journey where they learn more and more throughout
- Offer value in a logical sequence
- Deliver on what is promised by the title
- Inspire action
To do this, you need to progress at a good pace throughout, from A to B to C to D and so on. If you go from A to D, or jump around sporadically, then it’s going to cost you readers.
How do you ensure your content has a good flow?
- Map out the order first
Start by making a “skeleton” of dot points for your piece of content so you have a bit of a guide to stick to.
This way, you can review the sequence and stick to it.
- Put yourself in your audience’s shoes
The number one rule of content marketing is: create for the audience.
Content flow is no different. Think about your ideal customer reading through your content – will they find what they’re looking for?
- Don’t assume knowledge
As businesses, we live and breathe what we do every single day. Our customers don’t.So, if you assume a lot of knowledge, chances are that you’ll lose them. Instead, make your written content super accessible to someone looking to potentially buy from you.
- Get someone else to proofread your content
Get a fresh set of eyes to review what you’ve written – preferably someone who isn’t working on the same project.For example, ask reception staff or a colleague from a different department to see if they can get the main points of your message, or if you lose them along the way.
- Ask your customers
If you want to engage your customers, then ask them how! You can directly ask them for feedback or consult the data on how each content marketing piece is performing.If you did lose their interest, ask when and why? That’s what you need to address.
Now you understand good content flow, it’s time to add a few final pieces to the puzzle to help provide a great experience for your reader.
Here’s 7 quick tips to make your content more engaging, relevant and fresh
- Make sure your content has a common theme related to your brand.
- Keep your content relevant and on trend with what’s hot in your industry.
- Make your content personal, genuine and aligned with your brand to build trust.
- Keep your content simple, sharp and, above all, interesting.
- Make it easy to share your content and provide comments and feedback.
- Mix it up with photos, videos, GIFs and audio content sprinkled in.
- Post regularly and consistently – but don’t overdo it.
Always remember that your content is for your customer
This means doing everything you can to make it more convenient and enjoyable for them to access, consume and act upon your content as well:
- Focus on both desktop and mobile users
- Make your fonts slightly larger
- Keep distractions to a minimum
- Use supportive media
- Make navigation easy with ‘skimmable content’
- Hyperlink to other useful information
- Use formatting to make your content more readable
Chapter 13: Building Loyalty – How to Build a Loyal Following Using Content Marketing
Gone are the days when customers would always buy the same product and stick to one brand.
The abundance of options out there, the availability of information and the ever-changing market trends now heavily influence the preferences of consumers – making it hard for them to stay loyal with their purchasing decisions.
However, with the right content marketing that’s informative, entertaining and value-adding, you can build long-term customer relationships that lead to ongoing loyalty and advocacy for your brand.
Why is it important to build a loyal following?
People are time-poor, distracted and bombarded with choice.
This means establishing brand loyalty is a smart way to cut through the clutter and become the easy option more people choose every time.
Here’s what a loyal following can do for your business:
- Brand advocates spread word-of-mouth recommendations
- Having loyal followers can help strengthen overall brand awareness
- A loyal following drives sales and profits
- Brand loyalty establishes long-term relationships with customers
- Healthy and sustainable customer relationships foster the growth of your business
Fortunately, content marketing is a powerful tool when it comes to developing trust and credibility, which are the building blocks for brand loyalty.
How to use content marketing to establish brand loyalty
From the videos they watch to the podcasts they listen to the blogs they read – people are obsessed with content that provides them with information and entertainment.
Providing them with relevant, engaging and useful content gives them more reasons to remain loyal to your brand.
Here’s a few key tips so you can make the most out of your content marketing to help build a loyal following:
- Be customer-centric
Your content is only as good as the interactions generated from it. To encourage traction and customer loyalty, your content must resonate with your audience.Focus on the ways you can help them, rather than talking about your business entirely.
- Develop your own unique brand identity
How can you stand out amongst competitors in your customer’s eyes? By having your own voice and unique value proposition.This should come through in every piece of content you produce.
- Provide a wide range of content
Your audience all have different needs and preferences. So, providing a wide range of content is necessary to attract a huge following.Offering them several types of content – whether it’s a blog post today, an email tomorrow or a monthly eBook – will ensure you get the most traction.
- Utilise user-generated content
People love to read testimonials and have their own content shared by a brand. This gives them a sense of assurance.As such, using their content or reviews in your marketing can help established faith in your brand.
It may not guarantee an overnight success, but with people continuously craving value-based information, you can trust that content marketing can help you reach more people and establish a loyal following now more than ever.
Chapter 14: Exploring New Horizons – Interactive and Face-to-Face Content Marketing
With marketing evolving faster than ever before, it’s no surprise how quickly trends can come and go and people’s preferences can shift.
That’s why it’s so important to be able to adapt if you wish to survive in this ever-changing business landscape.
Recently, we’ve seen a couple of new and emerging marketing trends taking shape:
- interactive content marketing, and
- face-to-face content marketing.
Here’s how interactive content is evolving content marketing by catching customer attention on a whole new level.
What is interactive content?
Generally speaking, interactive content is anything that actively responds to the audience based on their interaction with it.
Picture it as ‘choose your own adventure’ content, where you enter in choices or data and the content reacts accordingly.
What is interactive content marketing?
As the name suggests, interactive content marketing involves using interactive content as a part of your overall content marketing strategy.
However, just like all forms of marketing, it should exist for a strategic purpose.
While it’s tempting to make games for the sheer fun, there should at least be some sort of goal in spending your resources to create interactive content.
Why use interactive content?
People have shorter attention spans than ever, which means they’re hunting for content that actually holds their interest and is relevant to them.
Nothing delivers on this better than interactive content.
Basically, when content is interacting, it provides a journey or a story that corresponds to their choices and needs. This is highly appealing to anyone when done right!
What are some examples of interactive content?
The best examples of interactive content are questionnaires and quizzes which ask people to respond in order to receive a unique answer.
Other types of interactive content include:
- Webinars
- Polls and surveys
- Assessments
- Contests
- Virtual Reality (VR)
- Augmented Reality (AR)
What’s the point of interactive content?
There are really valuable benefits that are gained from creating and launching interactive content:
- Customers love it
- People can pre-qualify themselves
- People often provide more information than they normally would
- It offers a bespoke experience
- Interactive content can help your brand go viral
- It creates brand relevancy
- It’s a mini sales funnel
How can you create interactive content?
While interactive content provides so many benefits, it’s not as simple to create as regular content.
However, don’t let this deter you.
- Firstly, because it is harder, there is less competition in this space.
- Secondly, as time goes on, it’s going to get easier to make.
- Lastly, there are a lot of people and businesses out there that can help you out.
What about face-to-face content marketing?
Face-to-face marketing is all about networking, having meetings with new customers and touching base with existing customers.
While this in itself is not a new form of marketing, combining this proactive approach with the more passive approach of content marketing is a new strategy that many businesses are now using to get better results.
Why is this?
It all comes down to audience preferences.
Some people prefer to be soft-sold to and educated before they make their next move. This is where content marketing works well.
Others find no value in content and prefer to be approached face-to-face for a meaningful conversation about your brand and the benefits it offers them.
Finally, you get those who like a mixture of both – which is the most common audience type.
How can you get your face-to-face and content marketing in sync?
By setting a common goal and strategy for each approach.
For example:
- Start by publishing social media content targeted at a new audience segment
- Your sales team can then head out to see new customers and, in the meeting, ask if they want to sign up to receive this content in a weekly newsletter
- After three newsletters, the sales team can touch base again with a follow-up call
- After the initial purchase, send more content to keep them engaged, such as extended warranties, subscriptions, support instructions, upgrades and so on.
- Six months later, your customer service team can get in touch again to see where your new customer is at.
- And so on!
As you can see, this is a powerful marketing combination that can lead to even more powerful results for your business.
Chapter 15: Content Marketing Strategy in Action – Hiring the Right Expertise
Now that you’ve got this far, hopefully by now you’re ready to start giving content marketing a crack in your business.
However, you’re also likely starting to realise just how much work is involved in creating and executing an effective content marketing strategy.
In fact, you might be thinking that it’s best to hire a professional copywriter to help you – as you don’t have the time or expertise to do it yourself.
If so, that’s great! Hiring a copywriter is definitely a good idea if your business wants to take content marketing seriously.
However, what you’ll soon realise is that not all copywriters are the same.
So, to help you, here’s what you need to be looking out for in a great copywriter and why.
How do you choose the right copywriter?
There are a lot of copywriters out there, and it’s critical to select the right one you need.
While you can search online and find writers all around Australia, you’re ideally looking for one who has a Marketing background and knows all about content strategy.
Why should your copywriter know about content strategy?
Because simply writing piece after piece is one thing.
But being able to understand the bigger picture, as well as your branding, your customer, your objectives and your overarching goals to help you craft the ideal suite of content is a whole other ball game.
When your copywriter offers you more than just basic writing services, you have someone who can make more of an impact with a more comprehensive approach because they understand the context of your content marketing plan.
The 10 benefits of a Content Strategy Copywriter
A copywriter who understands content strategy and has experience with content marketing offers your business the following benefits.
Copywriters like our team at Melotti Content Media can:
- Provide advice, guidance and outside perspective
- Offer more versatility with the types of content we can write for you
- Understand the bigger picture, which reflects in the content we create for you
- Build content that works as a whole, rather than just a single piece
- Be more in touch with your business’ intentions and understand your customer segments better
- Improve sales and drive more traffic through engaging copywriting
- Use a mixture of short-term and long-term content to cover all bases of growth
- Establish and convey thought leadership due to our overall perspective
- Understand the marketing side of content, such as ROI and calls-to-action
- Be a much more integrated part of your team
Long story short?
Hiring a copywriter who knows content strategy and content marketing inside out can help meet your business’ needs to a much higher level and provide a better solution moving forward.
This is because we’re equipped with the knowledge to understand your goals, adapt your content as needed and earn you the results you’re looking for.
Chapter 16: Case Studies and Applications – Is Your Content Strategy Making Progress?
I just had excellent customer service, and was shocked… why?!
It left me so warm and fuzzy, and as a result, I’m thinking of booking my wedding function there. Then I thought, why am I so surprised at great customer service?
In an age where we are all about using AI and creating content to personalise an amazing experience for individuals, why is customer service being forgotten?
Is our digital marketing strategy making progress, while our human to human interaction falling behind?
How businesses are doing it today
In amongst all of the noise, businesses today are embracing the use of content creation in their Marketing Plans. Content marketing copywriting and content strategy are well-entrenched approaches to the way we conduct our operations.
Why? Because it gets results.
It connects with our customers far better than direct selling or advertising because it’s engaging them in ways that they want to be engaged. Instead of forcing messages onto them, it’s offering them value, entertainment and information they actually care about.
In our digital world, we get that customers call the shots now.
As a result, Marketing has evolved to incorporate content marketing copywriting into the majority of our activities because we want to be Key Opinion Leader businesses who truly understand people by focusing on leaving our customers satisfied.
Content Marketing Copywriting connects with our customers far better than direct selling or advertising because it engages them in ways they actually want to be engaged
What does this have to do with customer service?
Well, the entire premise of Content Marketing and Copywriting is to truly understand our customer, and then offer them content that personalises their experience. This is exactly the premise of customer service!
In the digital space, instead of spamming people with direct selling messages, Marketers are utilising pixels, re-targeting, Automation and Artificial Intelligence to learn the behaviour of our customers and predict their needs, so that we are there exactly when they need our products, in the way they wish to purchase them.
In other words, we are kicking customer service up a notch in the digital space.
We seem to be getting better and better every day with our digital customer service… but what about the real-world customer service that has been around since trade began? Have we forgotten about this aspect, in our seduction of the online era?
What’s the problem here?
Like it or not, people exist in the real world! As much as we are advancing into augmentation and virtual reality, we are all still flesh and blood people.
This means that times may change, but standards in customer service must remain.
Businesses cannot put their entire focus into their digital customer service by providing well-targeted and quality content, only to disappoint the customers when they call, email or visit the store.
Marketing has always been about providing a consistent positioning and image for a brand, and that means equalising the way that customers see your online face and your human face.
I feel that, as the digital world continues to grow, we are putting less focus on supporting the human element of our business, and this could lead to undermining everything our brands stand for.
Digital Customer Service versus Personal Customer Service
We need both!
What I’m trying to say is, in your rush to engage your customers online, don’t forget that they will interact with the human element as well, in some way.
You don’t want to spend huge amounts of budget on your website, videos and blogs, only to neglect training your service, store and sales teams.
The ultimate experience for your customers lies in your ability to provide them with a pleasurable and enjoyable experience at every interaction with your brand – both on and offline.
So, what are the DOs and DON’Ts?
- Don’t excite them with aspirational videos across your social media about your travel holiday packages, then disappoint them when the experience doesn’t match that same expectation.
- Do impress them with an entertaining eBook on your services, and then when they come to your store, equally deliver on that promise.
- Don’t write a blog to convince people to attend, unless the speaker up on the podium can make it truly worth their time.
- Do record an educational podcast series online for your audience about your brand, and then when they call your customer service line to ask a question, have your team be well-trained and delightful.
- Don’t create testimonial feedback videos from happy past clients, but then not provide the same level of service you claim others have had.
- Do allow customers to browse your car models on your website to make them feel comfortable, and then enter your showroom and experience amazing service, from the greeting to the sale.
We all know that this consistency is the only way you will see success when interacting with our precious customers.
So, get that balance right!
Conclusion: The Future of Content Marketing in Australia
Ok, surely, we didn’t miss anything here, did we?
By now, you know that content marketing is well and truly here to stay. That’s why it NEEDS to become a staple in your broader marketing strategy.
One thing to always be aware of, however, is that content marketing is fluid, and the way it’s used will continue to shift with the habits of the market – as well as the forms of media and technology available at the time.
This means the only way to truly futureproof your content marketing is to always keep your finger on the pulse and learn to master repurposing, redistributing and re-engaging as the habits of your target customers evolve.
Remember that content marketing is more than just posting blogs or social media updates – it’s a strategic, value-driven process that aligns with both your business goals and your audience needs.
Whether it’s SEO-optimising your blogs, leveraging video or mastering social media distribution, content marketing is all about being adaptable, creative and consistent as you build a strong brand presence.
We’d love to encourage you to bookmark this resource and keep revisiting it as you go to help you make more informed decisions and develop a content marketing strategy that generates real results.
For now, we hope you feel far more equipped and ready to get out there and build that irresistible brand presence through content marketing!
And remember, if you need any help or further guidance, we’re here for you!
How can Melotti Content Media help with your content marketing?
To stand out in today’s crowded business environment, increase conversions and boost your revenue, you need high-quality content marketing backed by expert copywriting and marketing strategy.
However, this is easier said than done. You’re time-poor and spread thin, and content marketing may not be your expertise.
As your Sydney Copywriters, Message Marketers and Brand Strategists, we can strategise, produce and execute your content marketing plan on your behalf, while you focus on what matters to you – growing your Australian business.
Let’s start earning the results your business deserves!
To speak to your trusted message marketers and Australian copywriters, contact our team at Melotti Content Media today:
The Melotti Content Media Team
Melotti Content Media | Copywriting & Message Marketing Bureau
