At Fresh Figs Marketing we are always espousing the idea that a brand’s digital marketing efforts should be focused on the only space they own on the internet – their website. Content marketing, which is the creation and distribution of blogs, videos, podcasts etc, is a key to this strategy. The majority of this content needs to live on your website, and distributed to your target audience using a variety of marketing channels. Many businesses make the mistake of relying on other platforms to engage their customers – think Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. While social media platforms are a great way to place your content in front of your target market, it is dangerous to rely on them as your sole avenue to engage your customers. When you use these sites, you must play by their rules, which can change on a dime and most likely not in your favor. Talk to any marketer about the evolution of social media providers and you will understand the frustrations of wasted time and money.
In a recent interview on the Wall Street Journal’s Media Mix podcast, Daily Beast President Mike Dyer discussed how his media company has applied this website-centric content strategy to great success. Click here to listen to the podcast. The majority of the traffic to their website, which is their service and revenue generator, comes from direct sources like link sharing and enewsletters, rather than referral sources like social media sites. Their marketing efforts encourage their customers to interact with their brand on the space they own rather than someone else’s. The Daily Beast is not beholden to another digital space to achieve its business goals!
It behooves Facebook to keep you on Facebook and the company continues to craft the user experience toward that end. If you invest your content marketing dollars into Facebook and they change their rules – which they do, often – you have lost that investment. Encouraging your customers to interact with you on your website, where you can control the experience, is a wiser use of your marketing dollars. Then, as social media platforms come and go, your content will continue to serve your business needs.
Content Marketing Strategy Tips to Benefit Your Website:
- Make sure you have a robust website that will offer your customers a rich experience.
- Craft and publish compelling content that speaks to your target market on your website, and apply robust SEO elements to each post.
- Distribute your content as links back to your website. For example, create a Facebook post giving your followers a reason to read, listen to, or view your content with a link back to your website where the content sits. Enticing your target audience to click off of Facebook to interact on your digital space allows you to control their experience with your brand, rather than Facebook taking the lead.
- Send out enewsletters that include introductions to your content with links to your website to read, view or listen.
The Fresh Figs Marketing Team is ready to help you make the most of your digital marketing efforts. Reach out to us to set up an appointment.
