Responding to the Content Threat with Brand Management

Like when writing a niche best-seller, it is important for content marketers to tailor media based on what a brand’s audience wants to read. According to a recent post on Search Engine Watch, audiences can guide a Web writer’s articles, social media, and other published materials to an end that it reaches more people. However, this does not mean that audiences always know what it is they want to come across on their news feeds and Google searches.

Social Listening

Every Web publisher knows that a re-Tweet, Facebook Like, or Google Plus One is a positive sign from a potential consumer, whether they read the article or not. Often, even the poorest quality pictures and posts pick up some amount of traction through brand loyalists, but those may not see any conversions regardless of the effort. For a company, a conversion is when a person clicks an ad, reads an article, signs up for a sweepstakes, or even rates a product. Conversions all depend on what the goal of a campaign is, which is why it is crucial in terms of brand management to shape content around them.

Over the past few months, Web content and publishing has taken a peculiar turn. Recent Google updates are now encouraging long-form, high-quality articles opposed to quick tip blogs and recycled information. This, for quality brand journalists, is a blessing. For one, new pre-reqs mean original and captivating content wins over low-brow, brand-heavy content. Most importantly, you can use social media to listen in on what your company’s followers are interested in.

An easy method for collecting topics from audiences is to read comments, compare likes and shares between posts, and respond to customer concerns through reassuring content. This idea reflects centuries of marketing; in today’s world, however, the customer is the one who decides whether or not branded content will fly on the Web. One difficulty with this process is that there is an ocean of social content out there. An easy way to wade through this big data is to sort it:

• A day, a week, and a month after publishing content, skim through comments and see if any trends appear.


• Often, readers will start to converse with one another in a comment section. The unbeliever or critic is the one you should reach out to, but never sacrifice your integrity or style to please one haughty customer.


• Research industry-related trends using Google News, checking out competitor blogs, and other social media platforms.

If and when a common theme arises from an audience, you can shape an article that helps settle an issue or solve a looming question.

Keywords

“Smarter content,” according to the article, is sharable content. As mentioned above, readers are often on the same page when it comes to what they want to see published. Once you’ve found a trend, do some analytical keyword research to see which words, phrases, and general ideas are popular. This way, you can mold your blog, post, or news article to incorporate search-friendly information.

via Business 2 Community http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/responding-content-threat-brand-management-0601776?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=responding-content-threat-brand-management