Content is the core element that makes up most social media and digital marketing efforts by businesses of every size today. With increased connectivity comes the necessity for brands to compete in getting the attention of consumers. If a company wants to connect with potential customers, content needs to be at the center of all marketing strategies. This year, if you want to build an authentic relationship with your target audience, you need to look at the following strategies.

1. Create a content marketing plan

Every content marketing plan needs to revolve around specific goals you have for your business. If you hire content marketing services, they need to be wholly briefed and monitored during every step of the planning process. From the moment an idea is entertained until the content is published, the key is to align the result with the objectives that were set in the beginning.

2. Avoid click bait at all cost

Consumers today are becoming more discriminating with the content they read online. The more the content is relevant to the needs of the consumer, the higher the chance of increasing their intent to purchase.

Original content may be harder to produce these days, but if you cannot do it yourself, you can hire a consulting agency or a professional writer to create the content for your company. Earning the trust of your consumers begins by making sure that everything you share online is authentic and not copied from some other source. By focusing on quality, rather than the quantity of content produced, your company will reap the rewards of your marketing efforts.

3. Finding micro-influencers

Marketing, with the help of a social media influencer, is not a new strategy. But influencer marketing is not about finding the most famous person to share content about your products and services. Instead of paying people to post content, consider collaborating with influencers instead. If they can co-create content which they will eventually post on their social media accounts or blogs, the result is more authentic and will result in greater trust from consumers.

Selecting the right influencer to partner with is key to the success of this approach. Think about how you can build a relationship with your chosen influencer, which leads to mutual benefits. Indeed, marketing with an influencer is considered one of the fastest ways to increase brand awareness and to enhance authentic engagement and connection with consumers.

4. Use a variety of formats for story-telling including audio and video
If you have never tried creating video content as part of your marketing strategy, now is the best time to do it. Another emerging trend in content marketing is creating podcasts. Do not be afraid to try various formats for your content. But trying these strategies requires adequate planning as well, and if you want to create video or audio content, make sure that the output is high-quality and creates value for viewers and listeners. Although having fun is essential, do not forget to make sure that you are still focused on achieving your marketing goals even when you are trying something new.

By Chakraborty

Dr Chakrabarty is the Chief Innovation Officer of IntuiComp TeraScience. Earlier she was Assistant Professor of Delhi University, a QS ranked university in India. Before that she has held research positions in IIT Mumbai, IIT Chennai and IISc Bangalore. She holds 2 patents and over 20 research publications in her name which are highly cited. Her area of research is in smart technologies, integrated devices and communications. She also has a penchant for blogging and is an editor of Business Fundas.