by Francois Muscat | Aug 24, 2020 | Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing
Content marketing and inbound marketing are often terms used interchangeably amongst marketers. Neither method is better than the other, and both approaches, when used together, can create fantastic results. In this blog, we go into detail below to examine the differences between them:
Content marketing
Content marketing provides valuable information that will attract and retain customers through social media, Search Engine Optimisation, and PPC. Here are some reasons why businesses should focus on content marketing as part of their digital marketing strategy:
- Almost 30% of all internet users use ad blockers, which means that your organic and paid content needs to be specific and target your audience to be effective.
- Content marketing drives six times higher conversion rates.
- Content marketing costs 62% less compared to traditional marketing plans, while the return is almost three times as high.
Inbound marketing
Inbound marketing refers to the methods used to convert customers by using content marketing, social media marketing, SEO, and branding. This methodology is applied in three ways:
- Attract: Draw in the target audience with content that establishes you as trustworthy.
- Engage: The goal of inbound marketing is to convert visitors into customers by using tools like landing pages, calls to action, etc.
- Delight: Support your customers that have purchased to retain them.
There is tremendous value when combining inbound and content marketing tactics. Inbound marketing is needed because it will make your website great by using methods to compel visitors to take action and convert into customers. Meanwhile, content marketing will make your site attractive to visitors and provide valuable content that optimises SEO for better ranking. By using both, your brand is more likely to succeed online.
WSI OMS offers content marketing and website design services. Contact us today!
by Marelise da Silva | Jul 21, 2020 | Content Marketing
Content marketing, when done correctly, makes use of blogs and other forms of content to get consumers interested in your business. Most businesses struggle to find topics suitable for blog posts, but it doesn’t have to be overly complicated. To pick relevant topics, you need to research the questions people are asking, and answer them (while keeping SEO principles in mind).
Blog ideas for every business’ content marketing plan
Trending topics
The word ‘trends’ represents the general direction in which something is developing, a fashion or topic that is the subject of multiple posts on social media in a short time. Trends are reflective of what consumers consider important. To stay relevant, your business must show it understands the current consumer trends in your market.
Address common problems or pain points
There are common problems everyone experiences, and if your product or service can assist in solving that problem, a blog explaining the how and why thereof would go far in creating a positive brand experience. Just look at the many “How to….” queries one can find on the internet.
Demonstrate the uses of your product
The best way to sell your product or service is to show how customers use it in a way that solves a problem or enhances the quality of their life. Emotions influence buyer behaviour, so writing about an authentic customer experience could lead to sales.
Introduce your team
Profiling an employee creates a feeling of intimacy as if the consumer is part of your business family because they know something about one of your employees. It can also create trust, especially if your service requires consumers to let you into their homes and lives.
Because content marketing includes social media marketing strategy, digital marketing and SEO, it can become overwhelming to business owners very quickly. WSIOMS is here to help you manage your content marketing activities. For more information, visit our website to find out how we can help you to create a sustainable, relevant content marketing plan that fits your business’ needs.
by Marelise da Silva | Apr 22, 2020 | Content Marketing
Stories are memorable and shareable, two of the most important aspects of great content marketing. They are also fundamental to human communication, and if you tell the right story, you can entertain, enlighten, persuade and capture attention.
Stories also lend themselves to non-interruption marketing where you provide customers, both present and future, with consistent and valuable information. The more honest you can be about your business, who you serve and the problems you solve, the more loyal your customers will become. And, as a result, they will consistently reward you with their business.
There are five things you need to create a good marketing story:
You Need a Hero
To tell a captivating content marketing story, your customer must be the hero, not your business. And the hero of the story is someone that is transformed as the story progresses, from an ordinary person into someone remarkable.
You Need a Goal
Until you understand your customer-hero’s goal, you don’t have a marketing story. Good business is about solving customer problems. You need to understand where your customer-hero is today and where they want to go.
You Need an Obstacle
Obstacles are what make stories interesting. The most interesting obstacles to your customer’s victory are often inner limitations they need to overcome to achieve their goal. The gap between where your hero is today and where they want to go is the core of the story.
You Need a Mentor
If your customer is the hero, what role do you and your business take? Your business plays the role of guide, mentor and help. You provide key information and tools that allow the hero to achieve their goal.
You Need a Moral
When you are telling a marketing story, it is best to clearly state the moral of the story. Let the audience know what they should do next or what their main lesson should be. Don’t be afraid to spell it out. Be clear and direct.
Every story needs something outstanding for it to be remembered and shared. Honesty is often the most significant story element of all, and by just telling the truth, you can make incredible gains.
Contact WSI OMS today for more information on content marketing.
by Marelise da Silva | Mar 5, 2020 | Content Marketing
The holidays are an increasingly important time for brands. Those that thoughtfully plan and execute their content marketing efforts with precision constantly reap rich rewards. The goal and advice for you will be to not necessarily take advantage of people’s relaxed spirits during holidays to boost sales, though that is always the ultimate benefit.
Indeed, a more immediate goal and benefit can be to increase your brand visibility and awareness at a time people are more receptive to marketing messages. The reality, though, is brands don’t always get their content marketing right during holidays. This guide will make that right:
Dress-Up Your Website to Capture the Holiday Spirit
Capturing the emotions and setting the relaxed and jolly mood commonly associated with the holidays are essential for attracting consumer attention during holidays. By bringing a sense of joy and celebration to each and every webpage, you will ensure your visitors’ enthusiasm and keep them clicking on your website.
Leverage the Magic of ‘Free’ and Incentivise Engagement With a Give-Away
People love free gifts; even more so during holidays. What better way to leverage the allure of give-aways than to hold an online contest? The interest the contest generates will bring more traffic to your page, some of which will also convert as sales and subscribers.
Optimize Your Social Media Content Around Specific Holiday Themes
Statistics gathered by Sprout Social show that people are more likely to spend and connect with brands during holidays. For perspective, consider how conversations around Black Friday and Cyber Monday dominate social media. However, Sprout Social also advises creating content that’s irrelevant to the holiday your audience is celebrating. Create a post that showcases your product in each holiday’s true spirit. And, do not forget to add a link to your website.
Share Some Useful Last-Minute Gift Ideas
Gift buying can be a challenge when buying for certain people, and this often means that it is left to the last minute. By offering last-minute gift ideas you are not only giving your customers valuable advice, but you are also saving them from the embarrassment of not finding the right gift on time.
Get Your Email Campaign in Shape for the Holidays
Customers are eagerly awaiting your emails that offer pre-holiday discounts, especially if they are celebratory in nature and incorporate beautiful images. Stay cool and simply time a few emails effectively. Here are a few more tips:
- Offer early-bird discounts a few months prior already,
- Offer online purchasing only discounts,
- Incorporate an exclusive discount code in the email,
- Create a sense of urgency by sending out the last chance for online ordering email, and
- Finally, with a few days remaining, send out a simple greeting with messaging that highlights the spirit of the upcoming holiday.
Our content marketing guide for the holidays will help you bring timely cheer to your SEO and digital marketing strategies, creating excitement and anticipation with your audience. Need help with content marketing? Contact WSI OMS today.
by Marianna Muscat | Feb 4, 2020 | Content Marketing
Content marketing is all about giving people the educational solutions or answers that they are looking for to make a decision. People looking for legal services should be able to find information about their particular issue and how your team of lawyers will assist them.
Content Marketing Drives Results
Not only do small law practices who have blogs on their websites show a 126% higher lead growth than those that don’t, content marketing results in conversion rates six times higher than other marketing methods.
When looking for a lawyer, people want authority and authenticity. Your prospects want to feel connected to your firm before they commit.
Well-crafted content shapes you as a go-to source for fresh insights, innovative solutions and legal trends in your clients’ industries. While search engine optimization and keyword research have tremendous value, content marketing pays long-term dividends, and therefore quality trumps SEO.
Legalese is what puts regular folk off the law. Share your knowledge, processes and history in a way that is understandable by the layman, interesting and, where possible, constructed as a story.
Online Reputation Management
No matter how great a lawyer you are, how you and your firm are perceived carries more weight than your track record. Social media has given a voice to anyone who wants to say anything about you, and positive and negative reviews, comments and conversations about your business abound.
It is essential that you control and improve how your firm is regarded by others by encouraging feedback, constant monitoring, having a response plan ready, handling negative comments skilfully and following through.
Digital Marketing Services for Your Law Firm
Are you in the legal field and interested in digital marketing methods and strategies to boost your status and help you generate new leads? We offer a range of internet marketing techniques, including lead generation, online reputation management and Google reviews that can be customized for your firm. For more information, contact us today.
by Marianna Muscat | Nov 18, 2019 | Content Marketing
The real estate industry is an ambitious market. So, if you want to stand out from your competitors, you need to employ content marketing to build your reputation. While new agencies attempt to enter the marketplace all the time, there are a few rules to follow in content marketing that will help you to establish your agency’s status.
Content Marketing Rules for Real Estate Agencies:
Do the Research
The first step is looking for questions that your audience might have. You’ll need to spend time researching your audience, their needs and how you can address those issues. The results of this effort will provide you with many possible topics that would be of interest to your audience. Once you have those topics, it becomes easier to focus your efforts on information that will be valuable and to provide good resources to your audience.
Provide Solutions
Content marketing doesn’t stop at the research phase. The second step in the process is formulating answers to the questions you established in the first step. This is where topics are transformed into solutions for your audience. Always aim to add value for your audience, and be very careful to never add a “hard sell” approach to your solutions. The idea with content marketing is to educate and inform, not to peddle anything to your audience. Once you build up your agency’s reputation, audiences will be more receptive to your sales pitches and listings.
Upskill
If you’re planning on being effective at content marketing, you’ll need to brush up on some aspects of digital marketing. Social media marketing, search engine optimisation, link building and quality web design are effective tools that you’ll need in your content marketing toolbox. You don’t need to become an expert at using these tools, but the more you understand the more empowered you’ll be to succeed at content marketing.
Become the Local Expert
People want homes and communities, not just a local building to live in. You need to become the expert in the neighbourhoods you operate in so you can give your clients the inside scoop on the place they might be calling home. Establish yourself as an expert on local life through good content marketing, and people will reward you with their loyalty. Local news and happenings are perfect topics to cover in your content marketing. And. it will solidify your agency’s reputation as part of the community.
Don’t Forget the Visuals
The visual message in your content marketing is just as important as a clean, beautiful show house. By using your agency’s visual style not only in listings but in content marketing too, you’ll strengthen your brand message and help audiences to immediately recognise the content as yours. Good visuals will entice your audience to read the content you’ve created, thereby growing the influence of your content.
Make it Easy To Reach Out
You can have the most beautiful visuals and meticulously crafted content, but if your audience can’t get in contact when they like what they see, your entire content marketing endeavour fails. You want your audience to see you as a resource they can easily engage with because this creates leads without you even trying. Always include a way for clients to get in touch after they’ve read your content.
If you need help with your content marketing, contact us today.
