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How To Raise The Bottom Line With Content Marketing

Are you looking for ways to raise your bottom line with digital marketing? If so, this blog was tailor-written just for you! In this article, we’ll take a few moments to discuss content marketing and how marketers are using it to take their brands to the next level.

As a small business, it’s essential to stand out from the crowd. One of the best ways to do so is by producing high-quality content that delivers value to your audience. After all, marketing is impossible without great content. Therefore, coming up with engaging content should be at the core of your business strategy.

But what makes good content, and how can it help your business grow? Let’s take a few moments to explore this topic in greater depth. But first, let’s make sure everybody understands the definition of content marketing and why it’s critical for businesses of every size.

What Is Content Marketing? 🤔

Content marketing is a branch of marketing used to plan, develop, and share highly-valuable content to a targeted audience. In a nutshell, it’s a way to raise awareness around your brand, increase credibility, and engage your audience.

Below, we’ll discuss the different types of content marketing and review a few common examples. But for now, you need to understand that it’s a digital distribution method that aims to boost profitable customer behavior.

SEO guru and entrepreneur Neil Patel takes this definition one step further. He explains, “content marketing is a long-term strategy that focuses on building a strong relationship with your target audience by giving them high-quality content that is very relevant to them on a consistent basis.”

Unlike traditional one-and-done marketing tactics, he’s trying to say that content marketing shows your customers you care. By distributing valuable content regularly, you gain more attention. In other words, your customers become more loyal and stick around for longer. But the advantages don’t stop there.

How Does Content Marketing Help Businesses?

When executed correctly, there are many advantages. For one, businesses use a content marketing strategy to increase sales, get new customers and educate their audience.

According to a Hubspot blog, “content marketing is important because it answers your audience’s questions and helps you build trust, develop relationships, improve conversions, and generate leads.” At any rate, producing consistent, high-quality content significantly impacts the customer’s decisions process.

5 Content Marketing Examples to Raise Your Bottom Line

These days, there are hundreds of digital formats to explore. Aside from the four main types (videos, blogs, images, and infographics), new methods are constantly emerging. For those looking for more examples, here are five more popular strategies.

content marketing infographic

1. Podcasts

Unsurprisingly, podcasts are one of the most popular forms of content marketing to date. With more than 50% of the US population tuning in this year, podcasts can generate massive traffic.

2. Case studies

The case study format provides a way to share information from a study or research. Case studies are a powerful way to convince your audience that a product or service is worth purchasing. They make fantastic additions to any website and provide digestible information about complex topics.

3. Ebooks

Without a doubt, ebooks can bring in some serious profit. Think of it as a book in digital form. You can write about any topic under the sun related to your business. In addition, ebooks are an effective way to create lead-generating content.

4. Webinars

Web seminars or webinars are online events hosted by a business or organization. In most cases, the purpose is to educate their audience via videos, workshops, presentations, courses, and everything in between.

5. Vlogs

Vlog stands for ‘video blog’ (or log). Essentially, it’s the same as a blog but in video format. The sky is the limit when it comes to vlog content. There’s also no shortage of social media platforms to help it go viral.

Still, looking for ways to expand your digital storytelling? We like your marketing spirit! Please read through our recently published blog about content marketing strategy in 2022. We cover more than 15 different formats with plenty of examples.

Take Your Storytelling To The Next Level With Content Marketing Services From Elevare! 🚀

Elevare is a content marketing agency focused on helping small businesses elevate their bottom line. We are a team of strategists specializing in website development, design, branding, search engine optimization, and social media management.

We look at every component of your business and come up with a customized plan catered to the trajectory of your business. After all, digital marketing isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, meaning every project is unique. Contact us today and let us help you tell stories that the world will love.

15 Content Marketing Strategy Tips To Explore In 2022

In all fairness, coming up with engaging content for every day of the week is a daunting task. If you don’t already have a well-defined content marketing strategy, you may feel overwhelmed.

The good news is the internet is host to a wide range of highly-effective formats for content marketing. And we’re here to tell you about fifteen of the best methods for 2022 and beyond.

Consider These 15 Content Marketing Strategies

First, you’ll need to open yourself to exploration because many content marketing examples on this list are reasonably new. Above all, it’s important to remember that quality content is always king. It’s also a good idea to conduct thorough research and take your time to produce the best content in your niche. But where to start?

Let us take a moment to explain how you can take your digital storytelling to the next level with these content marketing tips and up-to-date strategies.

overhead view of an office desk

1. Videos

Without a doubt, publishing consistent high-quality video content will increase your traffic. According to HubSpot, 62% of marketers consider video a top metric. Since 2020, 95% of consumers have engaged with video content. What’s more, online videos account for 82% of all consumer traffic. Without video content, it’s safe to say you’re missing out on billions of potential views and a lot of visibility.

2. Podcasts

This year, 58% of the US population has listened to a podcast. And 103 million people admitted they regularly engage, according to BuzzSprout. Regardless of your experience, podcasts are on the rise around the globe. Some even refer to podcasting as radio 2.0. If you’re new to podcast creation, check out Podbean, Anchor, and Libsyn.

3. Live streams

Live streaming platforms like Twitch, Vimeo, and Tik Tok Live are becoming increasingly popular, especially with the younger demographic. It’s fair to say they’re no longer a novelty meaning you can easily tap into a new audience pool with the right strategy and platform. Think IRL streams and raw, unfiltered audio and video content for any topic imaginable.

4. Audio blog posts

Not all people enjoy reading. As a result, there needs to be a content style for every type of audience. Enter audio blog posts. Essentially, audio blog posts are what it sounds like — audio clips featuring content from your blog. You can even automate the process using text-to-speak tools like BlogAudio and BlogCast.

5. Case studies

Case studies are in-depth research that proves a product or service is worthwhile. For customers in the consideration stage, case studies are powerfully convincing. In addition, case studies make excellent additions to your websites, helping boost sales. Want to see some examples? Here is a list of 28 case studies worth reading.

6. Infographics

If you’re looking for visual content that serves a wide variety of purposes, consider using marketing infographics. They come in handy when explaining complicated processes using simple graphics that everybody can grasp. Not to mention, you can slap them anywhere, making your website look impressive and informative.

7. Influencer marketing

These days, it’s never a bad idea to align yourself with a prominent social media influencer for content projects and endorsements. Influencer marketing is big business, and it’s one of the best ways to boost social media traffic and brand awareness. Not to mention, more resources are popping up every day to help connect businesses with relevant influencers.

8. Webinar classes

Web seminars (webinars) are the perfect tool to educate people on any given topic. Webinars come in many forms. Most notably, video presentations, events, workshops, lectures, and training classes. Choose a topic, find a speaker, plan an event, and watch your traffic soar!

9. Landing pages

In the world of digital marketing, landing pages are standalone web pages. Content marketing agencies build them for visitors to “land” after clicking on emails, ads, or other digital sources. In a nutshell, the purpose of landing pages is to convert, and it’s common practice to collect user info in exchange for a product or service. Landing pages are also relatively quick and simple to develop.

10. Email marketing campaigns

Email marketing is a widespread tactic that uses email to share information about offers, promotions, or any other type of desired content. You can take the time to write custom emails or simply set up an automated system to reach a massive amount of people in one go. There are a lot of reliable tools to help convert sales, so don’t be shy. Mailchimp is the industry favorite.

11. White papers

Whitepapers are authoritative documents that provide information on any given topic. They are usually written by the company and published on their website. The purpose of a whitepaper is to educate and promote services and products.

12. Virtual conferences

By the day, virtual summits are emerging from Twitter and many other social media platforms. Aside from discussions, virtual events meet various needs, including workshops, exhibits, presentations, courses, informal meetups, and AMA’s, to name a few. This content marketing tactic can pay off when planned and executed correctly.

13. PPC campaigns

PPC stands for pay-per-click. It’s a form of digital advertising that drives traffic to websites using search engines like Google. Basically, you pay a small publishing fee when a user clicks on your ad. Google launched its platform to assist users with PPC campaigns. It’s called Google Adwords.

14. SEO

You can apply SEO or search engine optimization to your website content to rank higher with search engines. The goal is to develop content that ranks well for a specific keyword. Although it’s a highly complicated process, your job is to create a large amount of high-quality content that adheres to Google’s standards. When SEO is correctly applied, your web traffic can soar.

If you’re looking for an SEO guru to help with your content marketing strategy, reach out to Elevare Agency for more information.

15. Polls

Finally, social media polls are a fantastic way to engage with your audience regularly. And they’re a potent marketing tactic as well. You can find slews of them on Twitter and LinkedIn every day. The best part about this method is its simplicity. Creating a poll is as simple as coming up with a solid question and making a post. If you want to see some examples, pop over to Pinterest for 81 samples.

Other content marketing formats to explore:

  • Countdowns
  • Sponsored content
  • Product reviews
  • Ebooks
  • Testimonials
  • Vlogs

Are You Looking for a Content Marketing Company?

In short, Elevare is on a mission to streamline your storytelling by building masterful processes and content marketing strategies that engage your audience like never before.

We’ll collaborate on a roadmap focused on your unique needs right from the start. Our comprehensive plan of action will drive your success in the future marketplace.

Reach Out to Elevare for Content Marketing Strategies and Services

We’d love to speak more about elevating your brand with effective content marketing services, including high-quality videos, website content, and killer social media marketing that fans love.

If you’re looking to align with one of the best content marketing agencies in the game, don’t hesitate to reach out! Finally, if you liked this article, be sure to check out our blog for more insights on content marketing strategy. Otherwise, feel free to contact us or follow Elevare on social media!

Top 5 Ways to Leverage Newsletters for Nonprofit Fundraising

Running a nonprofit organization is hard. More specifically, marketing a nonprofit can be hard. With countless amazing organizations out there, some find it difficult to attract loyal donors. If done right, email newsletters can be an incredible asset for your nonprofit fundraising strategy.

5 Nonprofit Newsletter Tips

The purpose of your nonprofit’s newsletter is multifold. Email marketing is highly effective! Putting out a weekly or monthly newsletter is great way to keep in touch with your audience base and help retain interest over a longer period of time.

It is also a fantastic opportunity in which you can advertise upcoming events, notify people about fundraising events, raise money, highlight updates or simply keep in touch with you donors.

Whether you’re justing starting out setting up your newsletter or you need a few ideas, keep reading!

Below are a few things your newsletter needs to garner success.

1. Donor & Board Member Spotlights

One large part of creating a newsletter is establishing unique and consistent columns.

As nonprofit donors, your audience is clearly a giving group. However, their charitable spirit does not mean they would not like recognition of their generosity.

Give them a pat on the back. Spotlighting donors in each newsletter offers a positive affirmation to push them to become loyal supporters.

A spotlight section will also show your followers how much you value their support. Not only is their donation going toward an amazing cause, but it is also appreciated by your team.

Treat your donors like family and your community will follow suit.

Top 5 Ways to Leverage Newsletters For Nonprofit Fundraising

2. Write Quality Content

Tell a story.

If you don’t hook your audience within the first two sentences, they will likely click away. Use your newsletters to pull your readers in and tell a story.

Nonprofit organizations like the Be Positive Foundation support childhood cancer patients and their families through medical treatment while also funding key research. When working with such emotional and sensitive situations, the foundation uses photos, videos, and thank you notes from patients in their email newsletters to pull at their reader’s heartstrings.

When you donate to organizations like Be Positive, you send donations off with no real benchmark of your effect on the children’s lives. However, when the newsletters include firsthand stories from affected children, donors know they are truly making a difference.

Let your storytelling speak for itself. Connect to your readers with a shared empathy and keep the emotional connection alive between donations.

3. Celebrate Successful Statistics

If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?

Every frustrated teenager has heard this response from a parent when begging to do what everyone else is doing.

So, if everyone else is donating to a nonprofit, would you?

People like to be validated in their actions. When users see other people doing something, they are more inclined to try it themselves. Use your email newsletter to share benchmarks and analytics.

Did your organization hit a new social media follower goal this month? Share it!

Looking for some inspiration from other successful nonprofit campaigns? Check out the ultimate nonprofit marketing guide here.

4. Add a Call To Action

A newsletter is nothing without a solid CTA.

You can share all the positive information you want, but to turn interested readers into leads, you must include a path to do so.

At the end of every newsletter, summarize your organization with a question for your audience.

Do you want to help a child in need? Are rescue animals a passion of yours?

When writing these CTAs, make sure that the answer to these questions is an unquestionable yes for your readers. As they nod their head along in agreement, provide a place for them to take this newfound need.

Provide embedded links and buttons that lead to your website, donation pages, and other resources.

5. Don’t Miss Out On Mobile

Have you ever opened an email or website on your phone to find the design has glitched?

Immediate click off.

When sites are optimized for computers, they are not made to be opened on a mobile device. This creates funky visuals, misplaced buttons, and an incorrect layout.

While most people write and design email newsletters on a computer, 61.9% of email opens happen on a mobile device according to Adestra.

One easy way to avoid readers abandoning your newsletter is the mobile layout. Ensure your newsletter can be easily accessed and read on any kind of device, especially a mobile phone.

This also applies to embedded links and buttons that should lead readers to an external location like Instagram, Facebook, or Google.

Top 5 Ways to Leverage Newsletters for Nonprofit Fundraising

Setup Your Newsletter for Nonprofit Fundraising

With a few consistent columns, great visual graphics, and positive community connection, your newsletter is sure to boost donations and keep your followers engaged. Newsletters can be a very effective marketing strategy for your nonprofit and a great way to help drive money towards a fundraising campaign.

Whether you’re looking to increase online donations or simply help bolster your fundraising efforts, newsletter could be part of the answer.

While these tips and tricks will assist your organization in developing a successful newsletter, the trusted team at Elevare has years of experience helping nonprofits increase donations.

Schedule a free consultation today!

5 Tips to Succeed at Inbound Marketing

If your website isn’t converting like it could, you are probably wondering what you’re doing wrong. The right content will attract the right customers organically and help your website rank higher in search engines. If you aren’t seeing this, there is room for improvement. But don’t worry, using the 5 tips we’ve compiled below, you can succeed at inbound marketing.

Do you want to create a successful inbound marketing strategy but don’t know where to start? How do you succeed in bringing the right customers into your website? We’ll go through all of these steps in the following article. Hang tight!

What Is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing, simply put, is a digital marketing strategy where a business or entity organically attracts the attention of their ideal customers at different stages of their buying journey. These stages are awareness, consideration, and decision. This is the opposite of traditional advertising, such as running ads or putting up billboards.

Inbound marketing takes into consideration the buyer's journey.

Graphic courtesy of Aria.

In a perfect scenario you attract potential customers to your site through offering highly valuable and useful content. Once the customers are there, they learn all about the company and what you offer. Through this content, they become customers. Instead of forcing your business on them through magazines or radio ads, more than likely, your customer is actively looking for a service like yours.

Thus, if you can offer the content they are looking for, they will stay on your site and convert.

Content marketing is a great way to bring customers into your site. By crafting blogs and articles that are perfect for what the customer is looking for, you can easily bring them in.

Inbound Vs Outbound Marketing

If inbound marketing refers to strategies that bring people to you, outbound refers to going straight up to them. Outbound marketing is a traditional method of marketing that looks to put messages out to in front of potential customers.

Outbound marketing includes activities like trade shows, seminars, cold calling, radio and print ads, magazines, television advertisements, billboards and more. In fact, the average human today is bombarded with over 2000 outbound marketing interruptions per day. That is a lot of interaction with outbound marketing tactics.

Comparatively, outbound marketing is remarkably more expensive than inbound marketing, and often, quite less effective. You are speaking to the masses and more than likely, the masses aren’t your target market. The marketer’s and any business owner’s dream is to speak to potential customers who are within their target audience, because they are actually looking to buy, not trying to ignore the sponsored messages because they are forced to watch it before their favorite tv show comes on.

So, how do you go about connecting with the right audience? Let’s discuss 5 tips that will help you succeed at inbound marketing.

5 Steps To Succeed At Inbound Marketing

1. Build Your Target Audience

How do customers find you? Well, this process begins by knowing exactly what these customers are looking for. This step can be accomplished by doing some keyword research. Keyword research helps you find out more about your industry, what people are searching for, and how competitive the landscape is.

Knowing how your industry ranks and what keywords are being searched can help you write the right type of content to attract buyers.

There are several tools you can use both free and paid. At Elevare, we do a combination of things to help you do the necessary keyword research. We use a program called SEMRUSH, but if you are looking to do this research for free, you can use Google Search Console.

While increasing your website traffic, in general, is great, it can be a vanity metric. You want to rank for the right keywords, not just any keywords.

2. Define SMART Goals

Once you understand what your potential buyers are looking for (determining their pain points), you can start to develop your goals for your specific campaign. Using the SMART framework is a great way to do this. What does SMART stand for? SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based.

Each part of the SMART framework works together to help you create goals (and further a campaign), that is carefully planned, clear and easily trackable. If you are working towards the wrong goals, this will not yield the results you want.

The SMART framework helps you create a nonprofit marketing plan.

3. Build Your Team

Now that your goals are set and the audience defined, it’s time to hire the right people. You’ll need content writers to bolster your content marketing initiatives. You have a few options here you can build an internal team, hire an agency or hire freelancers and split up the work.

If you decide to hire an internal content team, this will be a time-consuming process but often worth it in the long-run. These people will have full-time access which means they will be more accessible and can create content more often.

If you decide to hire an agency there are a couple things to look out for. Agencies are often great for starting your project quickly. You can find an agency that provides SEO services, website development and content marketing.

However, because the agency doesn’t know your team as well, often the content can be fluffy and not have your voice as a brand. It may not bring in the right type of qualified content.

If you decide to hire a freelancer, you could save a lot of money, but expertise varies. It can be a very mixed bag in terms of quality! Some freelancers work harder than salaried employees, while for others, your job for them is a side hustle. It highly depends on the situation.

At the end of the day, finding the right mix of employees for your team is up to you and your specific goals and budget.

4. Develop A Quality Content Strategy

Once your goals have been set, you’ve done your research, and you’ve hired your team, now it’s time to write relevant content. Content writing involves much more than simply writing. It involves a lot of processes such as keyword research, brainstorming topics for blogs, building reports and evaluating, updating and optimizing old content.

If you want your inbound marketing to be successful, you will need to plan out how all of this will get done and fit together. You will have to build processes that ensure your blog posts are written and campaigns executed.

If you aren’t sure where to start with a creating a content calendar, click here.

Pro tip: It’s important to set up the right processes for organization and workflow from the beginning. Tracking every piece of content from inception through publication is important for ensuring quality and producing valuable content. You can use calendar and tracking apps like Slack, Asana or Notion to name a few, to help people stay on track of their work and ensure clear communication and expectations.

Things like social media management and email marketing can be full-time jobs by themselves. Be aware you don’t ask too much of your marketers and split jobs into their necessary areas to avoid burnout and lower workloads.

5. Analyze And Adjust

The last and most important step is to constantly be analyzing and adjusting your initiatives. We recommend tracking and evaluating your inbound marketing efforts periodically. This will help you see what’s working and what needs to be adjusted or optimized.

Eventually once you see what works for your business, you can branch out and try new marketing strategies such as newsletters, building out your social media strategy or expanding to using more video content.

Pro Tip: It can be easy to get fixated and hung up on small issues, instead of focusing on the bigger picture. Sometimes it takes months for a specific campaign to take off. You’ll need to give campaigns time to see if they are successful or not.

Craft Your Inbound Marketing Strategy

Developing and implementing a comprehensive inbound marketing plan can seem daunting. There are a lot of moving parts. However, with the right team and the right goals set, you’ll be able to improve the traffic to your website organically and attract the right customers without spending too much.

We hope these 5 tips to help you succeed in your inbound marketing endeavors.  However, if developing an inbound marketing strategy seems difficult or if you’re still not sure where to start, feel free to contact us today!