There’s a common catch phrase that most of us are aware of. “If you write it, they will come.” Too bad that’s not always the case. This is especially true if your goal is to move beyond blogging to content entrepreneurship
Bloggers who embrace content entrepreneurship view their content as being part of a business model designed to build several distinct revenue streams based on their content.
These revenue streams can include selling ad space, promoting affiliate programs, sponsored content, and selling their products and services, coaching and courses to branded products.
7 marketing tactics that embrace content entrepreneurship
To extend your reach and to continue to grow your audience, content entrepreneurs need to implement more marketing tactics than post and hope. Here are seven marketing tactics for content entrepreneurship.
Email marketing.
Social media.
Video.
PR.
SEO.
Content curation.
Repurposing content.
Let’s get started building your content marketing business!
1. Email marketing
Email marketing isn’t just important because it has one of the highest ROIs of all the marketing tactics you will use.
Even as full as our inboxes get, those emails stay until we delete them. That means your emails have staying power beyond the moment of delivery.
According to Hubspot, email marketing can generate an ROI of 42 times. That means for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can generate $42. Plus, email marketing allows content entrepreneurs to segment their subscribers and build customized marketing programs based on subscriber behavior. It’s a platform that can grow and evolve as your business grows.
2. Social media
Compared to email marketing, social media moves fast. The posts you write today may be off the screen tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean that social media isn’t an essential marketing tactic for content entrepreneurship.
Social media is one of the best ways to amplify your content to reach new followers.
To effectively leverage social media you must strategically select which platforms you use, post consistently and encouraging people to connect with you off-social (like joining your email list).
Backlinko estimates that nearly 4 billion people use social media worldwide — and most of those users have accounts on multiple platforms. Content entrepreneurs should pick their social media platforms based on where their target audience interacts. For example, female users aged 25 to 34 use Facebook the most, but teens are the biggest users of TikTok, making up 25% of that audience.
3. Video
Video consumption is experiencing exponential growth. According to Pew Research Center, 74% of U.S. adult internet users use YouTube, and not just for watching comedy skits. We turn to YouTube to learn, explore new ideas and be entertained. By leveraging video to share expertise, content entrepreneurs can reach a broader audience and take advantage of passive content consumption.
YouTube is the biggest name in the video game with more than 2 billion users worldwide, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only place to share video content.
Content entrepreneurs also can create exclusive video content and private channels on services like Vimeo for a more controlled video environment.
4. PR
Modern PR isn’t just sending out press releases. It includes connecting with influencers with existing audiences to expand your reach. Multiple tactics can be part of your digital marketing strategy. These can include guest blogging, podcasting, and doing interviews with journalists and writers for written or video content.
Achieving placement often means pitching to other content creators, either through cold outreach or responding to calls for pitches. Content entrepreneurs can find opportunities to pitch through programs like HARO to connect with reporters, the Opportunities of the Week newsletter to find writing opportunities and PodcastGuests.com to find podcast hosts looking for guests.
5. SEO
SEO is familiar to content strategists and bloggers alike, but it still earns a place on this list. A comprehensive SEO strategy includes keyword research, compelling content creation and building backlinks.
Front-end optimizations are not the only part of achieving top-of-result-page positioning. Mobile accessibility, load times and other optimizations affect ranking.
Leveraging tools including Google Search Console helps content entrepreneurs understand how search engines rank their site performance. Paid tools like Ahrefs, Moz, and UberSuggest can provide insights into search volume, and help content entrepreneurs track their performance and identify opportunities over time.
6. Content curation
Great content entrepreneurs know they’re not the only voice in their market. Curating content from other thought leaders, helps content entrepreneurs build trust with their audience and with the broader community as a whole. To add value to curated content, content entrepreneurs pull out the most valuable insights and then add their own commentary.
Tools like ShareIt and BuzzSumo can make content curation easier for content entrepreneurs. Many also subscribe to thought leaders’ newsletters and social media feeds to get the most up-to-date shares. A good rule of thumb is to share 40% original content and 60% curated content.
7. Repurposing content
While curating content can help fill your social media queues and bolster your email content, one of the most powerful marketing tactics for content entrepreneurship is content repurposing. Repurposing content can help you to reach different audiences. While part of your audience may be drawn to the written word, others will be attracted by video content or eye-catching graphics.
Some blog posts can be turned into click-driving infographics and short videos. Groups of blog posts on a subject can be repurposed into a free or paid book, as is outlined in How to Blog a Book. Audio and video content also can be repurposed into written content through direct transcripts or articles based on the interviews and insights. Even simple repurposing, like pulling quotes from articles to share on social media, can help amplify messages and increase your reach.
Which marketing tactics for content entrepreneurship should you use?
Not every tactic will work for every content entrepreneur. Picking and prioritizing the right tactics will depend on the maturity of your business, the size and skills of your team, and the time and financial investment available to support marketing.
While email marketing, social media, and content curation are tactics that can benefit even early-stage content entrepreneurs, video and content repurposing takes additional resources and skills.
To find the right tactics for your content-based business, evaluate what skills and resources you have at your disposal, and where you can best stand out from the crowd.
You may need to try a few things before you find the right mix for your business and your audience, including keeping your finger on the pulse of emerging trends and tactics that can boost your business to the next level.
