Creating exceptional content and giving it away is an accepted staple of modern marketing. Whether we’re talking about regular blog posts and helpful social media posts or more detailed videos and ebooks, sharing your knowledge online is a fantastic way to build a database of people who are interested in what you’ve got to say. But are you making the most of the content you’re creating? You write a blog post and share it across social media. But then what?
What is a content ladder?
“A content ladder allows you to create one piece of content and repurpose it to be distributed across all of your distribution channels.” Kamilah Beltran It’s a way to promote your content to more people, more often. You write a blog post and from that blog post you create:
- Social media updates with excerpts and tips from your blog
- A feature for your newsletter
- A podcast episode
- A slide deck for SlideShare
- A video for YouTube
Then further down the track you collate your best blog posts into meatier lead-magnet content such as:
- ‘best of’ posts
- ebooks
- email autoresponder series
One idea turns into an entire marketing system.
What does a content ladder achieve?
A content ladder makes the best use of content you’ve already created (saving you time) but there are much bigger benefits. Like making stronger, more profitable connections. The longer you keep people connected to your business (via valuable content), the more likely you’ll be able to make a sale down the track. With each step on your ladder, you bring them closer to saying ‘yes’.
How to make the most of your content ladder
- Research a selection of topics and phrases (keywords) your target audience are searching for online. This will help you focus on topics that people are actually interested in.
- Write amazing content. Your blog and other content shouldn’t be an afterthought you squeeze in the day before your blog is due to go out (or when you have inspiration). Give yourself time to write and edit.
- Understand which media your customers prefer. There is no point creating podcasts if your target audience prefers to read newsletters. And vice versa. If you’re not sure, shoot out a short survey.
- Always draw people back to your website. That means including your URL in a prominent place! When it comes to content, your website is your home base. Everywhere else is just rented space.
- Test and track. As with all your marketing, it’s important to check in and see what’s working and what isn’t so you can really make the most of your time (and content).
If you find yourself struggling to come up with content for your marketing, look to the content you’ve already created. You have a gold mine waiting!
