Content marketing takes time and real effort, but with hard work you will find yourself celebrating the strategies success. Content marketing works and that is why it is without a doubt the hottest marketing strategy out there.

Even though content marketing is a trending marketing strategy that doesn’t mean your content marketing will be successful. There are times when content marketing flops, but don’t give up there are ways to successfully jump start your campaign.

Sometimes it is just a matter of putting out better quality and unique content and at times you’ll need to tweak your content and drive up traffic. There are several different reasons that content marketing fails. One of the main reasons is because businesses do not have a real strategy at the onset.

Having a strategy before you begin is critical to your strategies success. It helps you to identify your goals and starts your thought process on how you will achieve those goals

This process doesn’t have to be a long and drawn out one, however it does have to be one that you dedicate time to. Once you have your strategy worked out it is important that you clearly explain it to your team so you are on the same page.

Here is a look at four strategies that can breathe life back into your content marketing campaign and quickly.

1. Email Marketing

Email marketing is the oldest strategy in the book. It is simple to start or amp up your email marketing strategy. If you haven’t updated your email list in some time, now is the time to wrap that project up.

There are many email strategies that you can try including a monthly newsletter, opinion pieces, product and service updates, repurposed content and discounts or special promotions.

You can also try focusing on subscription strategies. This strategy will help you build a stronger email list. Add a subscription link to your site. Businesses that add the option to subscribe to their businesses website see major increases in visits to their website.

Properly understanding the importance of content marketing, email campaigns and downloads will help you decide how to move forward with your content marketing strategy.

2. Pay Per Click

You don’t always hear PPC connected to content development strategies. However, paired up correctly, PPC can be a direct line to bringing traffic to your website, leading to more business opportunities.

PPC is also predictable. You know what your results will be and what the cost will be beforehand.

3. Conversion Rate Optimization

Conversion Rate Optimization or CRO is testing and tweaking your strategy until you see the results that you want. CRO easily works hand in hand with your PPC campaign.

CRO is a simple hack that you can start while you are working with your other content strategies. It is important to test everything from your headlines, to form placement, colors and font size.

4. Hub and Spoke Content 

It is time to jump aboard the hub train. Hubs drive traffic, drive leads and are great places to share new content.

What is a hub? A hub is a much larger piece of content that hides behind a gated form. To reach a hub, a visitor must provide certain information. Often times a hub can be a PDF or multiple files. The visitor gets to the hub and you gain some of their personal information in exchange. Add that information to your email list.

What is a spoke? A spoke is simply content that leads back to your hub. Spokes can be blog posts, videos, press releases, graphics and even emails

When you create your hub, announce it through your email marketing. Run PPC’s to drive traffic to your website and test and tweak your landing page.

You can use Google along with a spreadsheet to help with your hub’s backlink analysis. The spokes objective is to push readers back to your hub and to make them want to get your download.

Remember that one of the biggest keys to successful content marketing is understanding and engaging your audience. Once you have their attention you must keep it with fresh and engaging content.

Picture by Kundan Bora