Several months ago a report from the New York Times about the publications digital content publication strategy was leaked on the Internet. The 96 page report discussed almost every aspect of content marketing you could imagine, including how to use social media, what types of content bring in the best traffic, and much more. Reading through the entire report is a worthwhile activity for anyone who uses any type of content marketing strategies in their business, but until you can find the time for that, here are ten of the most important tips from the report:
- Timing is Everything – When you’re publishing content, make sure it is going live when people will actually read it. With people being flooded with new content all day long, they will be far more likely to miss your post if they have to scroll through several hours worth of posts. Experiment and figure out when your primary audience is online, and post accordingly.
- Create a Content Checklist – Prior to publishing any piece of content, you should have a checklist to go through to ensure it has the best chance of being successful. Double checking things like headlines, title, images and having the content posted to social media accounts will help avoid overlooking any essential step in content publishing.
- Most People Don’t Find Your Home Page – While many marketers spend a lot of time developing their home page, statistically most visitors don’t end up viewing it. Only about 1/3 of readers visit the home page, and the home pages typically keep users engaged far less time than other places on the website.
- Take Advantage of User Generated Content – The New York Times is looking to harness the power of op-eds to generate inexpensive content, which typically gets shared and promoted by the authors in addition to the normal promotional techniques used for new content. All companies can benefit from user generated content.
- Look at Your Content Through Your Readers Eyes – Companies or content marketers often get stuck producing content that they are interested in, but many times their audience just isn’t engaged. Try looking at your content as if you were just a visitor of your site (or even ask other people to do this for you). Tailor your content accordingly.
- Keep Up with Change – If you’re not constantly looking at how people are consuming digital content, you’ll quickly fall behind. While Facebook & Twitter are huge today, for example, they might not be on top tomorrow. Keeping up with the latest trends in content marketing is essential for long term success.
- Follow–Up stories – When something important is happening in your industry, produce content about it right away. In addition, however, create follow-up stories about it too and make sure to cross-link the stories. This will be engaging for readers, and also help with SEO.
- Recycle Evergreen Content – On most sites, the vast majority of visitors come in the first 24-48 hours after being published. Rather than letting good content die out over time, make sure to recycle it by re-promoting it when it is timely to do so. A simple tweet or Facebook post can bring in many new viewers.
- Take Advantage of Content Curation and Aggregation – You don’t always need to come up with content on your own. By finding other content and re-packaging it (be careful not to just steal content) you can be very successful. The New York Times specifically cited a time when ‘The Gawker” used on of the NYT’s stories, and ended up getting more views than the Times was able to! When using this strategy, make sure to promote it with social media and other strategies.
- Never Stop Experimenting – Too many content marketers rely on the tips, trends and advice of so-called experts. While this is important, it is equally critical to try your own things. Come up with new and innovative ways to create, publish or promote your content and see if it works. If not, move on to something else. If you find something that is effective, you’ll have a major head start on the competition!
