Content marketing has been an indispensable trend for some time. This is due to the rapid evolution of the digital world and has meant that traditional forms of marketing have lost their impact (and possibly overall value). Reaching consumers through creative content is very much the way things are done now. When done right, information, education, and opinion should come before any sales techniques. Blogging is also transforming as websites need to work harder to pull in their core audience with organic content.
Creative blogging is critical for black entrepreneurs to gain a leg up on their competition. For tips on leveraging your content for content acceleration head over to my recent BLACK ENTERPRISEarticle here.
ENGAGING CONTENT IS NECESSARY TO COMPETE
The days when large blocks of text could be used are virtually gone. A large portion of people now access blog posts on a phone or tablet. This means that text needs to be split up in a number of creative ways. Listicle content has become incredibly popular because of this (think Buzzfeed style content).
It’s also important to use multimedia tools and strategies such as embedding tweets, video content, and engaging images. An advantage is that you can manually post (or automate) the same or similar graphics to promote posts on multiple social media platforms (reducing a brands digital marketing outsourcing cost). As a bare minimum, you want to have a feature image for each post and make content uniquely yours. Within a short amount of time, you will start developing a voice through your content and differentiate yourself from the crowded marketplace. As a black entrepreneur, it’s essential to give the market a unique viewpoint on your brand all while promoting your unique skill set and passion for running your enterprise. Don’t be modest, stop being humble and let the world know how great you (and your brand) are!
OPINION ALONE ISN’T ALWAYS ENOUGH
It’s certainly true that opinion writing still has a part to play and in certain circumstances it is sufficient. However, when thinking about your company’s blog, it’s necessary to build your authority as much as possible. This may mean using industry data to validate your point.
For example, social media content with images tends to be more successful than text-based updates. However, if you can add more depth to it by saying that visual social media content is more likely to be shared and citing a specific number, then you grow your authority. Doing this also gives you the opportunity to link to other sites, which can increase your influence on Google. As a nationally syndicated columnist, I have leveraged opinion writing to establish myself as an industry expert, however, be cautious regarding the type of industry you want to insert your opinion into. Simply put, stay in your expertise lane.
GENERIC CONTENT WON’T ALLOW YOU TO STAND OUT
Looking around company blogs, it’s fair to conclude that there isn’t an awful lot of content originality. It’s good to see more blogging happening, but the level of the content quality you put out is essential. This means you should continually look for ways you can leverage your expertise and choose topics that won’t age too quickly.
A lot of companies in your sector will report breaking news or generic content that anyone in your industry could have written. Try not to do that, instead look to put a unique spin on things using real expertise. Talk about your experiences rather than the theory of something and look for ways to present your information distinctly. If you look at blogs from your competitors, it will quickly become apparent there are things they are not doing, which ultimately creates an opportunity for you!
Hopefully, by now, you have already experimented with content marketing. Simply having a blog isn’t enough though, so this article has looked at some of the reasons that creative blogging is vital for black entrepreneurs in 2019. To sum this piece up, opinion alone isn’t always enough, and generic content won’t allow you to stand out in our hypercompetitive business environment.
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