Content marketing is rife with opportunity. In the past year alone, 87% of B2B marketers used content marketing to create brand awareness, 81% used it to build credibility and trust with their audiences, 78% used it to generate leads, and 68% used it to build loyalty with existing customers.
If you haven't taken the leap and integrated content marketing into your overall marketing strategy, you're missing out — yes, even if your company lies in the health and fitness category.
To get started on your fitness company's content marketing journey, put these seven tips into practice:
1. Define your target audience.
Before you can create effective content and set up your website for success, you have to know whom you're trying to reach through those efforts. Are you a fitness tech company that has created an app for consumers? Are you a fitness equipment company that primarily wants to serve gyms and health clubs? Are you a tech company that offers digital solutions for gyms to manage workout classes and member registration? Homing in on your target audience is vital so that you form the rest of your content marketing strategy with those individuals in mind.
2. Perform keyword research.
Once you know who you're trying to reach, take a step back and consider what these people might be searching for online. A great way to do this is keyword research. You can use a tool such as Moz to dive into keywords related to your niche, how often those keywords are searched, and any related keywords you might consider. Doing this research will help you create content that's relevant to your audience, and it will help you appear in search results for queries related to those keywords.
3. Conduct a technical website audit.
No matter how great your on-site content is, your audience won't find it if your website isn't set up for success. A technical website audit allows you to look under the hood to make sure your website is running smoothly and won't be penalized by Google. Some components you'll review as a part of your technical website audit include metadata, page speed, duplicate elements, broken links, and security. For an explanation of all components, check out this blog post.
4. Create engaging, relevant blog content.
Once your audience lands on your website, you have to provide relevant, engaging content if you want them to stick around. That's where your blog comes in. Don't have a blog? Create one. Blog posts allow you to educate your audience on your offerings and your company, share your story, and answer common objections or questions that might stand in the way of prospects becoming customers. Plus, when you create blog content that's relevant to your audience, you can naturally include keywords in that content and improve your chances of showing up in search results for your audience's queries.
5. Publish guest posts in industry publications.
Guest posts allow you to create original content for an external publication that speaks to and provides value to that publication's audience. Guest-contributed content is a great opportunity to expand your audience to include the audience of that publication, and it allows you to generate third-party credibility in order to build trust with your prospects. Plus, in some publications, you might be able to include a link back to an educational blog post on your website, which can help boost your website's SEO.
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Not sure which publications you should pitch content to?
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6. Offer gated content to capture leads.
Getting people to visit your website isn't your end goal, of course. So it's important for you to create opportunities for your visitors to share their contact information with you so you can engage with them further. But simply having a contact form won't cut it. An effective way to gather leads' contact information is to offer valuable content in exchange.
For example, you might create a checklist outlining an ideal process that gyms can use to ensure their facilities stay clean and hygienic all day long. Or you might put together a whitepaper explaining step by step how a new gym or health club can build robust offerings without breaking the bank. The format and subject matter will vary depending on what your company offers and who you're targeting with that content — but be sure to put that content behind a "gate" so you can collect contact information in exchange for that valuable content.
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Learn how to create effective gated content by downloading your free checklist!
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7. Create email sequences to nurture leads.
Once someone downloads a piece of your gated content and becomes a lead, you need to have a plan in place to reengage that person. Email sequences are a great way to keep your brand top of mind. For example, depending on what resource someone downloads from our website, we place them in a relevant email sequence that we've built in HubSpot to continue providing valuable content and educating them on our industry and services. The goal? To nurture leads to the point that they're primed to be passed on to the sales team. Just be sure your emails provide real value and are sent from a real person to whom recipients can reply if they have questions or want to continue the conversation started in your emails.
These steps might seem daunting, but they're essential if you want to create an effective content marketing strategy. If you'd like to chat with a content marketing expert about your strategy, just click below to set up a call with us!
