Effective Content Marketing is as important as creating quality content. After all, if you aren’t able to deliver your content to the right audience, it will not deliver any value.
Previously we discussed free ways you can market your content, but when that’s not an option or isn’t enough, you have to rely on Paid Content Marketing techniques.
After all, while Organic content marketing helps retain value over a long period of time, Paid Promotions are quite effective for gaining engagements in a short period of time (or based on your requirements).
Paid promotion includes a variety of techniques, from display ads, paid social marketing and paid searches, to content distribution networks through which you can promote your content.
Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram is a hub of content where users spend the majority of their time everyday. This usually makes Paid content marketing on social media more effective than other sources.
Social media advertising platforms also give you the option to customize your target audience, which is beneficial because social media platforms actively track user behavior. This lets you show your ads to the right audience, and even customize your ads based on your target audience.
For example, if you have recently searched for baby products, prepare to see an ad on Facebook featuring baby products!
Furthermore, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter let you create campaigns based on your business’ goals, whether it is to create awareness of your brand or product, drive traffic to a website, or increase sales. The respective ad platforms also let you monitor and analyze data on the go, so that you can react to changes and optimize your campaigns accordingly.
Remember that when designing your ad creatives, you should include images or videos that appeal to your target to get the most engagement from users. If you have a decent sized budget allocated for your campaign, run more than one ad in each campaign, testing different creative elements and call-to-action methods.
Most users also get confused about which social media platform to run paid promotions on – the answer to this is simple. First figure where most of your audience is, and accordingly divide your budget. Facebook is the easiest choice for most businesses, while more corporate services may be more appropriate to run on LinkedIn.
Paid Search
Paid search (also called Search Engine Marketing) includes putting your ads on a search engine’s result pages. This technique comes in handy when you want to get your content in front of customers when they are about to make a purchase decision.
Two of the most common tools that are used in Paid Promotions for search engines are Google Ads and Microsoft’s Bing Ads.
SEM functions better as a responsive advertising mechanism as it goes beyond simply linking users to a site, but also encourages them to take specific actions, such as signing up for a trial version or downloading a PDF document.
The first step for SEM is building a keyword list relevant to your business. When prospective customers are searching for these keywords, your ads will be shown to them. Several tools like Wordstream’s Free Keyword Tool and chrome extensions like Keywords Everywhere are useful for researching relevant keywords.
As per your ad budget, you can choose the kind of ads you want to run. For example, an Exact Match ad is one in which the user’s query must exactly match the keywords you run your ads for. This type of ad provides strict targeting at a low cost per click (CPC) and lower traffic volumes. A Broad Match ad brings more traffic volume, but has a higher CPC and looser targeting. While it does generate more traffic, it might not be the kind you are looking for.
The next step is to create compelling ad copy that is as specific as it can possibly be, as users show intent by searching for very specific search items.
If you are providing gated content (content which requires a step as an initiation from readers eg: asking them for their email addresses), let that be known in your ad text. However, make sure you emphasize that they will be getting exclusive and informative content that others will not.
Lastly, once you have engaged with your prospective customer and convinced them to click on your ad, you need to drive traffic to a relevant landing page. Make sure you deliver what you promised on your ad. Do not redirect them to a generic homepage as this will cause a majority to lose interest and leave.
Display Ads
Display advertising is defined by banner ads that appear in specifically designated areas of a website or social media platforms. While plaintext ads can be run, you can get much more out of your campaigns if you use images, videos, or animations that grab the attention of users.
Paid promotions here are in the form of banner ads are distributed across the web using an ad server like Google Display Networks, which shows ads from Google. Display ads are often used for retargeting, where a user who has previously visited your site will see ads for your site while they are surfing elsewhere on the web.
For example, if you have looked at a specific microwave oven in Daraz, you might come across related ads while you are reading a blog, an online news portal, or even in email newsletters, depending on how the ad server is working with several other sites.
There are various ways in which you can retarget, an audience. It can be based on time period, frequency, or even specificity. Retargeting, like paid searches, is used to get direct responses or actions from your audience. So, it can be used to generate highly qualified leads.
To start paid promotions with display ads, figure out your target audience first. For example, one way to start promoting new content would be to use Pixel-based retargeting, which is a way to re-display your material to any anonymous site visitors.
Once you track your audience, offer them ads promoting relevant and unique content. When you design an ad, creative assets are very important. Make sure you ads stands out from the crowd and has a clear call-to-action. In display ads, it is important to use colors that pop out, or images that will stand out to get more engagement from the users.
Email Marketing
In content marketing, you need to offer your audience a way to get regular updates about your content to make sure they keep coming back which helps to accelerate your brand building process.
One way to do this is by collecting email addresses via a specific CTA. You can then send regular newsletters to people who have expressed an interest in your content, with new content as well as summarising recent highlights.
FeedPress is one such platform used for email marketing. It offers basic analytics so you can track your subscribers and the progress of your work. It also provides a customizable newsletter template that you can use to make your emails fit your brand.
If you are regularly producing content with the same format, you can also set up an RSS (Rich Site Summary) feed that will allow your readers to subscribe to your updates automatically.
In order to avoid legal complications, make sure that your subscribers opt in for your newsletter voluntarily.
While Email Marketing isn’t technically a paid promotion technique, most platforms aren’t free or only offer limited capabilities for free users.
Content Distribution Networks
Content distribution networks (CDN) are quickly becoming powerful tools for engaging new audiences and expanding the reach of creative content.
This method of online advertising provides content that is within the context of a user’s experience, making the native advertising feel less intrusive and more like part of a discovery process, while also increasing the odds of users clicking through to your site.
If you see recommendations like “If you like this, then read” or “You might also enjoy”, then these are paid placements from content distribution networks such as Taboola and Outbrain.
For content creators, this Paid Promotion method is effective for improving the end user’s experience, increasing ad impressions, improving conversion rates, and strengthening customer loyalty.
Looking for ways to promote your brand using Paid Promotions?
Call us or fill out this form today to book a free 1 hour consultation with our Content Marketing Experts! We can help you figure your entire strategy and help you build your brand using both organic and paid promotions.
