Videos, blog posts, podcasts, infographics you name it.
And going forward we will see even more still.
Because here’s the thing:
There’s an endless barrage of content from all directions, which means there’s more competition for the limited attention span of your target audience.
So, as a lone niche marketer, how do you compete and stay relevant?
This is exactly what I’ll be sharing in this post if you just keep reading…
What You’ll Learn In this Post
How to get 3800% ROI on your marketing efforts
A new content type that’ll increase your chances of making it to Google’s first page by 53x
Why Facebook Likes are useless and what smart marketers are focusing on instead.
The content marketing tips that seasoned marketers are using right now (and you’re not)
To discover 200+ profitable niche markets click the image below now…
“In 2017, content marketing is going to be even more challenging than it is today.” – Rand Fishkin (Moz)
If not, you might already be behind your competitors.
Video today is what blogging was 7-8 years ago. Those who start today will be far ahead of their competitors in just a few years.
Facebook is already predicting the end of the written word, and hinting at becoming a video-only platform in the near future.
In my opinion (and according to other credible voices), the written word isn’t going anywhere soon, but it’s certainly conceding ground to visual content faster than ever before.
Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and Periscope already have live video features and Instagram just recently joined them.
So, how exactly can you make video a part of your niche marketing strategy in 2017?
I have discussed this in much greater detail in one of my previous posts, but here are a few quick tips
Start using Facebook Live videos to interact with your audience. There are many ways to use live videos for example, product reviews, Q&A sessions, sharing niche related tips, building anticipation for your content or just a casual hangout with your audience (like James does for his travel niche site).
Use webinars for lead generation and awareness campaigns.
Turn your best blog posts into videos and embed them in the original post.
Deliver your most popular content in live videos or a series of short video clips
Most people are camera-shy and feel awkward when creating their first video, so you’re not alone in this. But it gets easier when you take a leap of faith and keep doing it.
However, if you’re too shy to face the camera, start with screencast videos using text or image slides with your voice in the background.
Readers are looking for step by step solutions to very specific problems. Content that helps them take action is likely to perform much better.
This is good news for experts and specialists who’re sick of the rat race and don’t have the time and the resources to create content every day.
It means you could publish 1-2 posts per month but still drive more conversions and sales than your competitors.
Brian Dean is a prime example.
Backlinko is one of the most popular blogs in the SEO niche but Brian sometimes takes weeks or even months to publish new posts.
But when he does, he makes sure it’s the most detailed and actionable content available on the topic. This keeps his audience waiting for his next post.
“Video consumption is only going to increase which is why it’s going to be a content marketer’s number 1 challenge and opportunity at the same time” – Sam Mallikarjunan (HubSpot)Cick here to Tweet this!
3. Use Email Marketing To Strengthen the Relationship With Your Audience
Whoever said email marketing is dead a few years back must be eating his words right now.
Email gives you direct access to your prospect’s undivided attention. It gives you the ability to build relationships and cut through all the marketing and advertising noise on the web.
Studies show that an email message is 5x more likely to be seen by a consumer as compared to Facebook, and for every dollar spent on email marketing, marketers earn $38 on average.
The importance of email marketing will only increase which is why you need to start building a list and engaging your subscribers (if you’re not already doing it).
Start by choosing the right email marketing tool for your business.
As the web gets more crowded and your prospects are bombarded with more content, a strong relationship with your subscribers is the only thing that can keep you ahead of your competitors.
And email is the best medium to build such relationships.
“Get more niche—serve smaller and smaller interest groups.” – Rand Fishkin (Moz)
In fact, this has been true for some time now. The masses have only just started taking notice.
But here’s the good news.
It still works, so you’re not too late.
More than 1 billion people use Facebook Groups every month and that number is quickly growing
Facebook has almost killed the organic reach of Pages.
So even if you have a 100 thousand fans, your posts won’t be visible to most of them unless you spend some advertising money to boost your posts.
Facebook Groups, on the other hand, don’t have any such limitations.
All your posts are visible to the group members and you have complete control over what gets posted to the group.
And since Facebook Groups are closed communities, they have a higher perceived value for your audience as well which results in more active engagement.
The group started with just a few members but because of the quality of the posts and the high standard of group moderation (nothing promotional or spam never gets through Nader), it has grown into a thriving community of more than 20,000 internet marketers.
It accounts for more than 10% of the total traffic of NicheHacls.com and also helps in converting group members into email subscribers.
Spending money on advertising might not be your favorite advice, but what if every dollar spent on advertising brings back $2, $3 or even $5, and builds your list at the same time?
Think about it.
If you’ve written an epic product review or a comparison post (with your affiliate links, of course), why not use Facebook ads to target exactly the kind of readers who’ll buy from you.
This sponsored Facebook post is a good example.
I’m sure this boosted post made 10 times more affiliate commissions than the money spent on Facebook ads.
6. Create More Digital Products To Generate More Leads and Diversify Your Income
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Warren Buffet, the billionaire businessman, lived by that principle and became one of the richest men in the world.
Smart bloggers and niche marketers approach their income the same way, and never rely too much on one source of income for their niche sites
For example, if you’re just relying on affiliate commissions generated from organic search traffic you’re at risk. You never know when Google introduces a new algorithm change and your traffic and income take a nose dive.
Darren Rowse made most of his income from affiliate sales and ads in the early days of Problogger.
Over the years, however, he has diversified his income so much that it won’t make a big difference even if his affiliate income is completely taken away.
One of the best ways to diversify your income right now is by creating digital products tailored according to the needs of your audience.
Online courses, eBooks and membership sites are all great ways to not only make a lot of money but also to establish yourself as a niche expert.
People are spending more than $150 billion dollars on online courses and digital products. And it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Why not take advantage of this by creating your own product and claiming a small chunk from this huge pie.
More money is not the only reason why you should create your own product.
Products like training courses, eBooks and video tutorials, when given away for free or at a discounted price, are super effective in generating more leads for your high ticket offers.
And lead generation, of course, is one of the core objectives of any content marketing strategy.
To discover 200+ profitable niche markets click the image below now…
Wrapping Up on Content Marketing
The rapid pace at which technology and online marketing are changing makes it really hard to accurately predict anything for the next year.
However, based on what we saw last year and the trends on the rise this year we can safely say that content is only going to become more important for the growth of any online business.
There’ll be more competition and it’ll be harder to capture your audience’s attention.
Adapting quickly to the emerging content types and aggressively building your subscriber seems to be the only way to keep hold of your audience.
Tell me below what type of content you plan to focus on going forward…
