Summer is a great time to plan out content for the end of the year. While Black Friday and Christmas might seem months away, they will come around fast and summer gives you the chance to get ahead – even if your staff are on holiday. We’re going to take you through how to keep producing content over the summer and what you need to do to create more in-depth high-quality content.
Perform a website content audit
Your website is your shop front. First impressions are everything; it’s got to appeal to potential customers so they stay and browse. This means you need to update your website copy on a regular basis. Plus, you need to hit those SEO goals so that your customers can find you online. A website with great copy is crucial to ranking high in the search results.
To understand what needs to be updated, you first need to perform a website content audit. This will help you define your content goals; take inventory of your content; identify any burning issues or new content opportunities, and give you a list of actions to take. Once you’ve got your audit together, use the rest of the summer to put those actions into place.
Make your marketing objectives clear
Make sure you nail down your content marketing goals and objectives. This should come out in your content audit. Having clear objectives will remind you of why you are creating content in the first place and what results you want to achieve.
Go back to your buyer personas and consider everything from the types of content marketing you use, (for example, blogging, email marketing or social media), to the tone of voice or frequency of your posts. You can then create your content strategy and goals that align with your business.
Give your blogging strategy some love
Each month, approximately 409 million people view more than 20 billion blog pages – that works out at 77% of internet users. So a blogging strategy is crucial for any online presence. Blogging contributes toward good SEO and helps capture leads, drive website traffic and add credibility to your website. But like any corner of your content marketing strategy, you need to have a plan.
Your blogging plan needs to align with your business goals and with your customers front and centre. It will help you define what topics you write about so you can tap into the interests of your ideal customer. Use tools such as Answer the Public, Google Trends and social media to find out what your audience is asking. Then answer them with your blog posts. Writing about trending topics in your niche will drive traffic to your website, setting you apart from your competitors as a thought leader in your industry.
And we know blogging can be time-consuming, but there are ways you can maximise time spent writing and if all else fails, hiring a copywriter to do it for you is an excellent investment this summer.
Create a variety of content
Your website isn’t the only place you should be focusing your content marketing efforts this summer. From social media to email marketing, use the goals and objectives you defined in the beginning to decide on the types of content marketing you will pursue. Look at what’s trending – will you start using video content to engage your audience? Or perhaps you’ll give branded content a go. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Webinars or in-person events
- E-newsletters
- Infographics
- Articles
- Podcasts
- E-books
Get ahead on your Q4 marketing
Summer is the perfect time to start thinking about the holidays. It’s definitely not time to put the tree up or to start listening to Michael Bublé on loop, but it is the ideal time to start thinking about your seasonal marketing. Hitting a Christmas campaign in mid-December means missing out on sales. Yet, getting yourself prepped now and you’ll be able to leverage all your advance prep.
Q4 has a whole host of dates that need to go in your diary:
- The start of two new seasons: Autumn and Winter
- Halloween
- Bonfire Night in the UK
- Thanksgiving in the US
- Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- Christmas
- Boxing Day
- New Year’s celebrations
All of these dates bring the potential for many creative campaigns, exciting topics to write about and lots of opportunities to promote products perfect for each occasion. Refer back to those content marketing goals you set yourself in the beginning and start planning effective business communications for later in the year. Shoppers love to be prepared for the festive season, so you should be too.
How can we help?
As times slow down for the summer, with many heading off on their annual leave to enjoy time in the sun, you may find hiring a helping hand to support your summer content, Q4 marketing and beyond is a good spend of your business resources. And look no further – we can help.
Big Star Copywriting has been providing high quality professional copywriting services since 2005. Our professional UK writers know how get to the heart of your brand and write content that resonates with your audience. From regular blogging and social media content, to web copy and product descriptions, we can deliver all the words you need quickly, skilfully and cost-effectively.
Want to find out more? Get in touch.
