The world of content marketing can be pretty intimidating to a newcomer.
But it’s not exactly a cakewalk for veterans either.
The reality of the digital marketing space is that it’s an ever-changing landscape that demands constant focus and a willingness to change at a moment’s notice.
Plus, it’s not made any easier by the fact that there are dozens of conflicting opinions on what to do and how to do it.
That’s why, instead of giving you another set of rules to follow to achieve content marketing mastery, we’re going to learn from some of the best.
In any industry, there are always going to be giants. Brands and icons that help define the status quo and shape trends for years to come.
Today, we’re going to take a look at Neil Patel, Shopify, and Buffer. We’re going to learn by example with these digital marketing titans and see if we can’t walk away with some valuable lessons.
By the time we’re finished here, you’ll have a better understanding of what makes them tick and what tactics and strategies you can start implementing within your own business.
Sound good? Great.
But before we can dive into their processes, we need to master a crucial component to content marketing success: your ability to understand the modern consumer.
Understanding the Modern Consumer
When we talk about the ‘modern consumer’, it’s important that we be clear about both what we’re talking about and how we got to this stage.
And to do that, we have to understand how the marketing industry has changed over the years.
Not too long ago, we lived in a world filled with traditional ads. This was the world of the traditional consumer, and there’s quite a difference between then and now.
In the world of the traditional consumer, ads were something you experienced pretty regularly. TV spots and radio commercials were common and something that just came with the territory.
The platforms that advertisers used had the unique advantage of being predominantly passive experiences.
Consumers sat there and listened to the ads because there wasn’t much they could do otherwise without interrupting their experience further.
In other words, these ads didn’t have to be particularly compelling because they already had the attention of their audiences.
But the modern consumer is a different beast entirely.
Modern consumers live in a digital world, which is a fancy way of saying they have plenty of options.
More importantly, there are plenty of ways for modern consumers to avoid your content if they’re not interested.
These days, you can’t just be clever or catchy. You have to be relevant, unique, and above all else, compelling.
Neil Patel
The first thing you’ll notice about Neil Patel’s approach to content marketing is that the marketing funnel and sales funnel combine almost seamlessly.
Honestly, it can be a bit difficult to tell where one funnel ends and the other begins, and that’s a good thing.
The last thing you want is to have an isolated understanding of the customer journey. Which is why one of the first things Neil Patel does is establish a clear goal for each piece of content.
Fantastic copy is great on its own, but when you pair it with an objective, you’re setting yourself up for success from the very beginning.
As far as what those goals should be, they can be anything from lead generation and sales to brand awareness and engagement.
The idea is that you have something that exists for a reason, and that you’re clearly able to determine whether or not that piece of content did its job.
The second thing Neil Patel does is mix and match specific content with individual stages in the sales cycle.
After all, why stop at just marketing goals? If you’re going to create content, it should work as a supplement for your sales cycles as well.
At the end of the day, it’s all the customer journey. And if you’re able to create content that smoothes out that transition, why wouldn’t you?
Patel references three different buyer stages, with unique styles of content being linked to each one.
Awareness, or where your audience is identifying the problem they need to solve.
Evaluation, where the customer is deciding whether or not you offer any real value to them.
And Purchase, where the consumers are finally ready to buy.
By matching your content to each of the unique needs of consumers at each particular buyer stage, you’re able to guarantee that your content remains relevant to them, no matter where they are in the sales cycle.
From there, Patel emphasizes the need for businesses to select topics that are based on the needs of their audience.
How do you do that? Simple, just rely on your buyer personas. The information that you’ve collected and organized is what makes this step so effective.
Once you’ve accomplished that, you’ll have to learn how to balance different content promotion types.
Why is mastering this balance important? Well, to put it bluntly, because your first instinct is going to be to create too many different content types.
You can easily find yourself in a situation where you’re creating the right kind of content, but you’re not building a well-rounded content marketing strategy.
That’s why Patel recommends that, instead of focusing on a single type of content promotion, you experiment with a variety of different types.
Don’t just make videos or eBooks. Experiment with white papers, webinars, case studies, etc.
Not only will this help cover all your bases, but it’ll give you a more diverse pool to choose from as far as metrics are concerned.
Of course, Patel doesn’t skimp on the minor details.
When it comes to formatting, intent is everything.
Now, don’t make the mistake of confusing ‘content format’ with ‘content type’. If you’re not sure, here’s an easy way to think about it: an event is a content promotion format, while a webinar is a content type.
Why does any of this matter? Because if you’re able to research the different content formats available to you, before you decide on the content types, you’ll make repurposing that content significantly easier.
Shopify
As far as Shopify is concerned, the secret to its content marketing success has been to focus on the overarching principles that any successful digital brand should master.
One of the first things that you should do if you’re going to follow the Shopify model is to make a list of influencers to follow.
These days, fixing your internal marketing issues isn’t enough to help you dominate the digital marketing space.
If you want to claim that online authority spot, you’re going to need to understand your competition and outpace them.
And there’s no better way to do that than to make sure you’re exposing yourself to the height of thought leadership in your industry.
Put together a list of the top 25 blogs or brands that impact your industry.
If you want to go above and beyond, you can actually create a piece of curated content that’s based on your analysis of these influencers and share it with your audience.
You’ll also want to make sure you’re answering the difficult questions in your industry.
Listen, we understand. Those pain points aren’t exactly easy to address. But if there’s anyone qualified to provide some insight, it’s going to be you.
Whether you’re offering tangible, actionable advice or insightful thought leadership, one thing is for sure: you need to offer value to your audience on a regular basis.
Shopify has also found great success with sneak peeks of new products. If you want to generate excitement for your business, sneak peeks can be a great way to start building brand loyalty.
As an added bonus, you’ll be able to potentially increase your engagement. When you start sharing ideas with your audience, anyone who takes an interest can easily send you some feedback.
And that’s a good thing! Developing a dialogue with consumers is the first step to establishing a meaningful relationship with them.
Buffer
If you know anything about Buffer, they’re basically the engineers of the digital marketing world.
They love taking things apart and seeing how they work, and content marketing is no exception.
For example, if you’re serious about boosting your engagement on social media, Buffer has some key recommendations for you.
Start by writing a good, catchy headline, because if people aren’t clicking on your social media ad, then there isn’t much you can to engage with them.
Images also hold a special place in Buffer’s heart, with posts featuring images ending up with 150% more retweets.
Beyond that, Buffer has found that consistently posting on social media is the biggest predictor of success in the social media marketing world. Something as simple as posting once daily can make a huge difference.
Of course, that’s just the tip of the digital marketing iceberg.
When asked to boil down their content marketing strategy to its most basic components, Buffer said that their goal was to publish 70% social media tips with about 30% content marketing tips.
They posted four times per week, which worked out to once a day Monday-Thursday. The stories they wrote tended to be between 1500-2500 words and offered plenty of instruction and education.
Buffer would go on to define top-notch content as ‘transparent’. In other words, it’s easy to read, clear and concise, with a clear and focused message.
It may not seem revolutionary, but rest assured that having a technically sound approach to digital marketing will make your life significantly easier.
Conclusion
Obviously, these brands have some pretty complex approaches to content marketing mastery.
And it goes without saying that every aspect mentioned here is going to have to be adapted to your particular industry and audience.
Still, every business owner looking to step up their content marketing efforts to take the time to consider the lessons that each of these digital marketing giants can teach us.
Combine your marketing and sales funnels to maximize conversions and give every single piece of content purpose.
Make sure you’ve addressed the basic principles of content marketing and that you’re building a relationship with your community.
Have a plan of attack from the very beginning and create content that simplifies and keeps things as clear as possible.
It might not be easy, but if you’re able to take the best from each of these brands, it’ll only be a matter of time before your content marketing campaigns are propelling your brand to the top of your industry.