How the principles of journalism can lead to online marketing success
Giving your brand a strong Internet presence is becoming more and more important these days.
As US marketing guru Jack Dawson explained on the well-known marketing agency website relevance.com recently, the best way to do this is via blogs, social media forums and web content – otherwise known as content marketing.
However, it is all very well posting and blogging information; the real key to success is the wording.
As Dawson says, most content marketers know all about applying keywords, links and other inserts to content that will redirect traffic via search engines or social media.
However, when it comes to catchy titles and quality of content, many of them can actually learn a thing or two from journalists.
As an experienced journalist myself, I am working hard to apply this philosophy to my own business Mike Peeters Media – whether it be on my own website or via social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.
The advantages of course, are obvious.
Through content marketing you can inform your audience about your brand, encourage them to use the brand, and get feedback from your customers as well.
And this is where content quality is so important.
As Dawson states, the principles of journalism already influence many online marketing strategies.
Factors such as style, grammar and vocabulary are all a factor when it comes to persuading your target audience to make a positive or negative decision about your brand.
It is all very well to think of the quantity of content you can generate to meet the growing Internet audience – but what good is this if you don’t pay attention to the quality of this content?
And while using links in articles and blogs can be a great way to redirect traffic to your website – one of the biggest mistakes content marketers make is to insert these links without giving any context to them.
Try not to make readers click away from a page just to get more information.
Be generous with the words, put the right facts in the right place, and only then insert the link for the audience to click on.
Referring to the journalistic angle again, you can often create more impact in your content by for example, interviewing industry experts as a journalist would.
This type of reporting usually proves very popular with your audience; creating more interest in your brand, and attracting serious traffic to your website, with great conversion rates.
Lastly, remember to make the content as relevant as possible to your target audience so that they can make the best use of your brand.
For example at Mike Peeters Media, I am aiming much of my content at people and organisations who may be starting up a new website, or revamping their old one.
They may also need blogs written for social media, or for their website – or both.
And put simply, that is what my business is all about.
By Mike Peeters, owner Mike Peeters Media
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