Content has long been one of the major keys to online marketing success. But for many business owners, the word “content” is so vague and envelops so many different things that it’s hard to know how to proceed. Plus, best practices for content marketing are always changing. So if you’re trying to keep up, here are some fast tips that will keep your online content marketing strategies ahead of the curve in the coming year.

Hire More than Writers

While having good writers to produce written content is important, your online audience wants to do more than read. In fact, the content that gets the most interactions are now visually based. This means you need to hire people with skills in video production, graphic design, audio production, and more. Smart content marketing provides consumers with engaging videos, fact-filled infographics, fun animations, and yes, high-quality written content. So make sure you provide your audience with all of these in 2018.

Be Totally Transparent

Consumers today don’t want flashy advertising and catchy slogans. They want transparency, honesty, and approachability in the brands that they use. That’s good news for the little guy in the marketing world. So when you’re producing your content this year, keep it open and honest, and don’t be afraid to put some personality into it. And of course, make sure you’ve optimized content marketing in your business so that everything is being shared on social media.

Support Every Stage of the Buyer’s Journey

Your consumers go through a journey with your company. In the business world, we call it the “sales funnel”. This refers to the process a consumer goes through, from awareness to consideration to final decision. Most businesses focus optimized content marketing on the beginning stages of the funnel, trying to draw buyers in. But a smart content marketing strategy will provide content for consumers in all stages of the sales funnel; this helps build trust throughout their journey, and eventually creates a loyal customer.

These three quick tips can provide you with a basis for your online content marketing strategy for 2018. And if you feel your content marketing is something better left to a professional, please reach out to a PPM content marketing manager today.