5 content marketing tips to elevate your brand in 2023

Ah you’ve arrived, you must be here to find the best content marketing tips to not only engage your audience but also attract potential new audiences.

You’re in the right place then. In this article, we’re going to provide you with 5 tips to help you create effective and high-quality content in 2023.

We could put money on you hearing the phrase ‘content is king’ before, and although you’re sick of the phrase (so are we) it does not mean that it isn’t true. So, getting your content strategy right, consistently, is key to building your audience and creating higher levels of engagement that generates either sales or leads.

Content marketing tip #1 – Failing to plan content is planning to fail

Another famous phrase you’re sick of hearing (apologies, but it’s still true), failing to plan is planning to fail. Deciding which platforms to use and what type of content to produce is a challenge for brands today due to the abundance of options available. However, it’s crucial to plan carefully as the choices you make will greatly impact the success of your content campaign.

According to HubSpot, the top channels to consider in 2023 are video, social, influencer, SEO and omnichannel. And although most experts will recommend these, there is no correct answer to this, although these may work incredibly well for one brand, another may need to use totally unique channels for their content marketing strategy.

We recommend that you review your strategy as often as you can to ensure you make the most of your efforts, of course, this might be easier said than done depending on your team size and in-house resources, or what agency you use.

Content marketing tip #2 – make your content feel more…well, human

Although the digital world is great, we are exposed to more and more advertisements the further it develops. It is estimated that we each see up to 5,000 ads per day, yep, per day. So it is no surprise that consumers are becoming annoyed, or even immune to self-promotional or manipulative marketing practices.

Content needs to be more authentic, and more humanised. Authentic content is content that attempts to genuinely connect and be of service to its audience without trying to manipulate them, providing more value rather than trying to gain a quick win.

It is so easy to fall into the trap of being dishonest to your audience, to make your products or services sound better than they are. However, being dishonest to your audience or using black hat marketing techniques will not be effective in the long run and can lead to negative consequences.

Content marketing tip #3 – don’t be afraid to try new types of content or channels

When it comes to working out what type of content or what channels work best for you, it is important to test them out. There is no harm in an infographic not performing well or a social post not gaining as much engagement as you would like it to, use A/B testing to see what works, this will prove incredibly valuable. Branching out into new channels and testing content is vital for exposure and the customer journey, check out these stats to prove it matters:

Although this will take time and you may be off the ball a few times, the long-term effect is that you will understand your audiences far better and will be able to produce content that is more valuable to them (and make it more authentic).

Eliminating guesswork is vital when it comes to content marketing. This doesn’t mean making drastic changes to your tone of voice or posting schedule, but rather small tweaks or changes to see what works for your audience and your brand.

Content marketing tip #4 – Dive into creating video content

Video content gets 1200% more shares than text and images combined. Video content allows you to tap into people’s emotions to create more meaningful and deeper connections, meaning viewers are more likely to engage with it over other forms of content.

And let’s not forget short-form video, the rise of TikTok and YouTube Shorts has meant this type of video content is becoming consumed more than ever. Short-form content can make a big impact in a short amount of time. It is expected that more and more brands will join the platforms in 2023. Short-form video popularity is the result of changing consumer trends, as attention spans deteriorate and mobile usage only ever increases, this video content perfectly suits these two trends. We worked with Tabl to produce some short-form content for their social channels, and are continuing to develop more unique short content.

But this doesn’t mean you should only use short-form content, although this content is like little snippets of gold, longer content that can be repurposed across your content strategy will also be beneficial to your brand.

With the rise of mobile and streaming platforms, videos are becoming more accessible than ever before, so don’t be afraid to jump on the hype and see how they can help your brand!

Content marketing tip #5 – Stay on top of social media, repurpose your content

So, this is kind of a 2-for-1 deal, you’re welcome. Social media is one of the most important channels to grow your brand and give it a real personality. And staying on top of it is one of the most important parts of your content strategy. Regular posting is key, and we don’t mean posting once a month, but you need to be posting a couple of times a week to get the most out of social media.

But hang on, it’s not just about getting any content out there, it must have value and resonate with your audience. We know it’s tempting to try and promote your brand as much as possible as well, but this also isn’t recommended as consumers are near enough immune to this style of posting. Instead, we recommend the 80/20 rule, where only 20% of your online content is promoting your brand, and the other 80% either informs, educates, entertains, or offers solutions to problems. Also, keep in mind our content tip from earlier, don’t be afraid to test out different techniques to see what works for you!

Another great tip is to always repurpose your content where you can and where relevant. This could perhaps be a video from your website that could be shared on social media or maybe even an infographic that goes out in an email to a mailing list. This can relieve the pressure of consistently making new content and also creates consistent branding across all of your channels.

Bonus content marketing tips

#1 Utilise artificial intelligence (AI) to aid with producing content

Now we’re not suggesting that you go out and use tools like Chat GPT to mass produce content (it’s against Google’s guidelines), but it can be incredibly useful as a tool to aid your content creation. AI is incredibly powerful and can help you come up with content ideas, keywords, grammar checks, copyediting and more.

#2 Stay on top of SEO

Time for some SEO for content tips. SEO is still incredibly important when it comes to your content strategy. Not only does it help to pull in more organic traffic, but it also forces you to understand your audience and create a better user experience. All the content on your website should follow SEO best practices, as should any other content you publish to ensure your brand message and tone of voice remain consistent.

#3 Update old content

Updating older blog posts or articles can be an easy way to give your brand a boost. Even if the content is a little bit dated, a little sprucing up with new meta tags, keywords, internal links, and images can make it feel brand new again. Plus, you’ll have a library of shiny new content that can be repurposed and shared all over again. It is a little time-consuming, but the result will be worth it and it is quicker than producing totally new content (but still try to do this as well).

Need support? We’ve got you covered

Engine Creative has been bringing brands to life for over 25 years and our creative and technical team has the expertise to produce killer content for any channel. What are you waiting for? Talk to us today.

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