You have the keywords now, now lets see how we can expand that keywords into content ideas.

1. Create a simple content marketing plan in Excel and create columns for the following for each content ideas.

1. Core message
   Identify a core message for each content that you plan to create.

2. Keywords used
   Allocate a specific set of keywords each piece of content will utilize.

3. Define Target Audience
   Briefly mention the specific target audience for that piece of content.

4. Short Summary
   Write a short summary for the content idea here.

2. Differentiate content ideas based on the following objectives.

1. Prospect Attraction
   Prospecting content is produced with the sole aim of generating leads for the business. The CTA can be to join the community, sign up or to contact a representative. So the content should tell them why they should join the list or sign up to be part of your community.

2. Increasing Sales
   Content that are intended to increase the sales, generally has their primary focus on the immediate benefit that the users get after the purchase and has a very strong Call-To-Action (CTA).

3. Generate Interest
   This can be viewed as starter content, it creates interest and tells of the solution that you have for the existing problem in the market.

4. Reputation Building
   Press releases type of content can do a great job in building and repairing the reputation of your company, brand or website. The funny thing about press releases are, it’s intended for no one. But everyone gets to see it.

5. Co-creating A Community
   Best done with social media, this type of content is rapport building and does the best to build earn the trust and build friends and fans of the brand/business. Repetition is the key here.

6. Helping Existing Customers
   Content that helps existing customers also can be a valuable SEO resource. Convert your FAQ into detailed blog posts and videos. Also create various tips and tricks that will help the customers get the most out of your products. All these content, if properly keyword stuffed, can help you in your SEO efforts.

7. Content From CEO
   More often than not, the CEO of the company will have a separate twitter handle, facebook page in which he shares his/her thoughts. The CEO will often create blog posts on the company blog offering bird’s eye view of where the industry as a whole is moving towards. These personal posts, create rapport with the customers. prospects and other industry leaders.

3. Create good useful content with engaging headlines

We’ll see how to create powerful engaging content headlines in the next section.

4. Promote it in the following channels.

1. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus.
2. Convert into a video and share it on Vimeo and Metacafe besides Youtube.
3. Use it as a presentation and upload it to slideshare.
4. Create a diagram/photo explanation and upload it into Instagram and Flickr.
5. Organize online group in Pinterest, Foursquare and Quora and post content.
6. Build web 2.0 assets in squidoo, tumblr and wordpress.
7. Share your content on StumbleUpon, Reddit and Digg.

5. When posting articles for sharing, you could also share the same content a multiple number of times under different headline.

Each headline can be in the form of a question or list that your target market is looking for that is directly related to the content you developed.

Bonus Tip: Use lists wherever appropriate. Money is in the list as the saying goes. (I know, this is not a contacts list but whichever makes you money applies here) The reason why lists spreads faster is they enable scanning the content. People often look for the main points and only read the section that looks intriguing.

6. Repeat at a consistent frequency.

Google loves always updated sites in order to offer relevant updated content for it’s customers. You can even republish old post and refurbish existing content.

Tips for developing powerful headline

1. Offer A Specific Promise.

Just like a call to action, include specific results that the user is going to achieve after devouring your content. Hint:Writing in future tense, always implies a future benefit. For example: 10 Sneaky Sales Sequences That Will Make You A 5 Figure Salesman.

2. Narrow Down The Audience.

Your headlines does not have to be everything for everyone. Just appeal to the section of the group that is most likely to take it to heart and eventually become your fan.

3. Use Metaphor or Curiosity.

While keeping the popular content in mind, use curiosity or metaphor to exaggerate the story. Even the most boring content can be made interesting with the use of these time-immemorial storytelling tools. Always use a memorable theme though and carry it throughout all your content. For example, if you are an SEO company trying to develop a “HERO” theme with your message, you can go for “4 Critical SEO factors your SEO firm won’t reveal to you.” Assuming you could deliver on the promise of the headline, this conveys a heroic theme and instantly your audience will be swayed in your favor for revealing industry secrets.

4. Talk to One Person, Casually.

Most blogs are meant to be casual “Newspaper Replacement” i.e., to be read in your pyjamas. Unlike newspapers, you can actually convey that personal touch to your message that makes reading your content/blog or watching your video all the more pleasant.

5. Have a sub-headline that communicates immediate benefits.

You have caught the attention with your headline, now, it’s time to tell them how does your content fulfill the promise you made in your headline. Or maybe a hint. This works well and interested readers will click throughs to see more.

To Chapter 5: Basic Content Marketing Strategies