Content

How to Create Content for an Online Natural Health Store

With the average business now spending up to 35% of their marketing budget on digital marketing, everyone is looking to find ways to cut back on spending.

If you’re a natural health store, you’re already competing with all the big box supermarkets in your region. The best way to capture new customers is to build the kind of authority that only consistent and high-quality content can build.

As an increasing number of users find new businesses through search engines, it’s important to appear at the top of the results of every search. Along with keywords, name recognition, and metatext, search engines will rank highly any site that offers original content on a regular basis.

Between your computer and your phone, you’ve got all the tools you need to start improving the SEO strategy for your natural health store. Focus on these four areas for the best results.

1. Create Bold Headlines

When you see an article posted on social media or written in the media, the first thing you see is the headline.

A headline needs to pack a punch, grab the viewer by the collar, or touch them emotionally.

Below your headline, you can add all the great details that will put your headline in context. After you’ve grabbed their attention, reel them in with your subheading. They’ll be dying to check out your great content.

2. Let Images and Video Do the Work

Not everyone is great at retaining information. Great photos of healthy products or nutritious snacks can draw people in.

Think about hiring a professional photographer for any product photos you plan on using in your marketing campaign. Introduce customers to your natural health store by posting a short walk-around on Instagram. Use your front-facing camera so people can get to know you.

If you do in-store demos or are giving out samples, post videos to social media first thing in the morning to draw customers into your store. Their FOMO will kick in and they’ll be at your door before you know it.

Images and video are at the top of the list for content-driven marketing right now.

3. Keep Content Short and Sweet

Keep your text between 300 to 500 words. Use keywords 3-6 times in your text and focus on one subject at a time.

If you want to post a how-to, create a video to accompany a short numbered list outlining every step. See how other sites get users to quickly consume content before they buy here!

4. Be Honest and Use Good Sources

For everything you write about health and natural products, make sure you’re making honest claims.

If you say that something helps with weight loss, link to an FDA or reputable scientific study. If you quote any statistics, link to your source so that no one can claim you’re making anything up.

Showing you’re an honest resource for health and wellness will build trust. It will also help you receive those all-too-important backlinks from other sites and users.

Great Content Will Improve Traffic to Your Natural Health Store Site

Once you’ve built a great reputation, that trust will snowball into customer loyalty.

Search engines and visitors will both love your high-quality and original content and give you the hits to prove it.

If you’re ready to improve SEO for your health site, check out our guide for more SEO tips to drive local traffic to your site.

The Top Content Marketing Trends Going Into 2018

Content marketing has evolved from a disruptive model to one of value. Content marketing trends in 2018 will become more inspiring and complex. Your success depends on a content marketing strategy that exceeds your customers’ expectations.

Companies are riding a content marketing wave to success. Content formats and channels have evolved to become more engaging for customers. This has led to worldwide growth in revenue generation.

In 2018, content marketing trends will continue their evolution. The world’s biggest companies plan to spend billions on original content. Their efforts are setting new standards for how customer experiences reach beyond their brands.

Your competitors won’t be far behind. That means using content to build a loyal following begins now. But choosing your strategy moving forward needn’t be a hassle.

Content Marketing Trends and Your Business

86% of B2C marketers are using content marketing to drive their brands forward. And content marketing trends are evolving with changing technologies. That means more access to videos, virtual reality, and new social media capabilities.

It’s difficult to understand what that will mean for your business. You can’t adopt all these trending technologies and formats. But you can identify the most effective and choose from those results.

Don’t overlook your existing successes either. Continuity is important for your existing customers. Don’t be afraid to expand on them even as you adopt new ones.

7 Techniques for Successful Content Marketing in 2018

Content marketing trends aren’t limited to either formats or technologies. You will need a well-assembled arsenal of each. Above every trend is a well-developed content marketing strategy.

As you think about your strategy, consider where the following techniques fit in. You may already use some and need only expand upon them. But keep an eye out for successful new adoptions as well.

1. Increased Content Marketing Prioritization

Companies are investing heavily in content marketing in 2018. Expect greater skills and capabilities among your competitors’ marketing teams. Companies will increase budgets for content marketing as well.

That’s because content marketing is becoming more and more unique. Companies need to adopt more platforms and channels as well. Content teams will resemble media companies more than the teams of previous years.

Companies will increase content presence on their websites. Companies like Ronald Joyce make stunning photographs the first thing visitors see. Companies can leverage video in this way as well.

As consumers expand the way they engage content, your competitors will try to respond. As we will find, content strategies are more sophisticated than ever. Your business will depend on a content team that grows with those needs.

2. More Sophisticated Video

Video was a growing trend in 2017. By 2019, it will capture more than 80% of all web traffic. But most video capabilities were only available to larger brands.

Now, new video tools make sophisticated video more opportune than ever. Content teams don’t need specialized skills to make a professional film.

Smartphone recorders are now on par with professional cameras. With the proper direction, small teams can make professional-looking films this way. Smartphones enable companies to host live streaming videos as well.

Video editing tools powered by AI now help produce and market videos. This can take only minutes to develop. It’s easy to integrate these videos into your social media channels.

Your team must develop a video marketing strategy. Carrying this out takes little time and investment. But determining types of content is its own strategy as well.

3. Original Value-Added Content

‘Original content’ is marketing content companies produce as a value-add to customer experiences. That means the content has value in and of itself. This is in stark contrast to branded content that functions as ads.

Customers are increasingly turning down advertisements and branded posts that ‘sell.’ They want to associated brands with styles, moods, and values. Original content offers these things to customers with no request to buy.

Original content can be as simple as how-to articles and eBooks. They can be as advanced as video series with detailed plots and characters. Their authenticity and value are what they have in common.

You can leverage video tools to create a storyline for filmed content. In this way, your team will function like a media company. You can employ internal or third-party writers as well.

4. Social Media and Channel Diversification

Social media has fallen in its appeal as an engagement platform. Facebook has seen a recent decline in organic reach. It’s volatile to host content there as they make updates as well.

Social media is still essential to content marketing. You need to make social media one branch of your overall marketing strategy.

You have more opportunities to automate content marketing. If you want to distribute content across channels, automate the social media component. You can leverage that channel effectively without burdening your team.

5. Transparency

What’s more important than authority in your space? The transparency you offer customers. For Millennials, it has become an expectation.

Your promises to customers are just as reliable as your competitors’. You distinguish yourself by sharing the true values of your company. You need to ensure those values hold up to those of your customers.

You should demonstrate your true values in your content. That might involve live footage of company altruism. It could involve prioritizing green sourcing or reducing your carbon footprint.

6. Next-Generation Technologies

Content has transitioned from physical to digital in the last 20 years. Now it will transition to next-generation technologies.

Creative teams are adapting content for Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). Leveraging these platforms can distinguish you from your competitors. They are opportunities for great original content as well.

Be sure you know what you’re doing with these investments. It’s common for content efforts here to have limited impact. Be sure there are opportunities for publicity or revenue before you invest.

7. Creative Talent is a Foundation

Your team needn’t consist of technology experts to succeed. The accessibility of technologies is changing those standards. The new measure of success is your creative capacity.

Invest in creative people and help develop creative competencies. Your content is only as compelling as the team that develops them. As they adapt to new strategies and technologies, creativity will determine your level of success.

Get the Most Out of Your Content Strategy

You need the best resources to build a successful content strategy. Finding them doesn’t have to be hard.

Article City has the best content and professional writing team available. Sign up for free and get started with exclusive capabilities today.

7 Amazing Healthcare Content Marketing Tips Professionals Use

80% of Internet users search for health information online. As a healthcare company generating and distributing useful health content should be a top priority.

But getting your content in front of potential customers to build this trust takes strategy.

Let’s explore what you need to know to build an effective one in healthcare content marketing the way professionals do.

1) Get a Written Plan

Studies show that nearly 40% of companies try to implement content marketing without any written plan.

They end up picking random topics. They don’t have clear objectives or goals. They think they’re just going to publish a blog or two a week and see them “take off”. They share them on FaceBook. They don’t consistently measure results.

Then they wonder why “content marketing doesn’t work”.

Get a plan and get ready to execute a healthcare content marketing strategy that gets results.

2) Follow the Plan

The great thing about a plan is that it has clear benchmarks, methods, who’s responsible for what, etc.

You can look back to see what’s working and where you need to make changes. You can identify if things are going as expected and if everyone’s on task.

Follow the plan that you have established for your healthcare content marketing.

Through this, you can answer the question: Is it the plan that needs to adapt? Or is the team simply not staying on task to execute your healthcare marketing strategy.

3) Be Clear on Your Target Audience

If you’re in private practice, you want more patients. We get it. But who are your ideal patients? Some healthcare companies market too broad. They don’t want to exclude anyone. This seems like the right and ethical thing to do.

But the success of any healthcare content marketing strategy is dependent on its ability to connect with people. You can’t connect if you don’t have a clear vision of who you’re trying to connect with.

In content marketing, you may have 5+ distinct targets. But each piece of content that you create and distribute should have a single target in mind.

4) Do a Competitive Analysis

On average, search results account for 51% of a website’s traffic. One of the goals of content marketing is to increase your ranking in searches so that you earn more of this organic traffic through SEO.

92% of traffic goes to page one results so this is where you need to be.

Evaluate who’s appearing on page one in your local market for key phrases people would use to find your website.

Take a close look at their sites. What kind of content are they creating? Where are they focusing their social media efforts? What is their domain authority?

How many links do they have from other sites? You can invest in tools that will help you gain a clearer understanding of what the competition is doing to earn page one spots.

5) Generate Shareable Content Topics

An effective strategy needs two primary types of content topics — evergreen and trending. They serve different purposes and work together to help you achieve your goals.

Evergreen Topics

A portion of your topics should be evergreen. They should be timeless topics that people are always looking for. They may be the answers to common healthcare questions in your niche or other tips and tricks that your target finds helpful.

You can keep the ideas flowing by listening to your industry. Stay active on social media sites to keep your finger on the pulse of the industry.

Talk to your sales department and patient support services teams. Find out about commonly asked questions and concerns. Address them in evergreen content.

You can actually cut patient support costs by making these resources available online.

Mayo Clinic is an example of healthcare company that produces great evergreen content. They address everything health and are one of the top resources that people turn to when they have a health question.

Trending Topics

And some of your content should be on trending topics likes relevant news stories. Whenever you can find a way to integrate a trending topic into your specific healthcare content marketing niche do so.

Not only does this demonstrate that you’re current, it helps drive traffic because you have a topic that people are very actively looking for.

Get creative. The news doesn’t have to be exactly in your niche. In fact, the more you can bend the content to fit into your niche, the more original piece of content you’ll create.

Whether you’re creating content for addiction recovery or a power wheelchair company, you can find trending stories to fit into your niche.

6) Get a Personality

People don’t get behind a business. They get behind the people behind that brand. The more you can humanize your brand, the more easily you’ll connect with people.

You may have noticed the recent Gillette commercials where they’re doing just that. Founded over 120 years ago, this shaving company is having to adapt to changing consumer behavior.

Instead of commercials with flashy images and slogans, they’re placing their employees prominently in the commercials. It gives the company a human face.

A 2nd example, Saint Thomas Hospital Systems in Nashville, isn’t alone in its attempt to give its impersonal hospital brand a makeover. For the past several years, they’ve been creating content that tells the stories of their patients — with permission of course.

These heartfelt pieces connect with people going through similar health struggles. You can’t do that with a how-to video or 11 quick tips article.

7) Measure Everything

You can’t optimize your healthcare content marketing if you don’t know what’s working best for you. Use free tools like Google Analytics to evaluate how people are interacting with content.

How much traffic is it getting? Do people stay on the page?

Does it encourage people to click on another page to continue to browse the site? Schedule an appointment? Or buy something?

When you know what to measure and consistently measure it, you know where to go for more info when your strategies aren’t working.

Don’t be in the dark. Leverage this data to improve your strategies.

Healthcare Content Marketing

To get results with content, you need a written plan. Lay out how you will create, curate and distribute content.

Follow your plan. Create content that people are looking for and love.

Show your human side. Measure your results.

For more tips on leveraging content in your industry, follow our blog.

Crafting the Best Content for an Adventure Travel Blog

An adventure travel blog is a great way to fuel your passion for writing while exploring the world. There are so many benefits, it’s hard to imagine why everybody hasn’t started one.

Blogging is huge business. Although it’s difficult to know the exact number, it’s been estimated that there are currently over 440 million blogs worldwide. With this much competition, it’s no surprise that many get lost in the shuffle.

For an adventure travel blog to stand out, it must constantly feature killer content. Here are a few tips for getting started.

Be Consistent With Your Adventure Travel Blog

While it’s easy to get distracted with planning new adventures, it’s important to stick to a consistent writing schedule. Bloggers who stop posting for months at a time may be unpleasantly surprised to find that their readers didn’t sit around waiting for them. Internet users have short attention spans, and blogs that go stale are quickly forgotten.

Stay Inspired

It’s difficult for a travel blogger to come up with content while sitting at home on the couch. Booking frequent trips keeps you inspired and ensures you will always have new topics to fuel your blogging efforts.

Thanks to the convenient new service Barcelona Transfer QuickTransfer, travel bloggers no longer have to worry about wandering around cities looking for their destinations. This service, available in many countries worldwide, makes it easy to book a car online.

There’s something to be said about the confidence of knowing a professional driver will pick you up and deliver you directly to your chosen location.

Get Visual

Humans are visual creatures.

This is an important key to remember when crafting your adventure travel blog. While visiting foreign locations, always be on the lookout for unique and breathtaking photo opportunities.

When you craft your blog posts, be sure to integrate as many of these photos as possible.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Instead of photographing the same tourist attraction that is featured on hundreds of other sites, find a different perspective. Use candid photos of locals to capture the spirit of the location, play with lighting and angles, and take the time to go off the beaten path.

Integrate with Social Media

Instagram and Facebook are excellent ways to promote your adventure travel blog. This exposes content to a broader audience and allows readers to engage on whatever platform they’re most comfortable using.

An adventure travel blog that has a consistent following is much more likely to thrive.

When your fans are loyal and willing to share your posts, you’ve essentially created a marketing team who is willing to work for free. Keep creating killer posts, and there is always the chance of going viral.

Keep Up with the Latest News

Blogging is a craft that requires equal amounts of passion and technique. Writers who fail to sharpen their skills may find that they fall behind the pack.

Make sure your blog is the best it can be by following the ArticleCity blog for the industry’s best content marketing tips and tricks.

4 Easy Tips for Promoting Your Online Weed Content

According to Search Engine Watch, there are 7 reasons why and how content goes viral. These include content that is able to trigger emotions, positive sentiment such as the Ice Bucket Challenge, and people’s natural tendency to share powerful ideas.

But virality isn’t the only measure of online content success. Your online weed content, for example, doesn’t have to be seen and loved by everyone. As long as your target audience responds positively to your content, you may not think of it as viral but you can consider it as a job well done.

Of course, getting there takes some work. So if you’re looking for ways to promote your weed blog or specific articles, we’ve got some tips for you to try.

How to Promote Your Online Weed Content

1. Target Smaller Community Sites

Remember what we said about reaching your target audience? The beauty of going after smaller community sites such as Reddit or Quora is you can go after active and focused audiences, which is awesome for niche-specific blogs.

But take note, this may sound easy but you can’t forget about adding value to the community. This means you have to establish yourself as an authority. In this case, an authority in weed.

Try to be helpful and actively participate. That means posting questions and maybe even promoting others’ work. When community members notice your contributions, they will start following you, which is your cue to start sharing (aka promoting) your content.

2. Consider Paid Promotion

Some channels such as content recommendation platforms work for those who want to reach a wide audience. If you want to be an online weed content to stand out, though, you should promote on social networking and/or social bookmarking sites.

Why?

With Facebook’s sponsored posts or Twitter’s promoted tweets, you get the option to really hand pick the people whom you want to see your content. These promotion channels will allow you to go as granular as you want. You can target by age, occupation, location, and even marital status.

For those who have a limited marketing budget, this is also a cost-effective option. You can adjust your bids as low as $1/day. This means you don’t have to spend a lot just to get eyeballs to your weed website.

3. Work with Influencers

Business Dictionary defines influencers as individuals who can affect others’ purchase decisions. They can do this because of their authority (real or perceived), knowledge, position, or relationship.

If you can network with influencers in your niche and get them to share your content, you automatically get access to their followers. If you’re an influencer yourself (refer to what we said about building authority), it becomes a mutually beneficial partnership. Your combined audience obviously means increased exposure for both parties.

Now, if you’re still working on becoming an influencer, perhaps you could ask to become a contributor on their site. If it’s a blog about weed brownies, you can write a related post or do a video reviewing pot brownies.

4. Try Retargeting

An easy way to promote your content is retargeting. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it means getting visitors who have read one or some of your posts and luring them back to your weed website.

This is usually done with ads. Tagged visitors will be shown banner ads that will hopefully entice them to check your site again. Retargeting can also be accomplished with email marketing.

If you send out newsletters, you can use social media retargeting and deliver exclusive content to your existing subscribers.

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