Inbound marketing is about building relationships over time by establishing trust and providing value. Content will be more effective if some simple guidelines are followed. People are pressed for time so messages must be simple and unobtrusive. Keywords should be employed to establish familiarity and support searches. Also, calls to action should be included but not prominent and graphics should be used to enhance the message. Bullet points support ease of understanding and last but not least the message should support the objective of inbound marketing – to build relationships. Following are ways to create effective content marketing messages:
- Keep it Simple – Inbound marketing messages or content sharing should be brief, easy to understand and useful. The main point of the message should be communicated at the opening and expanded upon in the body of the writing. People are pressed for time so the content must be relevant and easy to absorb.
- Use Keywords and Phrases – Use words and phrases relevant to the target audience such as ‘vehicle maintenance’ or ‘vehicle care’. This will not only strengthen communications but will allow content to be found when searches are performed.
- Include Calls to Action – Unobtrusively and without detracting from the content of the communication – invitations to evaluate products and services should be a part of any marketing message. Calls to action should be secondary to content.
- Add Graphics – Pictures and graphics are attention grabbers and they break up text to make the appearance of the content more interesting. They should communicate and reinforce the idea of the content.
- Use Bullet Points – Lists of points on a topic are easy for people to absorb. They break writing up into smaller pieces making it easier to understand.
- Remember the Objective – The purpose of inbound marketing is to build relationships over time by establishing trust and providing value. Content sharing should focus on accomplishing this objective.