Publishers, we see you. 😅

You’re juggling a TON — from pumping out quality books, magazines, newspapers, and journals to making sure every detail is perfect. All while your coffee intake could probably rival a small café’s supply.

Meanwhile, content marketers are over here like:

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But hold up — don’t sweat it! We’ve got the secret key to help you navigate these challenges and turn your publishing expertise into something modern, interactive, and totally valuable.

In this article, we’re diving into why content marketing matters for publishers and how to build a strategy that actually works for you.

What is content marketing for publishers?

In a nutshell, content marketing for publishers is a lot like traditional content marketing:

Step 1: You craft engaging content.

Step 2: It resonates with your target audience. 

Step 3: ???

Step 4: Profit. 

Content marketing is a journey. The end goal isn’t a treasure per se, but it’s the next best thing: a purchase. In translation, content marketing takes your audience on a compelling adventure that persuades them to take action, as well as become loyal to your brand. 

Moreover, unlike traditional marketing which is often obnoxious in the way it shoves products in your face, content marketing tells the audience who you are as a publisher and what your mission is. Basically, it shows that you are the solution to your potential customers’ problems. 

Alright, now let’s see why it’s so important for publishers to invest in content marketing. 

Why is content marketing important for publishers?

Good question! It all comes down to one thing: online presence. While as a publisher, you already have a loyal audience, you need to keep up with many evolving digital trends, like artificial intelligence, to grow even more. 

Think about it. We humans have access to information at the drop of a hat. If we want to find out how to make pancakes, we can Google it and find exactly what we’re looking for. 

That’s why so many brands — including publishers — need to be online to win more users. 

But to do so, they need to create truthful, accurate, and reliable content. You might wonder why, but the answer is simple: Google (or any search engine) likes valuable and helpful content. High-quality, informative content ranks high on search engine result pages (SERPs) and improves exposure by positioning you as a thought leader in your niche, which enhances credibility. 

But it also helps publishers attract and retain a more engaged audience by making it easier for them to discover the publisher’s content organically. 

Lastly, you move on from traditional publisher stuff like ad placement. You’ll join the world of subscriptions, sponsored content, and partnerships, which yield more revenue than other methods. 

Not only do you remove the over-dependence on ad revenue, but you also have another monetization channel that you can use to boost visibility and drive traffic. 

Okay, that said, what’s a good content marketing strategy for publishers? 

Oh, we know! ✋ 

What are the key components of a content marketing strategy for publishers?

Any good thing in life is made out of something. Your phone is made out of nuts and bolts and chips. A burger has the patty, the meat, and some salad in between the buns. 

So why would a content marketing strategy for publishers be any different?

It’s not. It has all the ingredients to make it perfect; sneak a peek at our nice graphic to get a glimpse at the recipe: 

Now, let’s go through all these ingredients and see what they’re about.

1. Understand your target audience

The product is not about you, it’s about them. Whoever ‘them’ are. Knowing your audience is a crucial step in any content marketing strategy since you need to understand who they are, what they want, and how you can fix their problems. 

When you put your clients first (and don’t create products and services you think someone would like) you’ll cater to their needs and preferences, and they’ll be more compelled to interact with your brand. 

So, remember: create content for a niche audience to attract them!

2. Conduct keyword research

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We know. But you know what’s even harder? Driving organic traffic without doing your keyword research. Why? Optimizing your content for search engines is a surefire way to rank higher when people search using a term or phrase you qualify for. As a result, they’ll easily find your content. 

In a nutshell, search engines index your content to improve discoverability, which attracts more organic traffic. By displaying your content higher on the search results, it fulfills your users’ search intent better. 

Simple math, really! 🤓

3. Create different types of content

Let’s talk about content — which type of content should you use to attract a loyal audience as a publisher? 

Source: Giphy

Correct! You should use diverse content types first to see which one works best for your audience. The point is to provide valuable content in the format your customers prefer. For example, maybe your audience loves video — it keeps them engaged and you’ve had the highest conversion rates. 

Focus on that! But, don’t worry; if videos aren’t for you, there are other types of content you can use, such as: 

• Blog posts: Probably the most common type of content used in marketing, blog posts can generate leads and excitement around various subjects. Publishers can turn their output into easily digestible articles that drive massive organic traffic and improve their content’s reach. 
• Infographics: As a publisher, you can use infographics to display your content in a fun and simple way. Have a column in your newspaper with tips on how to eat more healthily? Turn it into a neat infographic for your online audience — they’ll love it!
• Social media content: Oh, social media, what would we do without you? Love it or hate it, it’s undeniable that social media is the place to be, especially if you’re a publisher. You have millions of ways to build brand awareness, grow a huge follower base, and generate leads by publishing informative and high-quality content. 
• Emails: Here’s a thing publishers will definitely love. Email campaigns are great tools for nurturing leads, driving traffic to your content, and keeping subscribers in the loop with what’s new in your company. It’s a proven way to grow your audience base and encourage readers to interact with your content. 

Phew — sounds like a lot, but don’t worry. You don’t have to produce every piece of content on your own. You can use a content marketing tool like Ceros!

Publishers can use Ceros to create highly engaging and effective content of all kinds. E-books, presentations, infographics, blog posts — your wish is our command. 

4. Maintain your distinctive personality

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. You might think that being like your rival (professional, but cheerful at the same time) is the key to your audience’s heart. But that’s not your style. You’re more of a joking, memeish kinda publisher. 

And that’s totally okay, as long as it resonates with your audience and you do it with gusto. 

The important thing is to maintain your distinctive personality and be you. Sure, focus on your audience and what they want, but don’t lose your sense of self. You need to show off that brilliant, passionate, or snarky personality because it’s the only way to differentiate yourself from the crowd. 

5. Focus on interactive content 

Have you heard of interactive content before? No? Class is in session — let’s teach you a bit about interactive marketing and how it can turn casual users into active and loyal customers. 

Why is interactive content better than the more traditional type? Mostly due to its immersive nature. Instead of simply sifting through content that leaves no real impression, users get to interact with the content. 

For example, customers can participate in quizzes that reward them for their participation. Isn’t that more fun than just reading a huge chunk of text? 

Of course, it is! Publishers can engage web visitors for longer, increasing brand awareness and building a stronger connection with their audience.

If you want to look at some amazing examples, check out Ceros’s Inspire gallery. You’ll surely find something you adore. 😉

6. Develop an SEO strategy

You don’t want your visitors to spend a lot of time searching for your content like — 

Source: Giphy

You want potential customers to find your content fast — that’s exactly why every publisher needs SEO. It optimizes your content so it ranks higher on SERPs, ensuring that people will always find your content. 

SEO is the way to go if you want a cost-effective content marketing strategy, especially in the long term. As long as you rank high on SERPs, you’ll slowly increase your website traffic flow every day, which helps you organically generate more leads. 

7. Promote your content

As a publisher, you know your stuff about promotion. And guess what? You’ll have to do it all over again, only digitally and through other means. 

For instance, there’s influencer collaboration, which is a highly effective way to promote your content. What it entails is that you ask influencers from the field to talk about your product, which makes your brand more relatable and genuine. 

You can also try to repurpose your content. Let’s say you’ve only created blog posts till now. But you can turn a blog post into a neat infographic. Or if you did a webinar on ten ways to get healthy, you can repurpose the webinar into a blog post.

There are millions of combinations — you just have to be strategic about it and find the type of content that works best for you. 

8. Measure the success of content marketing efforts

One important thing you have to do is measure the success of your content marketing efforts. There are a few metrics you should keep in mind when doing so, such as: 

• Website traffic — Duh! It’s the best way to see how effective your content is because it tracks the number of visitors who frequent your pages. If there’s increased traffic, it indicates that your content works well at promoting your business and driving engagement. 
• Engagement metrics — How much time do people spend on your site? How many leave? Knowing these things is important in determining if your content is engaging enough for your readers. Increased engagement suggests your content is relevant and of high quality — so keep it up! 
• Social media metrics — Another important metric you should monitor is interaction on various social media channels — likes, shares, comments, and follower growth. It shows that your content resonates with your audience and that it’s able to spark conversations around a topic.
• Conversion rates — What this means is how well your content drives the desired action. For example, if your goal is to get more newsletter sign-ups, conversion rates will show how many people perform that action. 
• SEO performance — SEO is important! Remember that, as it’s a good way of ranking organically with search engines. By tracking this metric, you’ll see where you rank, what your keyword performance is, and if your content drives organic traffic. 
• Audience retention — In a nutshell, this metric indicates your client's ability to maintain reader interest over time. If people keep returning to your website, then take that as a good sign! 

Psst! You should know that Ceros has analytics capabilities. Which means it can help you — a publisher — track the effectiveness of your content more easily. Try it out! 

9. Leave room for experimentation

Our last advice is: be creative! There’s no right or wrong way to do content marketing. If your thing is to do webinars every week, you can do that! If you like to show off your office and how much fun your company is, do that. 

No one is stopping you. You should still pay attention to data, of course. But a gut feeling is just as important as data. What you need to do is experiment with different strategies and to not be afraid of mistakes. 

After some trial and error, you’ll reach that sweet spot that brings in a loyal following. 

***

One last thing — 

Over to you!

Publishers! Are you ready?! 

“For what?” you might ask, a bit confused. Well, to start creating the content you need to reach a broader audience and drive the traffic you want. 

You: 

Source: Giphy

The only tool you need for this task is Ceros. You’ve already heard about what it can do, but if you want to see it for yourself, you’ll need to try scheduling a demo with Ceros. 

So, what are you waiting for? 🤭