Content marketing tactics are ways to reach and engage target audiences through online content (e.g., blog posts, social posts, and videos).
They help you reach goals outlined in your content marketing strategy.
Below, we’ve rounded up 10 of the most effective content marketing tactics to use in 2024 and beyond.
1. Analyze and Satisfy Search Intent
Create content that targets relevant keywords (i.e., search engine queries). And satisfies their search intent (i.e., what the user wants).
That way, you can increase your brand’s organic (unpaid) visibility in search engines like Google. And attract more potential customers to your website.
Find the best keywords for your brand by performing keyword research.
Perform Keyword Research
Go to Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool. And enter a term to base your search around (one that’s related to your brand).
Then, add your domain and target country before clicking “Search.”
The tool will search Semrush’s database of over 26 billion keywords. To display “Broad Match” keywords containing your starting term or a close variation.
They’re sorted by “Volume.” Which represents the average number of monthly Google searches.
Another important metric is “PKD%” (Personal Keyword Difficulty).
This estimates how hard it’ll be for your site to earn a top-10 organic ranking for the keyword.
If you’re new to search engine optimization (SEO), it’s best to target keywords in the “Very Easy” to “Easy” range (0% to 29%). And work your way up over time.
Lower-difficulty keywords usually have lower search volumes. But it’s generally better to rank highly for a low-volume query than lowly for a high-volume query. Because most users don’t scroll very far.
Next, pay attention to the “Intent” column.
This shows the type of search intent (user goal) behind each keyword:
- Informational (I) means the typical user is seeking information
- Commercial (C) means the typical user is researching a product, service, or brand
- Navigational (N) means the typical user is seeking a particular webpage or website
- Transactional (T) means the typical user is looking to make a purchase
Generally, informational and commercial keywords are best for content marketing.
You can see what type of content performs well for a given keyword by reviewing its search engine results page (SERP).
Just click the icon in the “SF” column:
If this type of content seems like a good fit for your brand—and you think the keyword is worth targeting—go ahead with creating search-optimized content.
Create Optimized Content and Satisfy Search Intent
There are two main things you must do to optimize content for a particular keyword (or group of related keywords):
- Satisfy search intent effectively
- Make your content search engine-friendly
Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant can help.
Start a new text, fill out the details, then click “Get recommendations.”
Next, start writing your content in the editor. And follow these best practices:
- Minimize time to value (i.e., avoid unnecessary fluff and satisfy users’ needs quickly)
- Focus on information gain (i.e., add unique insights and ideas to your content)
- Make sure your content is accurate and easy to read
- Structure your content with heading tags (H1, H2, etc.)
- Give your content a descriptive and engaging title
- Use a tone of voice that suits your brand and target audience
- Break up your text with visuals, where appropriate
As you write, the tool will provide feedback on SEO, readability, and tone of voice.
These suggestions are based on best practices and analyses of competing content.
The “Smart Writer” can help you draft or improve your content.
When you’re happy with your draft, conduct an originality check. To ensure your content is totally unique before publishing.
2. Leverage Primary Data
Primary data is information unique to your business. It can help you create engaging, unique content.
Take Spotify Wrapped, for example.
In this yearly campaign, Spotify provides users with a personalized summary of their listening habits over the past 12 months. And shares global and national trends.
It drives a ton of social media and press activity.
To get started with this content marketing tactic, identify primary data your business has access to. (Or consider conducting research so you can gather it.)
For instance:
- Survey responses
- Sales data
- Website analytics
- Product usage data
Then, think about what kinds of questions your data could answer. Questions your audience will be interested in.
You can then perform data analysis to get the answer.
If your findings are interesting and new, you have a story to tell.
For example, Spotify answers questions like “Who’s the most streamed artist on Spotify?”
Then shares its findings through the app, press releases, blog posts, social media posts, and various other formats. To maximize audience reach.
Visualizations are commonly used to make data more engaging and shareable.
Image Source: Spotify
3. Use Topic Clusters
A topic cluster is a set of interlinked webpages (usually blog posts) that work together to cover a topic comprehensively.
It contains a pillar page, which provides a topical overview. And multiple cluster pages, which address associated subtopics.
Hyperlinks connect the pillar page to all the cluster pages—and vice versa.
Like this:
Topic clustering is a good content marketing technique because it helps build topical authority.
In other words, users and search engines are more likely to think of you as a subject matter expert. Which can lead to more traffic, search visibility, and engagement.
You can gather ideas for your clusters with the Topic Research tool.
Just enter a topic and target country to get a list of subtopic ideas. Along with useful data about each one.
4. Repurpose Existing Content
Repurposing content (i.e., adapting content into different formats) can improve your reach and engagement.
Why?
Because doing so caters to people with varying needs, preferences, and habits. And allows you to distribute content across different platforms.
Repurposing also tends to be quicker and easier than creating content from scratch.
So, it can be a highly cost-effective content marketing tactic.
When repurposing, start with your best-performing content. To see if you can replicate its success across other platforms.
You can then brainstorm suitable content marketing formats. Based on subject matter, your target audience, and your wider marketing strategy.
For instance, a B2B marketer might be able to repurpose a blog post into a:
- Webinar
- Podcast
- Video
- Ebook
- Infographic
- LinkedIn post
- Newsletter
Sometimes, it’s smart to use multiple formats together.
Embedding a video in a blog post, for example, can improve engagement of visual learners.
5. Build a Content Marketing Funnel
A content marketing funnel is a collection of content that works to engage prospects across the entire buying journey.
It covers three main stages:
- Top of the funnel (ToFu): Prospects become aware of the problem you can solve
- Middle of the funnel (MoFu): Prospects want a solution and consider their options
- Bottom of the funnel (BoFu): Prospects decide on a solution and become customers
The funnel diagram represents the audience size narrowing as the journey progresses toward purchase:
A robust content marketing funnel allows you to reach more prospects, build stronger relationships with them, and guide them toward conversion.
If you have a weakness at any stage of the funnel, prospects are likely to go to a competitor instead.
To illustrate, let’s look at the mattress brand Casper.
The company has blog posts about various sleep problems. These attract people at the top of the funnel who might be interested in a new mattress—but don’t know it yet.
Casper also offers mattress buying guides and comparison guides.
These are designed to help people in the middle of the funnel. Who are researching their options.
At the bottom of the funnel, detailed product pages and customer service FAQs help turn shoppers into buyers.
6. Launch Gated Content
Gated content is high-quality content that users must submit their information to access.
Like this:
The main goal is to generate leads. If users give permission, you can contact them with personalized emails.
Collecting data can also give you valuable insight into audience demographics etc.
To get started, you need to develop a piece of high-quality content tailored to your target audience. Common types of gated content include:
- Research reports
- White papers
- Ebooks
- Webinars
- Newsletters
- Tools
- Templates
- Product demos
Then, build the landing page that encourages users to opt in.
When designing the form, carefully consider what fields to include. More fields means more data but increases the risk of the user backing out.
7. Engage in Thought Leadership
Thought leadership is the process of sharing original ideas, insights, and opinions. With the aim of influencing or inspiring others. And building your reputation.
For example, Alex Novarro argues that businesses “should stop planting trees and start protecting forests” on behalf of Trellis (a sustainability networking company).
Thought leadership is a particularly good B2B content marketing tactic. Because business buyers tend to value expertise and innovation highly.
You can publish thought leadership content on your own blog, social media profiles, etc. Or try to get featured in industry publications.
To do so, you’ll need to come up with an engaging idea. And send convincing outreach emails to relevant websites.
8. Create Skyscraper Content
Skyscraper content is content designed to be a better version of a widely linked resource.
The goal is to inherit the links the resource already has. And ones it could acquire in the future.
Because links from other websites (backlinks) can drive valuable referral traffic. And boost your SEO.
To see which of your competitor’s pages get the most backlinks, enter their domain (or a relevant subfolder) into the Backlink Analytics tool. And click “Analyze.”
Go to the “Indexed Pages” tab to see which pages have links from the most domains.
Review the content by clicking the icon that looks like this:
And determine if you can create a better version of the page.
Perhaps you can:
- Make the content more comprehensive
- Include original ideas, insights, or data
- Add better visuals or interactive elements
After creating skyscraper content, contact the reputable sites that link to your competitor’s page. And encourage them to link to your version, instead.
You can manage the entire outreach process (and identify other link building prospects) with Semrush’s Link Building Tool.
9. Encourage User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) is content created by your audience.
Encouraging UGC can be a cost-effective way to increase content production.
It can also improve your relationship with your audience:
- People who create UGC may feel more involved with and valued by your brand
- People who consume UGC may view your brand as more authentic and trustworthy
For example, action camera brand GoPro runs a “photo of the day” challenge.
The company gives winners a cash prize. And shares winning entries on its social media profiles with millions of followers.
This content marketing tactic allows GoPro to generate high-quality content at a relatively low cost. And foster an engaged community around its brand.
Consider what types of content your users could create. And incentivize them to create it.
10. Try Storytelling
Storytelling can be an effective content marketing technique. Because it allows you to communicate your brand values in a more humanistic, engaging way.
It generally involves telling real stories about people in your community.
For example, outdoors brand Patagonia created a film about a surfer trying to protect a vulnerable coastline.
The story doesn’t directly reference Patagonia or its products. But it signals that the brand is passionate about the same things its target audience is.
Plus, that kind of high-quality content elicits an emotional response. People who are passionate about the film’s message are likely to share it with their peers, increasing Patagonia’s reach.
To tell a good story, you typically need:
- A structured narrative with a beginning, middle, and end
- Compelling characters that humanize the story
- Emotional appeal
- Authenticity (i.e., a message that truly aligns with your brand’s values)
Measuring the Success of Content Marketing Tactics
To discover the most effective approach for your brand, you must measure the success of your content marketing tactics.
That means tracking two vital things:
- What resources you invest
- What benefits you gain (and over what time frame)
Not all benefits are easy to measure. But there are many content marketing metrics you can use to gauge your performance.
For example, the Position Tracking tool lets you monitor your keyword visibility in Google.
You can make the most of this tool and many others with your free Semrush trial.