5 Content Marketing New Year’s Resolutions

When the year comes to an end, it’s natural to start thinking about successes from the past year as well as what you might want to do differently in the year ahead.

For some people, the best way to do this is by making a new year’s resolution.

While they have earned their share of controversy over the years — we all know that person who makes a resolution not to make a resolution — there’s value to the idea. In a way, setting resolutions is a form of setting goals, keeping yourself on track. They can also be a great way to do less of something that’s been detrimental to your business.

This year, we’re looking toward the new year with five content marketing new year’s resolutions to help us all be more successful in 2020.

1. Resolve not to be everything to everyone. It happens to all of us. You want to satisfy all your clients’ needs, but you find yourself stretching your resources or abilities to do so. Or, perhaps you are trying to serve too many industries and end up diluting your message and services. Instead, focus on your mission, your target customers, and your strengths. Aim to grow in a way that feels best for your organization — don’t try to please everyone.
2. Resolve not to try and “go viral.” We all know that piece of content that seemed to come crashing through our inboxes, Slack channels and social media feeds — the one everyone was talking about because it went viral. While some people think this is the end-goal with content, there’s no formula for making something “go viral.” No one can make anything go viral, and it’s hardly ever intentional. Instead, focus on creating great content with a goal and an audience in mind, and go from there.
3. Resolve to make it easy for your audience to find your content. It’s easy to think that, if you write well-written, thoughtful and engaging content, the audience will naturally find your piece. It doesn’t always happen organically. In reality, it requires strategy and time to optimize the content for SEO, distribute the content among your audience’s preferred channels, and maybe even put in some paid advertising dollars to amplify your effort. This year, resolve to make it easier for your target audience to find your content right when they need it.
4. Resolve to make content about more than words alone. There are so many types of content and ways to reach people. This resolution is about making the most of different methods of consuming content, such as videos, podcasts or graphics. Know your audience and how they tend to consume content. Are they on social media? Do they learn best with animated videos? Then experiment with different forms of content and see what happens.
5. Resolve to look at data when making decisions. It’s human nature to make decisions based on feelings or assumptions. Yet, when you have data available, why not use it? This is even more important in content marketing, where analytics can tell you what’s working and what’s not working when it comes to content. Resolve to dive deeper into your analytics program in the new year to determine what your audience is actually clicking on and reading, what topics they care about, and which channels you can use to best distribute your work. It’ll be bound to make a difference in how you make decisions in the new year.

Want more content marketing tips? The team at 3 Aspens Media is here to help. We are skilled at creating content that will reach your audience and delight your customers. Let us know how we can help grow your business by emailing us at info@3aspensmedia.com.