Every small business has its own unique goals, so each one’s customers are going to follow different patterns before eventually converting. This requires many kinds of content, from daily blog posts to analytics pieces to whitepapers. Knowing when to publish standard content like news articles or when to focus on in-depth case studies can be challenging. This guide contains questions you might have about your own strategy, with answers that should shed some light on when you may want to embrace more nuanced content formats.
1. How is this different from standard blog content?
Standard blog content is generally published daily and supports objectives like improving search visibility and increasing traffic to a website. It’s inherently different from other premium formats like case studies, white papers and industry spotlights because it achieves different goals. Premium content takes longer to produce, but provides in-depth assets that increase engagement and promote thought leadership.
2. How do I know if my content strategy needs these ‘premium’ content formats?
One good indication that you should explore new content formats is that traffic to your website is up but engagement could be strengthened.
You might want premium content if: You have a website where you regularly publish blog content and those efforts brings more visitors to your site and you’re seeing the traffic you want. However, if you want qualified prospects to spend additional time on the site and dig into the unique insights you’re providing and get a sense for why you’re different from competitors.
3. Where does premium content fit into a marketing strategy?
Once you’ve used daily blogs, news articles and other types of standard content to drive up traffic, you want to increase engagement and brand awareness. But before you can be a thought leader in your industry, you need an audience to speak to. Premium content is a great way to build trust with clients and solidify positive impressions to drive sales.
4. How long does it take to produce other formats besides custom blog content?
Standard content is meant to be ephemeral. It’s shorter and less nuanced, which is what makes it great for driving traffic. Blog content is agile, meaning it’s updated so often and requires a lighter commitment and can better reflect search trends and reader preferences.
Premium pieces like meatier. It takes longer to come up with and research topics, and the writing timeline is longer for premium content. It’s also usually written for a smaller audience of experts who have a higher knowledge level, which means it takes longer to qualify and fine-tune the writing.
5. How does the tone of premium content differ from standard content’s?
Premium content usually requires taking a stand on a particular issue and backing it up with a lot of in-depth research, a distinct voice or a clear opinion. Thought leadership and reader engagement means striking a chord, and premium content is supposed to stand out from other resources among readers.
Standard content is more consumable for a larger number of readers. It’s meant to be searched for, seen, appreciated and shared by a large number of people.
6. Do I have to choose between premium and standard content?
These two types of content aren’t at odds with each other – they’re actually better together because they achieve different goals. Most premium content customers start with standard content, get the traffic numbers they’re looking for, and start publishing premium content to increase engagement and deepen ties with their readers. Standard content can stand on its own, and premium can support it.
Have questions about content? We’d love to hear them!
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