This is Part 1 of a 2-part series on Content marketing for authors. This first part is an introduction to Content Marketing covering some commonly asked questions: What is content marketing? How does content marketing help an author? How does content marketing help rank in Google search? What’s the best way to get started in content marketing? What’s the best strategy for content marketing, and does content marketing really work?

Also check Part 2: The Best Tools for Content Marketing

Introduction

Content marketing is the process of creating and sharing content that will attract your ideal customers and help you turn those leads into paying readers. This usually involves publishing blogs, videos, podcasts, and downloadable material to your website. If done correctly, content marketing can help authors drive new traffic to their website and turn visitors into loyal, paying, readers. It sounds pretty straightforward in theory but can get a little more complicated when you dive down into the details of what it takes to make a solid content plan work for your author brand. So let’s explore exactly what content marketing is and how it can be used to grow your book sales.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is a form of marketing that uses content to attract customers. Content marketing can be used to build your brand and sell any form of products or services, as well as attract visitors to your website and generate sales leads.

It’s also important to understand that not all content you create needs to have the goal of directly selling your books. In fact, some of the best content marketers don’t even use ads or affiliate links in their content.

The ultimate goal with any type of digital marketing is to get people online talking about what you do; this includes sharing it on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (and let’s not forget about Pinterest!).

How does content marketing help an author?

Content marketing is a great way to attract traffic to your website, and it can help you turn that traffic into leads. It’s also a great way to build trust with your readers.

Content marketing has the power to build brand awareness, authority, and credibility for your brand. It helps you get into the heads of book buyers by providing them with the information they need when they need it. Through content marketing, you can more effectively expose people to your writing — and ultimately sell more books!

How does content marketing help rank in Google search?

While content marketing is not a “magic pill” for ranking in Google, it does have its benefits.

With that said, there are many other factors that determine whether or not your content and/or website will rank highly in search results. However, content marketing has been shown to increase visitor engagement and improve the quality of your website’s backlinks (which is another way by which Google determines rankings).

What’s the best way to start content marketing?

One of the best ways to start content marketing is by focusing on your audience. You need to know who you are targeting and what they want, but not just any information will do. In order for your content marketing efforts to be successful, you have to make sure that it’s relevant to your audience.

To find out what kind of content people in your target market are looking for, use Google Analytics and monitor which keywords people search for when they visit your site. This way, you can see if there are any gaps in terms of topics or subjects covered on your website.

Afterward, take these findings into consideration and create new blog posts that cover those topics or subjects more thoroughly than before.

What’s the best strategy for content marketing?

The best way to be successful at content marketing is to use a variety of platforms, tools, formats, channels, and topics. You can’t just do one thing and expect it to work.

For example: if you only write blog posts for your website and your subscribers don’t listen to podcasts or watch videos on YouTube and Facebook, then you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities that could help you get more traffic from those sources!

There are a lot of different ways that authors use content marketing. Here are some examples:

– Writing blog posts that are helpful to your readership

– Creating videos that explain backstories to your characters

– Sharing articles from other sources that relate to your writing in an interesting way

Does content marketing really work?

Content marketing is a long-term strategy.

Many people think that making money from content marketing is going to happen overnight, but it takes time to grow an audience and build trust with readers. It’s important to commit yourself to this process and understand that it will take some time before you see any results or return on your investment.

Read Part 2: The Best Tools for Content Marketing

Photo by Melanie Deziel on Unsplash