Quality content helps you generate and nurture quality leads. Over 80% of marketers view quality content as a crucial competitive differentiator: even more so than originality, distribution, or promotion. Quality content is powerful and meets your potential clients at the right point of their buyer’s journey and provides them with the information they need.

The Power of Content

Impactful content sets your business apart by answering your audience’s questions and providing value. Your audience doesn’t just want high-quality content, they expect it. Content marketing at its core is an effort to share information about your business, the inbound way. Powerful content isn’t just a sales pitch. Presenting your messages in an informative and engaging way helps you generate and nurture your leads genuinely. High-quality content drives even higher conversion rates. Providing what your audience desires increases the likelihood that they will engage with your content. The relationships you build with your potential clients will flourish if your content articulates this understanding.

Content Marketing: Quality vs. Quantity

The last thing you want to do is drive away your audience, and we all know posting too often can be annoying. It’s okay, actually encouraged, that you take your time. Over 83% of marketers believe it’s more effective to create higher-quality content less often. Although large quantities of content have increased potential to spread awareness about your brand, focusing on high-quality content leads to higher conversions. Conversions are more important in the grand scheme of things because they help people make the jump from curious prospects to valued clients.

The best content strategies leverage quality, while also promoting quantity. One way to do this is by recycling content into different formats. Around 60% of marketers repurpose content 2 to 5 times. For example, the great blog you wrote likely contains information you can create a social post about.

Balancing Writing for Humans and Search Engine

Writing quality content that generates and nurtures leads requires you to think about connecting the analytical with the personal side of things. There are two different aspects of quality content. When it comes to search engines, it’s about giving the searcher what they are looking for, which is more reliant on search engines. On the human side of things, quality is about connecting. Engaging your audience requires you to connect with them at a deeper level through your writing. If you want to achieve both, write for your audience first, then adapt this writing for search engines.

Meta descriptions are a huge factor when it comes to successfully writing for search engines. Although meta descriptions may not have a direct impact on search rankings, they do significantly impact user behavior, so it's important to put some effort into writing them. Meta descriptions can drive up your click-through rate and make it easier for searchers to find your content when they’re looking for it. Successful meta descriptions are usually 155 characters or less. Make sure your description is clear, concise, and actionable. Using relevant keywords is important to your search ranking, however, it is important to note that search engine algorithms are constantly getting better at evaluating content. This means quality is more important than ever and will continue to be in the future as technology advances.

4 Tips for Quality Content

Over 55% of successful content marketing strategies focused on improving the quality of content. To develop successful content, you need to know who you are creating it for. Quality content resonates with your audience. Translating your audience’s needs into your content helps them see your value. When you understand your target audience’s needs, you instill their trust in your business. Quality content further establishes this trust, in turn creating a more authentic relationship.

1. Keep it Casual

When you're talking to your audience, think of them as a friend. Your audience wants to feel connected to you - and not like you’re lecturing them or talking down to them. They want to understand your business so they can make an informed decision based on their needs. The best way to do this is to approach them in a way that doesn’t make them feel like they're just another sale. You can be professional and still conversational.

2. Provide Value

Providing value means your audience sees you as a reliable source of information. Purposeful content answers the question at hand, and the ones your audience didn’t even know they had. Focus on educating, advising, and entertaining your audience through your content. Keep in mind that quality content provides value while remaining clear and concise. So, get straight to the point and don’t use more words than you have to.

3. Stay Consistent

Posting consistently makes a big difference. When you pair this with unique features of your business that differentiate you from your competitors, your audience will remember your company. Posting regularly shows your audience that you are reliable, while also reminding them who you are every time they see your content.

4. Use Content Scoring

Content scoring is a way to understand which individual content pieces are gaining traction with your audience. By tracking how individual pieces of content are performing, you get a better feel for future content’s potential. Assessing how your content engages potential leads provides insight into your client's preferences.

Over 80% of marketers consider content marketing as a core business strategy. Once you know what your audience is looking for and how you plan to present this information, it becomes much easier to create engaging content. Using the tips and insights above you can create strong content that resonates with both your audience as well as search engines.