Why should you integrate your email and content marketing?
Content is King. It’s a phrase marketers have bandied about for the past few years. And if you’re looking for lower-cost ways to drive traffic to your site? Content marketing offers advantages over paid advertising.
There are key differences. Paid advertising relies on having an offer that matches what a user needs at that moment. Amazon Ads are one example. You’re already searching for books on Amazon, so you’re more likely to buy a book advertised on the site. If someone’s searching for Nike Air Max on Google, chances are they want to buy.
But content marketing still has its place. It’s perfect for those users who don’t yet know they have a problem. Or if they do, they’re stuck on how to solve it. Enter the AIDA sequence.
Content Marketing and the AIDA Sequence
Traditional copywriting often uses the AIDA formula to convert people into customers. It stands for;
- Attention
- Interest
- Desire
- Action
It’s the stages that a customer moves through on their journey to become involved with you. Content sits at the Attention and Interest end of the spectrum. Use your content to grab Attention. Think of those attention-grabbing headlines on BuzzFeed or the Huffington Post.
Then use your content to pique their Interest. You’ve alerted them to a potential problem in their lives. You may have prompted them to solve it.
Content won’t always be the motivating factor that gets them to buy. If they’ve landed on your blog, they might not be in the right position to buy. Yet.
This is where you need to convert them into subscribers to your email list. Your email marketing works to generate Desire for your solution. Then you ask them to take Action.
This blog post is part of a content marketing setup. We’ve grabbed your attention by connecting email and content marketing in the headline. You know both are important but you’re not sure how to use them together.
We’ll pique your interest to work with both forms of marketing in an easy way. Then you’ll either skip Desire and go straight to Action. You might sign up for our emails or join our happy family by becoming a user. Or you’ll sign up for our emails to see what else you can learn from us.
Content Does Not Just Mean Blog Posts
This dates to the early days of content marketing. Blog posts dominated because they were the easiest to create. You only needed a keyboard and somewhere to put your text.
But now? People love consuming content in a format that suits them. Prefer hearing someone’s voice over reading? Choose podcasts. Like watching videos? Head to Youtube.
You can integrate all forms of content with your blog. Consider embedding your Youtube videos into blog posts. Provide a transcript of the video as the post (which helps your SEO). And pop a link to the post on the Youtube video, letting people know a transcript is on your site. Your goal is to drive traffic back to your site where you can make your email offer.
If you run a shop, videos are an excellent content option. Choose from explainer videos, how-tos, tutorials and testimonials. They’re the four most common types of video content.
You can turn old blog posts into visual SlideShare presentations. Include a call-to-action to encourage viewers back to your website. Embed the presentations into a new post. Add infographics to condense key points into a single image. Or host white papers.
Use this content to grab Attention and point to your email offer to provide further help. Emails help build a relationship so consider your content as your introduction.
Integrating content with email marketing is the ultimate permission marketing approach.
Try the Websand plugin for WordPress
The plugin offers an easy way to collect emails direct from your WordPress site. Add the widget to your footer, which is often neglected real estate on many blogs. Think about it. Someone who scrolls to the bottom of your page is more engaged than someone who clicks away near the top. Give that engaged person somewhere to go next. i.e. your email list.
If you use sidebars, add a widget to those. Give your opt-in box a simple name so subscribers know what they’re signing up for. We’ve already baked GDPR compliance into the form so you can prove subscribers gave consent.
Want to give away a lead magnet? Create individual pages that show off your lead magnet. Add testimonials to provide social proof. Make it clear what the lead magnet helps subscribers to do or solve. Then add a shortcode to create a simple landing page.
Shortcodes Help with Self-Segmentation
The beauty of these shortcodes is they identify where a subscriber signed up. Say your lead magnet is a guide to must-see sights in Newcastle. Websand can tag those subscribers so they only receive your Newcastle-specific offers.
Maybe you have a second opt-in form on your blog posts where you offer a white paper. Add anyone who signs up to receive that to your white paper segment so they only receive relevant emails.
How Do I Set Things Up?
Log in to your Websand account. Go to Integrations and click API Key in the lefthand bar. Copy and paste the key. You’ll need that in a moment.
Log into WordPress and head to Plugins. Click Add New and search for Websand. Or click here. Install the plugin. Then head to Settings > Websand for WordPress to set it up.
Enter your domain in the top box. That’s the first part of your Websand URL. So if your Websand is https://example.websandhq.com then you would enter example in the box.
Copy and paste your Websand API into the API Token box. Add your privacy policy URL to the next box.
Under default settings, set up a basic source code. It’ll tag any subscribers so you know they signed up on your site. You can add extra source codes later.
Add your ‘thank you’ URL so we have somewhere to send subscribers once they’ve signed up. Hit Save Changes and you’re good to go!
When subscribers sign up via your site, use the source code to separate them into segments. Hurray!
Content and Email Are Two Pillars in the Same Marketing Temple
Don’t view content and email as separate marketing activities. Use content to drive traffic to your website. That’s where you can turn visitors into subscribers. Then send excellent content to your subscribers to build relationships.
Your subscribers aren’t just numbers on a list, they’re your community. Send them valuable content and help them solve their problems. It’s not world peace, but it makes for nicer inboxes.
Like the sound of this subscriber-centric approach? Get in touch and we’ll help you get set up on the Websand platform. We’re standing by.