Has your district ever considered content marketing?
Wondering how content marketing might fit into your overall marketing strategy?
Many school districts have never considered content marketing as a valuable communications strategy, and many one-person departments feel they don’t have the time to start something so complicated. But what if I told you starting is as simple as creating a blog?
5 Tips to Do to Build an Epic Blog Post
In this article, you’ll discover why content marketing is so useful, why a blog is the most important element to start your strategy, and the five most important things to do to build an epic blog post.
What is Content Marketing?
According to the Content Marketing Institute, Content Marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant information to attract a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving customer action.
Your goal should be to provide parents with useful content about your awesome school district. You want parents to be better informed, so they are confident they are making the right decision in their child’s education. You want them to trust your school district and all of the excellent programs you have to offer.
Why is a Blog is So Important?
An epic blog post is the catalyst for your content marketing success. Great content fuels conversations, which leads to engagement, and ultimately, conversions toward enrollment.
An epic blog post, full of useful content, will help brand your district as the “Education Experts”, which will help gain the trust of your parents.
An epic blog post is created with five important elements:
1. The Headline
Headlines can be the biggest selling point of your article. The goal of your headline should be to captivate your audience and excite them to read your post, and at the same time define what your article is about. It’s also a great way to boost your Search Engine Optimization for your district website.
HubSpot has a great article about writing catchy headlines here:
How to Write Catchy Headlines and Blog Titles Your Readers Can’t Resist
2. Engaging Visuals
If you want to engage your visitors, it is critical you have a powerful image in your blog post. According to ShoutMeLoud.com, visuals instantly catch the eye, are shared more often, and enhance the overall impact of your post.
You don’t need a graphic design background to create stunning visuals for your blog. Here is a great post by Shout Me Loud discussing awesome tools for creating engaging visuals:
20 Awesome Tools for Creating Engaging Visuals for Your Blog
3. A Strong Opening Paragraph
Your opening paragraph of your blog post needs to be remarkable. According to Copyblogger, when it comes to creating a blog post that opens with a bang, that’s exactly what you need … the remarkable. The goal is to keep your audience reading.
CopyBlogger has an excellent article about creating the best opening for your post with examples from top blogs. Their post can be found here:
How to Nail the Opening of Your Blog Post
4. Well-Researched Keywords
According to the web management company, Conductor, half of all web traffic comes from organic search. Even though large school districts rank high in Google Search, it is still important to focus on Search Engine Optimization.
Use keywords in your posts that parents will use when researching a school district for their child. Capitalize on the questions they want answered and put that content into your posts.
Here is an excellent article from HubSpot on Blog SEO:
Blog SEO: How to Search Engine Optimize Your Blog Content
5. A Clear Call-To-Action
Every piece of content you create should have a clear “Call to Action”. According to HubSpot, a call-to-action (CTA) is an image or line of text that prompts your visitors to take action. It is, quite literally, a “call” to take an “action.”
Decide what action you want your audience to take and make sure you find some way to incorporate it in your post. An example of a CTA on your blog could be having your visitor read another article, sign-up for your eNewsletter, or even visit a school website. Make sure you always have your audience take that next step.
Here is great article from HubSpot about CTA’s on your blog:
8 Types of CTAs You Should Absolutely Try on Your Blog
Conclusion
The insights above are a great place to start in creating your content marketing strategy. Having a blog is a powerful tool to help brand your district as the “Education Experts”, which will gain the trust of parents. And trust will go a long way in persuading a parent to enroll their child in your district.
Do you have additional questions about blogging or content marketing? Leave your questions in the comment section below.
