SaleCycle's top three content marketing must-haves

You’ve all seen one, but have you ever created one?

Infographics play a major role in our marketing strategy at SaleCycle and they consistently deliver fantastic results in terms of engagement.

Take our infographic ‘Why People Abandon Their Booking’ from earlier this year – in January alone it contributed almost a quarter of our site visits for that month, resulting in an influx of engagements and new business requests, and it’s still getting clicks and shares now.

You’re probably wondering why? Simple, it’s a quality, valuable and sharable piece of content. The main reason infographics do so well, is that people simply don’t have the time or are willing to read a ten-page report, where as a well designed infographic can tell the story of a thousand words in one simple image.

If you want to create an awesome infographic, do your research properly - ensure you use credible sources specific to your industry and audience. Also, make sure the infographic matches your brands image and style. Add your company logo, website and contact credentials – after all, you’ve done all the hard work!

Need some inspiration? Check out some of the awesome examples at Visual.ly

eBooks

Many, if not most online businesses create eBooks on a regular basis - it’s one of the easiest ways to engage and generate leads in one process. eBooks are certainly not the easiest of things to produce but in terms of valuable content, they’re priceless.

Research and planning is at the foundation of any successful eBook. Once you have a unique and credible piece of content, come up with a catchy strapline accompanied by a clear CTA. If you’re lucky enough to have an in house design team, ask them to create a visual masterpiece - If not, there are plenty of free and easy programs out there to get your eBook looking a million dollars.

For inspiration, take a look at this awesome eBook from the folk over at Phrasee.co, ‘Email subject lines that sells’ – a fine example.

Video

Video is increasingly becoming the front-runner in terms of user engagement with increased accessibility meaning it no longer takes a six figure budget to come up with something you can be proud of.

At SaleCycle, we love working on video and had a lot fun creating the award nominated animation ‘The Abandoned Toys’ to help tell one of our clients stories in a lighter way.

The length of your video is really important, and if you’re starting out with video then the best advice is to keep it short. Research shows 60 seconds is a great length to be aiming for with your videos if you’re looking to keep your audience engaged.

If you’re creating videos in-house then focus on sound quality over anything else. Poor sound and microphones can put off your audience more than you would think, so do what you can to get that right.

And plan, test and practice. If you’re doing an animation then do a full storyboard – if it’s a video with people then do a script and a table read. The extra work is well worth it in the long run.

Becoming Steven Spielberg overnight is a long shot, but there are lots of online resources (for example, for music and capture & editing) to guide you on your way to the Oscars.

If you make the effort to consistently update and share quality content, your marketing efforts are more than likely to pay off. Oh, and just before you go, feel free to share this post!

Phil Docherty is acquisition marketing manager at remarketing company SaleCycle.

Twitter - @Philipdocherty