The online marketing landscape is becoming more competitive by the day.

If you want to survive, you need an edge.

Small businesses need an edge if they want to make a name for themselves.

Large enterprises need an edge if they want to acquire more customers.

The harsh reality is, it takes far more than a great product or service to succeed in the world of online marketing.

If you want to win, you must deploy a “strong” content marketing strategy.

It’s your golden opportunity to show off your unique voice and demonstrate how what you have.

Is the best solution for your customers.

And today, I’d like to share four ways you can use content to CRUSH! your competition.

1 : Do Your Research

Every successful content marketing strategy will always start with doing your due diligence.

First and foremost, you want to always keep a pulse on your competitors.

The easiest way to get started is to follow all of their profiles on social media and sign up for their email newsletters so you can see what they’re doing.

You can also see what type of content works best for them with an all-in-one toolkit like:

Ahrefs.com

Which is an incredible tool at digging into your competitor’s site and identifying their top-performing content by analyzing important web and social metrics.

When you take the time to break down your competitors’ metrics, you will have a much better idea of what readers and consumers within your industry are most interested in, so you can create your own content marketing material accordingly.

It’s also important that you don’t try to copy your competitors approaches based on your research.

Instead, take the time to educate yourself on their strengths, and use their weaknesses to crush them at their own game.

2 : Leverage User-Generated Content

Nothing is more authentic in the world of online marketing than user-generated content.

93% of consumers that were recently surveyed by “Offerpop” said that content they saw from other customers encouraged them to purchase.

For example, Calvin Klein leverages their customers to upload photos of themselves wearing their products to social media using the hashtag #mycalvins.

And people participate, knowing that best ones ultimately get promoted and featured on their website.

The beauty of this content marketing strategy is that it connects everyone from celebrities to everyday consumers with the brand by adding a personal touch.

User generated content is a great way to show your potential customers that your existing customers love your brand.

Seeing people similar to themselves that are taking the time to interact with your company creates a layer of social proof that will make your brand untouchable.

3 : Have A Clear Brand Voice

What makes your brand different from your competitors?

What your company stand for that makes you unique?

One of the biggest elements in setting your business apart from competitors is having a clear voice to highlight your brand’s personality.

At the end of the day, your brand personality is what shows the world that your human and forms the foundation of building trust for you potential customers.

People get attached to brands that they know are more than just products and services.

What will the content you create for your marketing sound like?

Will your tone be authoritative, authentic, or funny?

What is the emotional connection you want from your demographic?

When defining your brand voice, always keep your customers in mind.

And of course, be consistent.  If you’re constantly changing the tone and character in your content marketing, no one will be able to figure out your true brand identity.

4 : Get Interactive

The Internet is absolutely saturated with content.

With everyone getting overwhelmed with constant information overload, it’s possible that your content will be forgotten minutes after being consumed. 

The key to creating lasting content is to produce material that requires the consumer’s interaction.  When done correctly, they will most likely see it to the end, and it will leave a lasting impression that you wouldn’t get otherwise.

Your content needs to always be designed to engage your audience right out of the gate prevent from coming across as information overload.

Interactive content is a great way to accomplish this.

In fact, according to a recent survey from Demand Metric, 76% of marketers have said that interactive content is always the most effective form of marketing that engages buyers.

That’s because interactive content is dynamic in capturing and retaining people’s attention.

Fortunately for you, there are plenty of interactive platforms available to help you create interactive content for your audience.

Our favorite one that we use over at Marketers Paradise is WooBox.

Which gives you the ability to create polls, quizzes and games that you can use to gasify your marketing, get valuable user feedback, and create an interactive experience your audience will love.

Regardless of how big or small your company may be, content marketing will work wonders to put you ahead of the game and give you the unfair advantage to crush your competition.

You should also always look at content marketing a work-in-progress. 

Each and every move you make should provide a deeper understanding of your brand to your target market with a clear call to action.

The secret to creating memorable content is to be innovative.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box … to build a unique brand experience.