Have you ever searched for a particular video or article and then found yourself going down a rabbit hole of clicking every link that piques your interest? That’s perfect spider web content marketing.
As the name suggests, a spider web content marketing strategy involves various interconnecting content pages to make one large “web” in your digital marketing. By using this method, your customers can easily travel from one attraction point to the next and improve your engagement (and thus the likelihood of buying from you) in the process.
…AND YES, YOU’RE THE SPIDER!
Content marketing is a valuable method in the digital landscape. However, if you’re not correctly linking your digital marketing content, your customers will hit a dead end, and in turn, you may lose them.
A “spider web” strategy is a way to boost engagement across the board. Your web should start small, but eventually, it will grow into a complex and far-reaching content ecosystem of sorts.
KNOW WHAT CONTENT WEB WORKS
A web’s job is to catch things – when it comes to content webs, the objective is to catch and keep online engagement. To capture the right attention, you need to know your target audience.
Let’s say your business sells a sports drink. Your company, in turn, creates content that focuses on sports and rehabilitation. Maybe you dip into sports science and inform your readers on the importance of hydration. You also write engagement content like ‘the best footballers ever’ and make videos of sports highlights.
You want to touch on as many bases as possible so people see you as an authority and credible news source in your industry. A percentage of people who have consumed your content will become customers. That’s how content marketing works.
You want your web to be as far-reaching as possible without overextending. The best way to get good reach is to work slowly outwards while building supports as you go.
STARTING SMALL AND BUILDING UP
Like a spider web, your content marketing will start small to set the foundations. First, the scaffolding and anchor points are established. This is your brand and business practice – the voice that defines who you are in the industry and your ability to offer a service.
The next thing to be created is the centre of the web. The centre of your web is the nexus for where everything happens. This is most likely your website but could be a range of other things (call-line, shopfront, etc.).
Your web centre is the place where everything connects. It should be the easiest way to convert sales and establish what your business is. If you’re going to get an enquiry or make a sale, chances are it will be through your website. Even if your preferred communication methods are email or phone, it’s almost guaranteed a person will research your business via your website before they take any action.
This is your main contact point, so most of your content should connect back to your nexus.
EXPANDING YOUR WEB
Picture a spiderweb – do you see all the connecting threads meshing together to make a whole? That’s how you should approach content marketing.
For example, you made a YouTube video. That video can now be discovered by a regular Google search (thus expanding your reach to a second channel), where it can pull your customers into viewing it on YouTube. You can also take that YouTube video and embed it in a blog post. By doing this, you have connected another two channels. A blog visitor on your website can access and further explore your Youtube channel, thus engaging with you and your “web” laterally.
Let’s improve this now! Add links to relevant blog posts and your website in the video description. You’ve now created two more links. The blogs you linked to can direct traffic to other destinations, and the process goes on.
PICKING THE RIGHT ATTRACTION POINTS
The are hundreds of online channels to choose from, and millions of people using each one. Your most important step is finding where your audience is. There’s no point entering a horse in an F1 race, so you need to play to your strengths and pick the option which lets you be competitive.
Let’s say your sports drink is targeted at athletic teenagers and young adults. By connecting your web to Pinterest posts, where the median age is 40, you may be wasting those links. Instead, connect to the content on TikTok, where the average user is 18 and under, or Instagram, which has a young adult user base.
The best strategy is to be ever-evolving. Trying to create content for a blog, Youtube, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, etc., will only burn you and your team out. And a surface-level content marketing campaign across multiple platforms is unlikely to make a decent impression on any of them.
Start slow. Find attraction points that work for your brand and connect them to more valuable content.
