A content marketing pyramid is important because it visualizes how your entire content marketing system works. It shows the hierarchy within the pyramid, and it will show you where to begin planning your content strategy.
There are three layers to a content marketing pyramid; top, middle and bottom.
Let’s start with the bottom layer.
The bottom layer of a content marketing pyramid
The bottom layer of a content marketing pyramid is all about creating valuable content that your target audience will read, share and interact with.
The bottom layer of a content marketing pyramid calls on you to work hard, to be creative, but it also gives you the best chance for growth because these are the pieces of content that people in your marketplace will respond to.
Social media
This layer can include social media posts such as Facebook updates, tweets, or images on Pinterest.
Content curation
You can take advantage of content curation at this stage. Content curation is the process of researching, selecting, and showcasing content to offer additional value for readers.
Curated content usually comes from other sites.
Communities
Forums and groups are a great way to build your reputation and increase exposure on the web.
But don’t just join these communities. Be active in them.
If you build a reputation for providing valuable content, people will follow. Don’t overlook forums and communities as part of your content plan.
Tracking results
Being a successful content marketer means understanding your corporate objectives and tracking your results.
The bottom layer is where you’ll see some of the most measurable results compared with all other layers in a content marketing pyramid. Still, it’s also going to be the least profitable.
You should pay attention to the key metrics at this layer are; traffic, leads, time on site, likes, and social shares.
The middle layer of a content marketing pyramid
The middle layer of a Content Marketing Pyramid includes making sure a blog post is an evergreen, along with your videos and podcasts.
This layer is all about creating long-form content that will be helpful for the readers or viewers at different stages of their customer journey.
That’s another key aspect of successful digital marketing.
The goal is to create great content that can help them solve a problem or answer a question, in which case they click through to your site and eventually become customers.
Evergreen blog posts
Evergreen blog posts are designed to get traffic from search engines.
To boost the chances of this content getting found easily by a Google search, make sure you’re using appropriate and relevant keywords throughout your piece.
You can also integrate social sharing buttons into your blog posts.
Your blog posts must be well-formatted and informative so people will want to read them.
This means adding relevant images, videos, and links back to your site, as these provide more context for your target market and help them digest the information on your site easier.
Tutorials
You have blog posts like “How To’s” and product-based posts designed to generate leads or sales.
These valuable pieces of content will build trust with your audience and help you achieve an evergreen status.
But they must be evergreen because they don’t have a set time limit or deadline for completion.
Republishing
It’s a popular strategy to repost long-form content on other sites such as Medium, Linked In, or even guest posting in someone else’s blog.
You can also change the content format and repurpose blog posts into videos and videos into podcasts.
This is a great way to increase your content assets.
But one of the best ways is to write for a publication that has an audience with your potential customers.
Guest posts
The middle layer also includes guest posts on other sites. This is because guest posts are an excellent way to build backlinks. For this reason, you want to make sure the quality of this level of content creation reflects well on you.
You’ll see some benefits from publishing new blog posts, such as increased traffic to your website.
This is why I advocate guest blogging, too, because this allows you to create an entire piece of high-quality content without having to do all of the work yourself.
Tracking results
The important metrics to track at this layer include; search engine traffic, leads, and social shares.
You’ll also notice an increase in your domain authority because you’re writing for reputable publications or sites.
You should also pay attention to; page views, bounce rate, and average time on site.
The top layer of a content marketing pyramid
This is the smallest part of a Content Marketing Pyramid. It includes blog posts that are aimed at converting readers into customers.
With this layer, the goal isn’t to generate traffic to your site but rather convert traffic into leads and sales.
This is where you’ll have great conversion rates if your copy is good.
The top layer of a content pyramid is where you’ll find ebooks, white papers, and case studies. These are longer-form pieces of content that offer even more value to your audience.
Most of the content aims to get visitors to take some sort of action, such as; purchasing your product, filling out a form, or downloading an eBook.
Guides & eBooks
An ebook is basically a PDF document that houses more valuable information that your audience is looking for. It usually solves more than one problem at once but still offers more value to your readers as they make their way through the customer journey.
Ebooks should provide educational content that tackles problems but also include a sales pitch at the end of it. This is where you lead your readers by providing them with a solution to their pain points.
White papers are similar to eBooks, but they usually have an industry focus and are created as a research document for your audience.
This is where you look at creating an eBook or guide that you can either give away for free in exchange for an email address or charge money for.
These are authoritative, comprehensive documents that solve complex problems and answer challenging questions.
Webinars
Webinars can be the most powerful tool in your Content Marketing Pyramid.
They enable you to connect with your audience on a one-on-one basis and are an interactive way to get them engaged.
Webinars help you build trust because they offer LIVE customer support but also give you the opportunity to introduce new products or services.
Mini-courses
I’m particularly fond of offering mini-courses at the top layer of my content marketing pyramid.
These are shorter versions of a full course and give an overview of what’s available if your lead upgrades.
I love using these because they’re bite-sized pieces of educational content that are easy for people to consume.
I’ve noticed that people don’t like to be sold to, so mini-courses allow me to demonstrate the value they’ll receive – even before they purchase.
Mini-courses also help you start making money from selling content while still giving away free material, which makes more sense in today’s “information era” than ever before.
Conclusion
Content is king, as they say.
But understanding the full implications and reasons behind the standard content marketing efforts will lead to higher returns.
By using a content marketing pyramid, you’re able to mix different styles of content together in order to build something cohesive with the overarching theme or goal of your business. As a result, you are increasing traffic, brand awareness, and sales.
Build and use a content marketing pyramid in order to get the most out of it.
Post long-form content on your own website, and others such as Medium, Linked In, or even guest posting in someone else’s blog.
This becomes perhaps the most effective content marketing strategy available today when used as part of an inbound marketing funnel.