Content marketing has always been a tried and tested method of obtaining top tier links for clients. Digital PRs, and Outreachers across the land approach journalists with story ideas generally accompanied with supporting statistics on behalf of clients, effectively persuading journalists to cover their content and to link back to their data source. While some content marketing theories have permanent success, other approaches are temporary in their triumph. In this article, we will explore which content marketing theories are currently successful this year and analyse their longevity.
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Popularity measured by search and hashtag volume
To define ‘something’ as the most popular has always been a challenge in journalism. Popularity is more often than not, subjective, unless substantiated by a credible indicator. Over the last year or two, we’ve seen a rise in PR’s pitching ‘the most/least popular places to propose’ and ‘the most instagrammed trainers’. More recently, topics such as ‘the most popular lockdown purchase’, and ‘the most popular staycation destination’ have been covered for their eCommerce clients. All that’s required is an overarching theme or a group of related items, and to use search or hashtag volumes to establish the best/worst ranking.
Using the right tools to measure popularity is essential. Several journalists, marketing agencies, and PRs claim to accurately measure popularity using Google Trends. Google Trends provides a generally reliable outlook by giving scores out of 100 (100 being the most popular), yet Google Search Console, and SEM Rush, can provide the exact search volume results, even dissected by region. Only by using these tools, can content marketers truly decipher which are the most searched terms. Equally, be cautious when using hashtag data. Ensure to use in-depth hashtag analysis tools such as Phantombuster, that comprehensively collects thousands of rows of data.
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Comparative adjectives
Linking closely to the previous point, content marketers have found recent success using campaigns centred around comparative adjectives. For instance, digital mortgage brokers have created campaigns about ‘the noisiest/quietest streets in the UK’, online travel companies analysed the ‘most delayed/punctual airlines’, and comparison eCommerce sites established ‘the best/worst beaches in the UK’. Again, many of these claims are subjective until backed by data, but content marketers, outreachers and PR’s have all found ingenious ways to back their ambitious claims. Using official data sources such as freedom of information acts, council and governmental records, and economic policy figures, marketers can confidently pitch their data to journalists knowing their sources are trusted and therefore likely to be covered by reporters, and world-renowned publications.