So you have written a compelling article. Congratulations! That’s no small feat.

You probably know that content alone isn’t enough. Promotion or marketing is what makes the difference.

One reason – the bottom line.

• Will it engage people?
• Will it drive traffic?
• Will it help drive sign ups?

By optimizing your content marketing, you get to support your bottom line objectives.

But where do we start to do this right? After all, creating content and promoting it is hard.

Consider this – according to the Content Marketing Institute:

60% to 70% of B2B content created is never used. Most cited reason why B2B content goes unused is that the topic is irrelevant to the buyer audience.

And according to a study by Inbound Writer:

Only 10-20% of a company’s website content drives 90% of its Web traffic, and only 0.5% of a website’s content drives more than 50% of its traffic.

Not to worry, help is here.

A step by step guide

To save your content from the dark depths of oblivion, I have put together 97 questions that will help optimize every element of your content marketing.

The guide breaks the process into 5 key elements that you need to cover with any piece of content. You don’t need to answer every question under each element in order to get the traction you need. However, the more you cover, the better the chances of increasing your reach and traction.

If you are just starting out, this can seem a bit overwhelming. So start with the on-site elements and a few others that you can comfortably handle. Once you get the hang of them, you can look at scaling your efforts.

On site

How well does your content stand up? Not just from a technical viewpoint, but also from the perspective of trust, intent, quality and authority.

As you finalize your content, consider each section and ask yourself the following questions:

Headline

According to David Ogilvy: On the average, 5 times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. Copyblogger backs this up, saying that 80% of people will read a headline, but only 20% of people will read the article. Hence why we need to start with ensuring the is magnetic enough to draw readers in.

1. Does your content solve a problem?
2. Does your headline address your audience?
3. Does the headline tackle an issue your target audience can relate to?
4. Is your headline “tweetable” and does it evoke curiosity?
5. Is a sentiment verbalized in your headline?
6. Does the headline tell the audience what they should expect in your content?
7. Does the headline encourage the reader to read the opening paragraph and sub-headline for an answer or solution?

Sub-headlines

Sub-headlines tend to be the next most read part of your content. According to the Nielsen Norman Group, most people tend to scan and skim over content.

Subheadlines aid such reading behavior. They form a part of the content’s usability and accessibility strategy in helping readers digest the overall outline of the article. They also indicate to a reader what the content is about in a particular section.

1. Are the subheadings invoking curiosity and aiding the reader to read on?
2. Are the sub-headlines breaking up the content into digestible chunks?
3. Are they scannable and encouraging readers to engage with each section of content?

Introduction

So how do you get readers to read?

Give them a reason. Your introduction is like an elevator pitch. It’s the reason that they would read on, share it or subscribe to your email list for more. Here are a few questions to ensure your introduction resonates with your target audience.

1. Does the opening sentence show empathy with your audience’s pain or issue?
2. Are your sentences easy to read and emotionally evocative?
3. Does it intensify the emotion contained in the headline and or subheadline?

Persuasive elements

A challenge for most people is to ensure that the content being produced performs the intended function – getting people to take a specific action.

People need to be persuaded to do something, and persuasion comes about when you create understanding.

Here are a few questions to consider.

1. Is your content valuable to your audience and available for free?
2. What emotion does your content evoke?
3. Does your content invite a small, low friction commitment to engage with you?
4. Does your content reflect views or input from industry experts or people similar to your target audience?
5. Does your content establish similarity with your audience through the use of relatable language and humor?
6. If appropriate, does your content include elements of scarcity?
7. Have you included obvious and simple calls-to-action that shows your audience what they should do next or expect on your page?
8. Does the content help your audience understand the overall context involved in achieving what they want?
9. Does the content help your audience understand the benefits of solving their problem in a particular way before appreciating the benefits of your product or service?
10. Does the content provide contrast from an educational standpoint to change your audience’s perception?

Content voice

Your written voice can create an emotional atmosphere and plays a key part in how your audience will perceive you. It also adds a distinctiveness that differentiates you from your competitors.

1. Is the content free of jargon and insider language that could turn your audience away?
2. Does the content have a conversational tone?
3. Does the content speak directly to your audience? Does it use the word ‘You’?
4. Is the content consistent with your brand voice and tone?

Summing Up

For a lot of people, concluding their content is one of the hardest parts of creating it. You know that you need to seduce your audience with the headline. Entrance them with your opening. But without a powerful end to your content, all that effort is wasted.
Why?

Because the conclusion is why people come back for more. Consider these questions to sum up better.

1. Does the post end in a climax that is consistent with the overall sentiment being generated by the content?
2. Does the conclusion end in a way that drives the reader to take action? Is the path to action simple, clear and actionable today?
3. Does the post end in a way that generates discussion?
4. Do the post summary and conclusion encourage people to read the content?

Shareable and scannable components

You know by now that your content needs to be presented and formatted to enhance readability and usability. This in turn could lead to increased sharing of your content on social media.

Here are a few additional questions to consider.

1. Is the content properly formatted?
2. Are paragraphs no more than 5-6 lines long?
3. Do you use custom or high quality images for your content?
4. Are your existing images inline with the dominant sentiment that you wish to evoke in your audience?
5. Does the visual media used relate to and support the content?
6. Have you linked your content to related topics on your site?
7. Are you giving your content the best chance of being shared by writing long-form posts?
8. Do you mention influencers in your content?
9. Have influencers been involved in the content creation process?
10. Are data sources and claims properly referenced?
11. Are your social sharing buttons prominent?

Marketing plan

Once you have covered optimizing content on your site, you can get into the planning details for your content promotion.

1. Are you promoting your content via your daily/weekly/bi-weekly/monthly blog digest email?
2. Have you identified the right niche network that matches your target audience?
3. Are you actively guest posting on blogs that your target audience already visits?
4. Can you leave great blog comments on authority sites?
5. Can content be reposted from your archives to give it more mileage?
6. Can you submit your content to online communities?
7. Can you repurpose your content into a video?
8. Can you create a podcast episode from your content?
9. Have you published your content in PDF format?
10. Does the content link out to relevant articles and individuals?
11. Do the headline and content contain suitable key phrases?
12. Have appropriate social media meta tags been used?
13. Is the post being published at an ideal time of the week?
14. Is the content part of a larger campaign that has follow up stories and keeps interest in the content alive for longer?
15. Do visitors to your content have the option to subscribe to your list, get a lead magnet or a content upgrade?
16. Are you using weekly link round-up posts to drive shares and interactions with other content creators?

Social promotion

With audience listening so you can better understand them. It helps you understand what they care about so you can create appropriate content. It can also help with the distribution of content.

Here are a few questions to consider.

1. Are you reposting your content on social media platforms frequently?
2. Are you timing your social media posts to when your audience is online?
3. Are your social media post excerpts able to generate curiosity and interest?
4. Do you know what social media post types work well for each of your social media platform audiences?
5. Are you leveraging the power of appropriate hashtags with your social media posts?
6. Do you have 20+ snippets of your content to share on social media platforms?
7. Do you mention your expert sources when sharing?
8. Are you uploading images and videos separately on Facebook to make your posts harder to miss?
9. Are you promoting your content on Facebook to (lookalike) audiences that share similar characteristics as your existing followers?
10. Are you actively participating and sharing relevant content (not just your own) on Google+ communities?
11. Are you actively participating and sharing relevant content (not just your own) on Facebook Groups?
12. Are you actively participating and sharing relevant content (not just your own) on LinkedIn Groups?
13. Are you an active contributing member generating a lot of karma on relevant Subreddits?
14. Are you connecting via real time discussions with your target audience on Twitter Chats?

Promotional tools

There are a number of tools and services that can be utilized in your overall content marketing strategy. In fact, a number of them can play an integral part in your content marketing strategy. Here are a few questions to consider along with suggested tools to help with implementation.

Outreach

Traditional networking and advertising is another way to promote your content. These marketing techniques in a digital context can lead to content marketing gains as well. Here are a few questions to consider.

1. Do you email influencers mentioned in your article?
2. Are you reaching out to people who have shared and linked to similar content?
3. Are you submitting to content communities like Triberr and BizSugar?
4. Are you remarketing to past visitors?
5. Have you deployed traditional press releases?
6. Have you taken advantage of earned media?
7. Have you tested native advertisements?
8. Have you considered sponsoring events?
9. Are you building an engaged following by curating epic content from others, not just your own?

The one thing your content must do

Answering the questions above will help ensure that your content holds your audience’s attention and reaches them effectively.

Why does your content need to engage your audience?

Because if it isn’t read, then it just gets lost in the content scrap heap, and you aren’t building an audience.

More importantly, from a bottom line perspective, that’s just a waste of time, money and energy.

Remember to download the checklist and use it to make your content more engaging and relevant to your audience.