For fledgling entrepreneurs and seasoned IMers alike, there are few more lucrative or simple marketing platforms than Content Discovery. If you want to see fast results and impressive returns on investment, this is the way to go.
The content you create can be monetized in any number of ways, and the return on investment in ads is usually well worth the expense. Even a return of 20% can translate into significant earnings if you’re spending $1,000 a day on ads. That’s $200 just for producing an article, putting it on a website, and advertising it. The good news is that many content marketers who use Content Discovery report much higher ROI – about 50% or better on average.
If you are trying to decide how to best apply content marketing to your business, there are many reasons to try Content Discovery. We’ve managed to reduce it down to five, and I think this list covers the bases well. Read on and find out how this form of marketing can work to your advantage.
1. Easy Monetization
There are a number of ways to monetize content through Content Discovery. The most popular way is through CPC advertising. You first create some engaging content, then advertise on the network (or networks) of your choice. Then, when people visit your page, you can display ads from other networks that fit with the overall theme of your site.
While this is the easiest way to do it, you will need to be sure that whatever network you are using to display ads does not have any restrictions on sites using paid traffic to get page views. Some services list this under the category of arbitrage and do not allow it. Others actually encourage it. Some even encourage users to be both advertisers and publishers on their networks, but you will need to read the terms of service carefully to ensure that you are not violating any policies.
Other options for monetization include creating presell pages or articles that lead to affiliate products or products that you produce. Information products sell well using Content Discovery, but you can also use it as a tie-in to an e-commerce site or affiliate retail entity as well.
2. Appeals to a Wide Audience
Sure, you can spend forever trying to narrow down your ideal demographic, but with Content Discovery, there is far less to think about in that arena: Your content should stay within a specific niche, but you can also explore different niches in the same blog. This works to your advantage in several ways. First, it allows you to uncover niches that have a broad appeal. Next, it provides you the opportunity to deliver more content within a successful niche and have better odds of success. Finally, you can use the data collected through your content to launch into other areas of marketing.
Let’s say you stumble upon a successful segment of the travel niche. Let’s say it’s articles on surfing. If your audience likes articles on surfing, they might be interested in buying surfing equipment. You can then set up a Shopify (or other e-commerce platform) store online and market surfing supplies to that niche.
3. You Can Easily Test Different Niches
Unlike more traditional marketing platforms, Content Discovery provides the opportunity to test the waters in a variety of niches without a major commitment of money or other resources. The easiest way to do this is through web articles. You can hire a freelance copywriter or copywriting company to produce a few articles in a given niche (I’ll stick with the surfing example) and see how they fly.
Try marketing a few articles on surfing technique, a few more on most popular beaches for surfing, and a few more on most popular surfboards or other pieces of surfing equipment. Depending on where you see the most response, you can then determine how to best market to that niche. What’s most important to them? Getting better at surfing, going to interesting places and surfing, or having the latest and best gear?
Once you have the answer, you can then expand from there into info products on technique, travel services, or retail. You already know what kind of content has the most appeal, so keep using it to keep your customers engaged and sell to them through the smart use of content.
4. You Can Easily Grow Your Email List
When someone visits your site, he or she should always be presented with the opportunity to join your list. If you are testing different niches, you should also establish multiple lists. This is another way to narrow down where your most successful niche is going to be found – if one of your lists gets 3,000 subscribers while the remaining four only get a few hundred, you know you’re onto something.
5. Popular on Social Media
Probably the biggest reason to work with Content Discovery is that it’s huge on social media, particularly Facebook, and there really is no other ad network that allows you the control over targeting and retargeting that Facebook does. Many of the articles that show up as ads on Facebook are being marketed via Content Discovery. What makes it even better is that when you hit the right audience on Facebook, you start getting organic traffic in numbers that rival any kind of SEO effort through the propagation of likes and shares.
So there you have it: These five reasons encompass all the major points in favor of Content Discovery, and any diehard marketer will tell you that the returns you are capable of creating with it are significant. It’s well worth the small investment in some good copy (be it in money or time) to test it out for yourself and note the results.