The Four P's of a Powerful Article Marketing Strategy

Article marketing is one of the most effective ways to establish yourself as an expert, build relationships with your target market, and get new leads for your business. But these things don't just happen on their own.

Powerful article marketing requires a strategy, and here are the four P's it must include.

Personal

The articles you write must be personal, and I mean that in a couple of ways. First, you have to identify with your reader. Let them know that you've done your homework and you understand their pain.

Secondly, be yourself. There are too many boring articles out there that anyone could have written. Share a short, relevant story that sympathizes with your reader's experience. Tell about a lesson you learned. Let your readers see your personality.

Position

In your articles, position yourself as the expert. You want to be their go-to guy or gal when they're ready to learn more.

This does not mean being promotional (the P-word to be avoided, by the way) but telling them why you can trust you. Maybe you had this same experience 5 years ago and you came up with a solution you want to share with them. Or perhaps people email you daily, desperate for the answer to this one question. Let them know that, briefly, then go into your answer.

Persuasion

Your article and your resource box must be compelling. When your readers come to the end of the article, you want them to think, "I want this." One way to do this is by reminding them of the benefit of following your advice.

In your resource box, give your reader a compelling reason to click through to your website and get more information. A downloadable report is a good incentive, a tips sheet, or even a preview of your offering, or trial of your product.

Placement

Where your article is placed is just as important as the content of your article. You want to get it published on the websites where your target market will be looking for information like this. That might involve publishing it on an article directory as a reprint article. It might also mean getting it published on a top blog or in a must-read print publication for your industry.

If you're publishing online, another thing to consider is your article's placement in the search engine results pages. Be sure to include the right keywords in the right places so it will show up well in their internet searches.

Articles are also extremely versatile. Once you've published it as an article, rewrite it into a press release and get it published on the press release sites. Turn it into a Squidoo lens. Instead of handing out business cards at your next networking event, distribute printed copies of your article.

If you remember these four P's of powerful article marketing, and write and submit articles consistently, you will be on your way to building relationships, making more sales, and establishing yourself as the go-to expert in your industry.