Make Your Content Count
Life moves at a million miles an hour. And messages fly at us equally fast.
So, how can a business or nonprofit organization deliver their ideas to the right people without getting lost? With effective content marketing.
Tell Me More
Content Marketing Institute™ says “content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience – and ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
While content marketing shares some similarities to traditional marketing efforts, there are also some distinct differences. It’s also important to note that content marketing isn’t something you can “kinda” do. Effective content marketing requires a concerted and strategic approach to delivering content. Read on for a BRIEF introduction to content marketing.
Who and Where
As with traditional marketing, you need to know WHO you are targeting and WHERE to reach them. In my early days of marketing and copywriting, groups were widely defined and we had limited ways to communicate with them. Although marketing in that era was less precise, it was also somewhat easier – fewer channels meant fewer iterations of each message.
But now, target audiences are highly segmented and have very specific needs. Just yesterday, Pew Research Center tweeted, "Starting today, we will define Millennials as those born between 1981 and 1996. We will consider those born from 1997 onward as part of a new, post-Millennial generation."
With increasing segmentation and myriad ways to reach individuals – including a seemingly-nonstop introduction of new social media platforms – content marketing activities can’t be haphazard.
A Multifaceted Strategy
After creating a profile of your target consumer (or business) and determining the best ways to reach them, then it’s time to start defining your messages by creating a content calendar. Ideally, you’ll build a content calendar that has a 6-12 month timeline, with flexibility to insert hot topics as they come about.
In the past, I’ve coached clients on how to make an editorialcalendar. And while the written word is a critical part of the content, in today’s world, the calendar needs to also include images (photos, illustrations, infographics, etc.) and video (how-to’s, funny, touching, etc.).
This calendar should identify who is responsible for each content item, as well as the delivery deadline. It should also indicate who needs to approve the content and who will post the messages.
Depending on your target audience and objectives, the calendar’s verbiage and imagery needs to inform, entertain or evoke an emotion that will motivate the individual to share the content. The ultimate goal is to have the content go viral.
Share and Discover
In addition to content sharing, you also want your messages to be discovered organically. This is where SEO comes in. It’s important to deliberately create content that increases your position in search rankings. The Content Marketing Institute™ does a great job of explaining how this works.
While organic SEO helps deliver your message to the right people, sponsored content is another way to reach your audience. When reading news headlines on Yahoo!, reviewing your Facebook or Twitter feeds, or scrolling through Instagram, you’ll notice tidbits that are “Sponsored Content” – the images are captivating and the headlines are provocative, which drives people to your content.
But Wait…
There’s more! There’s an avalanche of more.
Since content marketing is still in its infancy (or its toddlerhood), it continues to evolve and improve. It’s also a discipline that combines art and science making it a strategy that requires ongoing commitment and marketing expertise.
As I mentioned earlier, this article is only a BRIEF introduction to content marketing. However, I hope I’ve provided you with a helpful overview of what content marketing is – and how you can incorporate it into your overall business strategy.