Every business owner understands how important it is to have a strong presence, to build a brand and to separate from the competition. They realise that they need to create content in many different forms for distribution, both online and off-line. Yet it’s crucial that they create a strategy and make sure that their content is relevant, engaging, innovative, thought-provoking and up to date. What is the best way to approach this?
Know Thy Audience
To begin with, you need to understand your audience. This statement may sound obvious, but you may often need to segment your prospects and deliver highly targeted content to them at various stages of their journey. It would help if you created a client avatar, and this needs to be very detailed, while you may need to use a variety of different channels or content types as you reach out.
Problem-Solving
You’ve designed your product or service to solve a problem. Some of your content will sell your solution directly, but you may also need to educate your audience and establish yourself as the thought leader. Some people may not know that they have “the problem” yet, while others are open to different solutions. Here, different types of content can help to qualify your users and bring them further into your funnel.
USP
What is your unique selling proposition? You (or your product or service) needs to be better or different in a critical area, and you will need content that clearly shows what you have to offer. Your goal is to convince people that your organisation should be the preferred source at all times.
Distribution
When it comes to content distribution, there are many different channels. You have total control over your own assets (including your website or blog), and your social media accounts, but will often have to produce content that satisfies a different media organisation. You will need to create content that is in a particular format and present it in a certain way, as you disseminate your message through these various channels.
Content Types
There are many different types of content, each with its purpose. For example:
blog posts
long-form articles
direct response copy
adverts
case studies
e-books
white papers
videos
social media
infographics
podcasts
… and more.
You may need to create content in all of these areas, and some of it may be interlinked or cross-referenced.
Purpose Driven
Remember, however, that every piece of content MUST have a purpose. You may want it to attract “likes,” establish followers, be retweetable, generate comments, be shared, prompt a CTA or make a direct sale. However, in each case, you should establish metrics and make sure that your content piece performs according to your expectations.
Direct Response
While some of your copy may help you establish a reputation or build awareness, you will want to carefully and cleverly write direct response copy to generate a sale. These days, it’s easy to determine if a direct response copy piece is successful and to test or tweak the copy to generate an even better response as the campaign unfolds.
All Hail the King
In the world of marketing, content is always “king.” This is even more important in the digital age and no surprise, therefore, that 70% of all organisations expect to spend even more on their content marketing budget this year.
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