SECTOR FOCUS: MARKETING


Content market your way out of crisis


The past few months has forced many to focus on digital communications like never before. Paul Burton (pictured), Director of pbmedia, has a few tips for finessing your content


T


he quality, consistency and quantity of a brand’s content is more crucial than ever before. A rapid escalation of companies


producing their own high value content – whether blogs, podcasts or videos – has taken place for years, helping generate more leads and customers. But the past few months has


seen an explosion of material aimed at positioning brands digitally, attracting potential buyers and growing audience. Without a physical touchpoint in


the buying cycle available, those well practised in content creation have undoubtedly been the better placed during the pandemic. They are already well aware of


the value of content as perhaps the greatest selling tool available to modern business. It doesn’t clock off, it never stops


talking to your customers and you can’t furlough it. Good content is a 24/7 selling tool like no other. But content that’s goes unread


or unwatched is a real danger for marketeers investing valuable time in producing it. Every time it does happen, it can


usually be traced back to one core flaw – a failure to develop a content marketing strategy for a) who we’re creating it for and/or b) how we’re going to get the content to them.


Creating a content strategy Content marketing is generally accepted to be the practice of creating any tangible content that attracts, engages and (hopefully) converts audience (that’s you) into buyers. Content marketing can provide a


bedrock of organic audience – i.e. not paid – and organic leads, visiting your website. It will: • Build your brand • Increase your reach • Help retain customers • Build sales.


A proper content marketing strategy can form the bedrock of an organisation’s inbound marketing and be fully integrated with its ethos, objectives and the nuances of its brand.


Start with your goals As with any good strategy, it should start with your goals. What do you want to achieve, who do you want to target? These crucial steps will inform the rest of the process. In simple terms, your content marketing strategy needs to consider the following points:


1. What do we want to achieve? Awareness? Leads? Conversions?


2. Who do we want to attract?


3. How do these people think? What are they interested in?


4. Where are they? What do they search for? What social platforms do they use?


5. Why would they consume our content? What problem will it solve for them?


6. What is the best format to create content, and how much should we generate?


7. How do we distribute it, and when?


8. How will it turn them into buyers?


This starts with a discussion


around what the brand’s objectives are. They start with the broader objectives before breaking them into specific goals. Are they brand awareness? Lead generation? Engagement? Audience development? A brand is more than likely want to achieve more than one, and maybe all of them in a full campaign cycle. To inform what those objectives


should be, look inward at the data you have at your fingertips. Your site’s analytics will tell you want you’re missing. With goals in mind, start to think


about the kind of people that we want to attract, the people we think are most likely to interact with our brand and buy the product or service. This should help you understand


not just who they are and what their hopes, dreams and fears are – and crucially what problems they face. Designing your content around solving their problems will be a giant leap to making it useful and shareable. It will also help you figure out what platforms they use – are they on Facebook or LinkedIn? Or are they likely to be reading thought leadership pieces on Medium?


Be useful and trustworthy The key objective is to be useful. If you can answer your customer’s questions, it will build trust with your audience, and eventually turn them into buyers. Make it easy to understand and


simple to read and quick to navigate to the relevant areas. This will also mean your content


is read far more often and likely be linked to a lot. Which will mean you


stand a much better chance of ranking in Google, and building even more trust. If you can create content that


solves a problem, that effects your audience’s lives (even in the smallest way) you will go a long way to connection to the people you value the most.


Storytell Being useful or functional doesn’t mean your content can’t have personality. Tell stories, case studies and your experiences. This will bring your content to life, people will understand and relate far better if you write through your eyes.


Practice simple SEO A quick Google will tell you the kind of topics that people are searching around your industry. For example, if I search for ‘how to landscape a garden’, Google tells me that other people also search topics like ‘small garden landscaping ideas’ and ‘how to landscape around my front porch’. I instantly have two ideas for


content that I know people are searching for. If I write a blog around these topics for a landscape gardening business, I know there’s a good chance I can get them to rank in Google.


Promote your content The fastest way to do this is social media. If your content is well researched and planned your social media activity should be an organic extension of this. If your content is useful, interesting and entertaining then chances are it will prove engaging and shareable on social. If it’s dull and corporate, it won’t.


Email There’s a reason email is still as strong as ever - 99% of offices still function via email. If you’ve created content that people are interested in, the likelihood is that some of that audience will sign up for more of it. Keep it engaging and relevant,


and they will be more than happy to receive your content occasionally direct to their inbox. A well worked email strategy is another article all together, but I’ve worked with several companies who regard email as their best selling tool.


Summer 2020 Chamber Profile 27


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