CONTENT!! What Is Content Marketing & How Can It Help My Business?
The concept of content marketing has been around for hundreds of years and has gained unbelievable momentum since 2007.
Way back to 1672, Jan van der Heyden promoted his patented fire hose using white papers, a print book, visual content, demos, and even a pre-internet iteration of social sharing. The true concept of content marketing hasn't really changed, just the method of delivery.
WHAT?
What exactly is content? Is it just digitally produced material a company has or is there more to this? Think “information”, think “collateral”, think “marketing materials”.
Content is generated with a specific part of the customer journey and experience in mind. It uses keywords and phrases that are important within a business or industry and help customers find you, get to know you, and develop trust in the business.
Consider every piece of marketing material and determine the goal before you start.
WHO?
By targeting specific groups, content can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the audience.
Are you wanting to generate new prospects? In this case, the content will need to be geared towards getting the prospect to know the business.
Are you wanting to connect with an existing audience? If so, the content may be information about additional services the company offers in an effort to retain your client base, cross-sell or up-sell.
These two pieces would be written differently as one would be more of an introduction, presenting your business to a prospect. The other is where the client already knows about the company and is an existing customer, offer them a reward for their business.
Coke’s “Share A Coke” campaign gave everyone the opportunity to personalize their favourite drink, for people that already love Coke. The target was 150 of the most popular names in Australia, they added them to the side of the bottles. And, people went nuts for it.
WHERE?
Having the right type of information on the right platform may seem confusing, but it is very similar to something we all do in real life. Remember when you shared the same story to your client, a stranger, your 9-year old, your boss, your spouse as well as your best friend? You probably changed the length of the story, left out or added certain details specific to that person, Right? You do this based on who you were speaking, you choose to do this according to how much background information that person has about the topic, what your relationship is with them and how much information you thought they needed or should have.
The above is very much the same method of adjusting information to different platforms. Facebook content differs from Twitter or slide share. Same story, different audience. Just like in real life – you adjust the message for the intended audience.
HootSuite's Game Of Social Thrones creates the concept of uniting the warring kingdoms of social media, love it.
Quality information reinforces the mission of the company and can be used for more than one purpose. Recycling and repurposing content is cost-effective and practical, maximizing your marketing dollars, and creating long-lasting content that will continue to be helpful to the customer.
WE GET IT.
Running content marketing campaigns, and consistently coming up with new ideas can be mind-boggling, time-consuming and frustrating. That’s where we come in. From blogging and social media to video and visual marketing, we collaborate, create and develop content collections for B2B and B2C markets.
We can help you find new ways to get creative and create inspirational content marketing.
So Let’s get started . . . . . . . . .
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