Content Marketing Service
A content oriented service that places purpose behind your content
Content is a core element of your Digital Marketing strategy and needs to be treated as such. From your web pages to your social media posts, paid adverts and email campaigns, content is key to your success.
The breakdown of successful content in marketing
We’re going to breakdown what goes into a successful piece of content. Identify how you can craft compelling and valuable content yourself. And we’ll use a simple example to illustrate our approach to content.
Using OUR EXAMPLE, we’ll look at
The example we’re going to use will be a local plasterer/decorator, we’ll call him Simon. Simon is going through a quiet period and wants to generate some more work. He wants to focus on promoting a new range of vibrant colourful paints and he’s planning on using a VR app that shows what a room will look like with these new colours.
We’re going to look at one content piece of Simon’s marketing campaign to promote this line of paints via the VR App.
The first thing you need to consider is why are you creating a piece of content. What is the purpose? This is the grand WHY behind your marketing efforts. It is a broad objective e.g. to generate leads.
You should create multiple pieces of content that share the same purpose. There are many different reasons to create content.
A brochure should be created to detail your products or services. A FAQ document should satisfy any questions prospects may have about your company, services or products. A Social Media post may simply raise awareness of your brand or something your brand is going (social publicity).
OUR EXAMPLE
Simon has got a new line of vibrant colourful paints in his arsenal and wants to showcase these. So, this is his Purpose.
Once you know what your Purpose is, you need to understand your audience. The more you can define your audience, the better. A lot of marketing professionals will use personas to represent the different audiences they for their customers. This can be very beneficial but can also cause tunnel vision. So be aware of this if you decide to use personas to identify your audience.
We would suggest using campaign-specific personas. This would enable you to tailor your campaign to the right audience but means you won’t miss a wider audience.
You should also consider that your content audience will vary for each marketing campaign you run. So, ensure you cast the net wide whenever you begin a new marketing campaign.
OUR EXAMPLE
For Simon, his audience is rather broad. He wants to target new homeowners in his local area. So, his audience will be anyone who has purchased a property within a 20 mile radius of his business.
The Message, although it seems simple, can be the most difficult element of creating content. You need to know exactly what you want to say. Which message you want to share, the feelings you want to invoke? And the action you want to drive.
You need to develop an understanding of what message works for your audience. And the only way you can do this is by trial and error. You need to do A/B split testing to identify what works and what doesn’t work for you. The message will be flexible. You need to change it and evolve it based on every element we’ve been talking about. (The Purpose, The Goal, The Audience, The Medium, The Platform and The Goal).
The important thing about the message? Is exactly that. The message. Your audience needs to know exactly what you want them to know by the end of them consuming your content.
OUR EXAMPLE
In Simon’s case. He wants to tell people how easy it is. To visualise. New colours in their life by his app. He might use a tag line of something along the lines of: “It’s never been so easy to add a bit of colour to your life” This highlights how easy it is to use the app to experiment with different colours in your home.
The medium, simply put. Is the format your content will take. Will it be a blog post? Or a social media post. Perhaps even an advertorial in a magazine. Might be printed or digital. It can be interactive like an online calculator.
You need to ensure that the medium you choose to use is suitable for your audience. An is the best possible option of getting your message across. In the marketplace, there are many fads and trends. Currently, a lot of companies are using video and podcasts. This is because It makes your content a lot more digestible.
OUR EXAMPLE
Simon has decided to choose a video. This is because it will allow him to showcase his app in action. And he can have a bit of fun with it Highlighting how it can be used in different rooms and indeed environments. So his video, could showcase someone using the app to change the colour of different environments. For example an iconic London red bus goes by and the user changes it to blue, green, or even pink.
When considering the platform, you need to view it. As a publishing platform, where will the content be placed? Where will people see it? This will be the outreach for your content.
You need to be careful when deciding what platform to use and ensure that your message And medium also match the platform you used. The platform can be anything from a social media website to your own website. To a printed leaflet that will go through people’s doors or even billboard and other traditional marketing platforms like newspaper adverts.
OUR EXAMPLE
For Simon, he’s chosen to use, in this specific case, Facebook adverts. However, this won’t be the only platform that his overall marketing strategy will utilise for this campaign. His Facebook ads will allow him to showcase. His video. And target to his audience. Using Geo targeting and interest targeting options.
What action do you want the reader to take after viewing your content? The goal is very specific to each piece of content. That’s not to say you can’t have the same goal for multiple pieces of content. In fact, it’s more powerful if you do have a shared goal across multiple pieces of content in marketing. This will amplify the success of that goal.
The goal is often, but not always, in the form of a CTA. You could send out an email to your database with a CTA to sign up to your mailing list.
OUR EXAMPLE
The goal of Simon’s content will be to direct people to download and use the app and see the new range of colourful paints available.
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BE BRAVE
Be brave and take that first step. We’ll meet up for an initial chat to discuss your digital ambition and identify how we can work together to achieve it.