If you’re an integrated marketer who oversees content creation and marketing, there’s probably a nugget or two in here to put your process on more strategic footing.
First, let’s dispense with that well-worn cliché–the one you’ve heard ad-nauseam since the advent of content marketing: content is not king. In fact, without the secret ingredient touted by Rainmaker.FM co-founder and Chief Content Officer, Sonia Simone, even the most educational or entertaining content is just so many words on a page.
So, what is this mystery factor? Business goals. More specifically, a strategic framework built around on them.
“To make content work, you need to understand your marketing and business goals,” Simone asserts. “Then you can create content that serves them.” To that end, she offers these and other business-goal examples that marketers can combine or integrate into their larger content strategy:
Trust Building–readers’ lack of trust–exacerbated by untargeted, irrelevant or too-salesy content–kills both interest and conversions; content that’s useful, educational (or even a tiny bit amusing) has the opposite effect, creating a near-instant connection that inspires reader trust; relevant content also gives people a sense of your brand personality and what it would be like to work with your company, says Simone.
Attracting Prospects–even companies who boast the happiest, most loyal customers ever still need a continual influx of new prospects if they want to stay in business; one longstanding adage (that isn’t a cliché) is that to attract and onboard new customers content must be–in the words of super-marketer, Seth Godin, remarkable. So compelling, in fact, that it gets used, talked about and shared all across the Internet, especially on social media.
Showcasing Your Fix-It Chops–skittish, skeptical prospects become true and loyal customers when they become convinced that your organization holds the solution to their problems–the perplexing issues that frighten them, annoy them and rob them of sleep and peace; solution-focused content shows customers that you understand these issues and, more importantly, how to resolve them.
“Most enduring businesses thrive because they solve problems,” Simone observes. Strategic content addresses these issues and takes them head on–and in the process, creates a preference for your brand.
Visit our Content Marketing archive for more tips on how to plan, create and distribute great content.