Like many other forms of marketing, adjectives like mundane, normal, casual and simple will not get a brand noticed. The same principle applies to the buzz phrase of content marketing.
Shockingly enough, content marketing is not just about releasing as many blogs, infographics, and videos as possible. Your content marketing strategy needs to always have a purpose and add to your business’s bottom line.
Content marketers need to present their content in various forms (eBooks, blog, etc.) and must always present and release it in ways that are easily accessible and sharable for the audience. Amanda Maksymi, content marketing manager at Lattice Engines, recently stated that along with variety, the brand’s overall message and goal must always be present.
To help switch from mundane to exceptional, outgoing and talkable content, we are outlining five tactics all marketers need to keep in mind before sending that tweet, posting that update, or emailing that blog.
Take a Risk
No one is ever going to talk about you or your brand if you show off the same old tricks. Your five-, ten- or fifteen-year customers do not love you enough to talk about you for that long. Instead of sending out that promotional email, rent a food truck to raise awareness for your upcoming conference. If your idea fails, it fails. But as the great Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”
Focus on Creativity
Just because big data is “in” right now, that doesn’t mean creativity becomes the middle child. Creative content can turn ordinary data into extraordinary. And even if the data is not relevant, a creative approach will still get you noticed.
Variety
Even if you have the most persuasive or smartest blogger in the world, people will get tired of text. The same goes for imagery. You need to offer a mix of high-quality content in various forms. Make a video (be sure to keep it short), eBook or infographic. Start a web series or conduct Q&A interviews. Change it up.
Highlight Top-Performing Content
If a certain blog post is buzzing around your community, highlight it on your home page. If a great photo came in from your Facebook contest, make it your cover photo. If a blog post is going viral, keep it atop your blog. Track this great content and figure out why it is resonating more than the rest.
Tie Content into the Sales Funnel
It always comes down to the bottom line. You need to make sure all your content leads your audience through the sales funnel journey. No one likes a salesman, but every marketer needs to have some “sales voice” in them.
Combining all five lessons will not guarantee business success. However, it will ensure that no customer will ever use your brand as an example of ordinary or boring marketing.