If you own your own business or are working on a side hustle, chances are the word “content” has been jammed down your throat about a thousand times a day.
Content.
Content Marketing.
Content Planning.
Content Strategy.
Marsha. Marsha. Marsha. <yes this is a Brady Bunch joke. If you don’t get it, we might not be able to be friends.>
But WT ACTUAL F does it mean?
According to the dictionary;
“a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.”
In essence, it’s the exact opposite of the traditional, jam-it-down-your-throat-and-interrupt-your-TV-show form of marketing. It’s not about the hard sell. Like, at all.
Content marketing is all about the long game. It’s aim is to provide value, for free, to it’s audience and customers, build trust over time, and then, when a relationship has been established, show the value of the products and services and ask for suggest the sale.
You are probably cringing at the words “for free” and “over time“. Trust us, we know how you feel. But the thing is, it works.
When’s the last time you watched a tv show without fast-forwarding through the commercials?
Yeah. It’s frakking annoying (accept my apologies for saying frak. My mom might read this and if I swear I won’t hear the end of it) and we REALLY don’t appreciate being interrupted.
As the internet became more and more part of our workplace and our social lives, we have learned how to tune out the side bar ads, pop-ups, and header advertising. Except for reasonably priced swimwear. Those always get us…
In response to that, marketers and businesses have to offer something to grab the eyes of their client-base and keep their attention. This is often in the form of a blog post, video, expertly created or curated images, free knowledge, inspirational iPhone backgrounds, entertaining InstaStories….you get the picture.
Anything that gives the audience some sort of benefit, even if it’s just a laugh, or a few wasted minutes admiring your Instagram photos, is content.
The problem is that you still have a business to run. And content is time consuming AFto create. And you have to be consistent and strategic on what you choose to put out there and when to ask for the sell.
So here is a quick little checklist of my top 5 questions to ask yourself for building your content marketing plan, to get you started on your own content strategy:
- Who you are selling to? You can’t sell to everyone and not everyone needs what you’ve got. Get cozy with who your client is. The more specific the better.
- What are your specific customer wants and needs in their life? What are their pain points? What can only you help them with? These will serve as the pillars that you will structure your content from.
- Where are your customers on the Internet? Is it Facebook? Pinterest? Instagram? Snapchat? Google? All of the above? Make sure you are on the same platforms your clients are on.
- What types of media are your customers are looking at? Is is video? Images? Expertly shot and curated images? Realstagram? A knowledge-based info-graphic? Make sure you are giving them what they want in the way that they want it. That’s how you will capture their attention and keep them coming back for more.
- What types of media work for YOU?! Chances are that your customers are in more than one place looking at more than one kind of media. That doesn’t mean you have to do it all. Find what appeals to you (and that you can keep doing consistently over time) and focus on doing it well. Play to your strengths.
If you can answer those questions you are in a great position to start building your content strategy. For businesses, content marketing and social media are vital to expanding your audience network and cultivating a loyal tribe. And if all else fails, give us a shout and we can always help (see what I did there?)
