Not all content is created equal. As content continues to dominate the marketing landscape, many businesses are scrambling to get involved – creating and publishing frequently, but with little consideration for the quality of engagement on the other end.
It’s true. Content marketing is a powerful way to connect with your audience, to build trust and loyalty, and to generate leads. But none of this is possible if the content you’re producing is falling on deaf ears.
At Reeton Media, we create content that connects, engages and inspires, and there are a few ways we go about it. Here are some of the key considerations:
Establish your brand identity
Is your brand serious and informative? Feminine and whimsical? Fun and light-hearted? Stoic and rebellious? Developing a distinct brand identity, and keeping it consistent across all communications, will allow your audience to connect with the core values and mission of your business.
Put the audience first
An audience-first approach is crucial to the success of your content marketing efforts. Your strategy should focus not on what you want to say, but on what your audience wants to hear, as well as when, where and how they want to hear it. Take the time to research and understand your audience so you can create content that resonates with them. This will drive engagement and loyalty, and separate your brand from the noise of mass marketing content.
Get emotional
There is no denying the influence of human emotion and brands that can harness this power will reap the rewards. Studies show that people rely on emotions more so than information to make decisions[1] so it stands to reason that emotionally charged content is a formidable strategy. Whether you evoke happiness, anger, curiosity, surprise, admiration – the list goes on – in your audience, a visceral reaction will encourage them to act.
Talk back
Brands often adopt content marketing because they want to drive engagement, but so often neglect to return the favour. Content shouldn’t be one-sided communication. Always sticking to your brand identity, ask questions, use polls, invite feedback, reply to comments – this will help build authenticity and trust, and separate your content from straight-up advertising.
Connect the dots
One of the biggest mistakes a brand can make is spending time, effort and money creating fantastic content, but not sharing, distributing or promoting it. Everything should interconnect. Promote your new podcast via an eDM and on social media; share your new video on Facebook and Instagram; pop your new blog post on LinkedIn with a link back to your website. Amplify your brand across every platform you use.
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