People have been saying ‘content is the king’ for a long time now, and everyone has understood the importance of creating great content. It isn’t about selling at all. It thrives on the premise that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. There has been much buzz about how companies are leveraging every possible resource to achieve competitive advantage with content marketing. The Content Marketing Institute and Top Rank Online Marketing decoded 29 secrets about content marketing. For a full list of the people who contributed to the study go here.
Below are some captivating points from the study.
Distinct voice –
Content should not be viewed as a task or a campaign. Content is a distinct voice, a point of view that is unique to the brand. This is an example of Fastrack that has created a special language of its own. Is your content recognisable even after masking the visual branding?
Surprise audiences –
Content should be able to surprise the audience or atleast evoke mystery. Here’s an example of how Benetton’s Unhate campaign induced varied responses . Does your content make your audience say “wow!”?
Books rule –
Creating a physical copy of content, thoughts and ideas bound by one cohesive method in a book form is useful. People can download it or take it away for free. This is how Manchester United let books rule with a Facebook fan message book. Can your content be touched and felt?
Also Read: 40% of the world’s top brands are on Instagram
Socialise –
An educational masterpiece is of no value if it remains hidden. Embedding social sharing into emails, PDF files and websites will draw more eyeballs. If you want to know how you could embed social sharing in PDFs see this. Has your most valuable piece of content reached your target audience?
It’s about them –
Customers should be made content guides. Spending time with them, learning about their personality, listening to their feedback, inviting them to write on blogs, encouraging them to tell their own stories are some ways in which insights for content can be sought. This is an example of how Revlon used Facebook Questions to better understand their community on Facebook. Is your audience talking to you?
Consistency –
Consistency in voice, tone, publishing frequency and quality of content is essential for content marketing to be effective. You always return to brands that provide the same quality consistency.
Re-create –
Content need not be repeated but can be re-created around the same topic from different angles. Different approaches invite people to engage based on what appeals to them the most. People like sharing opinions on topics that have different perspectives.
With the rise of content marketing, the concept of B2B and B2C has shifted to P2P i.e. ‘people to people’. Businesses are now understanding that it’s less about selling and more about helping. Great content marketing is one that creates meaningful and mutually beneficial content ; one that inspires, entertains and informs.
Which of these points resonated the most with you? Share with us your tips on creating great content.
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