Content. Content. Content. You’ve heard it a million times. Content is king. You’ve read countless articles. Why do you need another one? Because it really is that important to your marketing. If you’re well versed in content, look at this as a friendly reminder. If you’re new to content, then you’re in the right place. Use this as your ground floor look at content. Let’s get into it.
What Counts as Content?
Content is anything that is valuable, relevant, and delightful to your audience. Delightful doesn’t always mean funny, it’s more the idea that it provides a pleasant experience. A blog post that is clean and easy to read. A video that is entertaining and informative. A downloadable pdf with nuggets of advice. Content can also take the forms of books, podcasts, infographics, and more. As long as it adds value to the targeted audience’s lives, it’s content marketing.
How Is Content Connected to Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing is the methodology of attracting, engaging, and delighting consumers through relevant and timely content. Content is the message, inbound is how that message is shared with the world. To learn more, check out our post on this topic. Content is the new way of life for marketing and you’ll see it just about everywhere.
If Everyone’s Doing It, How Do I Stand Out?
It all comes down to understanding your audience. These two questions will help you hone in on your unique advantage: What will bring value to their lives? What is already out there for them?
For example, say you’re a university trying to recruit new faculty. What is your ideal candidate looking for in a job and how do you offer that? You could create a video series showcasing the benefits of your location and the job. Say your ideal persona loves the outdoors, maybe there are several beauty shots of the area. Or, build one video solely around the outdoor activity near the university. Another option is conducting a survey and creating an infographic showcasing the happiness of faculty at your university. With a bit of research and deep thinking, you can create valuable content that doesn’t just add to the noise.
What Is a Content Team?
A content team is a group of marketing pros who specialize in creating content. Usually, the team consists of a creative director, a writer, a designer, and a videographer, but team members are added as needed. Sometimes, one person can cover several of these jobs. At Creative Arcade, our designer also acts as our videographer. Creativity is nimble business. Multi-talented team members are a must.
Another upside of having a content team is their eye for content. You may be working on capturing footage for a video series, but something crazy happens during the shoot. They’re more than likely ready to catch it and come up with some creative ways to use it. For example, when we were shooting a commercial for a local hospital, we were forced to reschedule last minute due to the weather. We used the delay to capture footage of the storm along with other goofs that happened throughout the two days. When we returned to the office, our writer jotted the whole adventure down and everyone added photos they had collected. This gave us a fun behind-the-scenes story that got people clicking. It also double tasked as an example of our nimbleness. Win-win!
How Do We Create Content?
Before anything can get shot, written, or posted, there needs to be goals. What are we doing all this work for anyways? So the first big ticket item is to create goals. After this is cemented, it’s time to strategize. How do we want to accomplish the goal? What do we want to say and where is the best place to say it? Once this is determined, it’s time to create. Based on the message, we shoot, write, or design something informative yet entertaining. This could take a few days or a few months, depending on the scope of the project.
How Do I Know If It’s Working?
It will depend on your medium. If you’ve written a blog post, you can track the views and audience paths on Google Analytics and HubSpot. If you’ve created a video series, check the viewership on YouTube. Set goals before launch. Ten pdf downloads may not seem like a lot, but if you work in a niche industry and want to reach a very specific group, that number could be exceptional.
Even if you don’t hit your goals, every piece provides value to you and your organization. You can learn what worked, what didn’t, who reacted, and what you should do differently next time. Another perk of online content is its shelf life. People can continue to discover it long after it’s put out in the world. So if you create something relevant and useful, it will continue to grow clicks and views.
Parting Words
Whether you’re just getting into the content game or have been at it a while, it always helps to have a helping hand. We can help you from conception to creation, always making sure your content will attract, engage, and delight. Connect with us or see some of our work examples.
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