Overview
This
article will introduce you to the basic concepts of content marketing, how to
develop relevant content and how to develop a content marketing strategy.
What Is Content Marketing
Content
marketing in its simplest form is nothing more than the process of developing
content that is then used in some form of marketing activity. While this sounds
simple and obvious, it ignores the most critical component of the development
process – the content that is created
needs to be worthwhile to the intended recipient. In other words, the
content must provide value and be worth
reading/hearing/viewing; it should not be just a sales pitch.
Key # 1: Developing Content
Simply
put, content creation (aka, content development) is the process of developing
content (in whatever format) to be used in a marketing activity. However,
content creation is about more than just the actual development of content. For
content to be most effective and help reach your marketing objectives, the content
creation process requires a thorough understanding of your potential customer
or target audience. Without this knowledge, your content will not function
effectively.
How
do you do this?
In
order to understand your target audience, customer intelligence is required. You
must gather and analyze a variety of data, both qualitative and quantitative,
to provide you with a level of detailed information, so that you understand the
drivers behind any potential purchase decision. For instance, you must understand
your potential customer’s motivation. You should know what type of information
they require to make a decision and where they look for that information, such
as knowing which industry conferences/trade shows/events your potential
customer attends, knowing who the industry thought leaders and influencers are and
what the market dynamics, conditions and competitive situations are that impact
their business. In addition, you may need to know more detailed information,
such as what their current financial situation is, who their primary
competitors are, what their technology infrastructure is like, etc.
This
type of knowledge and intelligence helps you better understand what their
business concerns, goals and objectives are, providing you with greater insight
into the development of relevant content.
Now
you are ready to begin the content development process. Your knowledge of how your
product or service addresses your potential customer’s concerns or needs, coupled
with the customer intelligence, provides you with the insight into the type of
content that needs to be created to clearly articulate the value proposition. Whether
you are responsible for the development of the content, collaborate with
another department, or work with an outside agency, having this type of customer
intelligence is the first key to content marketing success.
Key # 2: What Is A Content
Marketing Strategy
Whether
it will be used online, in print, for display, download or in person, the
manner in which you use the content is the most critical component of the content
marketing activity. To be successful as a marketer, you have to extract the
full value from the content you have developed.
A
content marketing strategy is the plan that allows you to do that. It starts
with a SWOT analysis and includes the goals to be accomplished, who the target
audience is, the logistical elements (the ‘where/when/how’ across the marketing
activities and tactics), the touch points, calls-to-action and the
response/follow-up elements required to ensure maximum exposure and
effectiveness of your content. You also need to ensure that goals and targets are
established, the relevant metrics are defined, you are tracking the activity to
determine success/failure, the appropriate follow-up processes are in place,
etc.
Having
a content marketing strategy helps ensure the content use is coordinated,
effective and efficiently leveraged to the fullest extent. Without a strategy, although
your content may be compelling, valuable and useful, it may not be used in the
most efficient manner, may not receive the full exposure that it deserves and
may not drive potential customers to you. A content marketing strategy helps
ensure your content is utilized to the fullest extent and is the second key to content
marketing success.
Key # 3: How To Develop A
Content Marketing Strategy
The
first step in developing your content marketing strategy is to further expand
the basic information you collected during the customer intelligence gathering
process. The 5 W’s can provide you with a good basic framework for this process,
through asking additional questions and helping you to expand further upon the
intelligence you’ve already gathered. The 5 W’s also help you determine
components of the content strategy plan you are developing.
The
following examples provide ways to use the 5 W’s:
- Who is your target audience/target market?
- Internal / External
- Technical / Non-technical
- Executives / Management
- Other
- Who are you developing the content for?
- Engineers
- Managers
- Purchasing agents
- Finance
- Other
- Who do you want to reach, who are the decision makers, the influencers, etc. that you want exposed to your content?
- What is the goal of and/or what do you want to do with your content marketing activity?
- Raise awareness
- Develop new leads
- Thought leadership
- Inbound marketing
- Other
- What type of information or message do you want to communicate via your content?
- Technical specifications
- Product specifications
- Benefits
- Value
- Other
- What format does your target audience prefer to receive content?
- Online / digital
- Audio
- Video
- What problems does your product/service address/solve?
- Reduces costs
- Improves uptime
- Lowers overhead
- Increases efficiency
- Other
- What benefits does your product/service provide?
- What is the call to action for your content?
- When do you want to launch your content marketing?
- Date/month/week/year
- When do you want to publish?
- Time of day/week/month/year
- What marketing channel(s) do you want to use to publish your content?
- Online
- Social media
- Digital
- Direct mail
- Other
- What social media platform(s) do you want to use to publish your content?
- Blogs
- YouTube
- Other
- Where do your customers go to find out information?
- Online
- Trade shows/conferences/events
- Publications
- Broadcast media
- Other
- Why should a potential customer buy from you?
- How is your product/service any different/better than the competition?
- How is your content going to engage the target audience?
- How can you use sections/sub-sections of the content you have developed in additional or different ways to broaden your reach?
- White papers or case studies
- Tweets
- Blogs
- Posts
- Website
- Commentary
- Discussion starters
- Advertisements
- Other
- Etc.
Once
you have answered these (or similar) questions, then you have the information required
to determine how to finalize your strategy, implement your plan and most effectively
use your content. You have the guidance you need to select the appropriate
channel(s) and type of marketing activities to ensure maximum exposure of your
content. This is the final key to content marketing success.
Content Marketing 101: Summary
In
summary, content marketing is the process of doing the necessary customer
research and gathering customer intelligence, developing relevant content based
on that research and intelligence, developing a marketing strategy and then deploying/implementing
the plan to take full advantage of the content.
I
have created a simple mnemonic called the ‘4-D Method’ to help you remember
this:
- Due diligence to gather customer intelligence
- Develop the content
- Develop the strategy
- Deploy the marketing
By
following the steps outlined above, your content marketing will be more
effective, will deliver more value to your customers, will reach more of your
intended target audience and will likely be more successful.
©
Richard Hatheway – 2013, 2019
All
rights reserved.
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