In this article, we'll go over content marketing done right and how to differentiate your brand from the others who are just trying to get sales through flashing, soul-lacking content.
Even though content marketing is old as an old-school Coca-cola who's telling you to “be cool” by drinking from a 300ml glass bottle, there's much that was thrown to the wolfs in the era of digital marketing. Brands turned to a “flashy” approach to handle much of their content on social media, expecting to sell without a deep connection to their customers.
This is what we'll try to steer away from when creating content that not only engages your audience, but also creates a bond with them.
1. Make Content Easy For Yourself
Look, there's a simple way to sum up content marketing, or its purpose, into a single line: Your content should entertain, inform, or ideally both. Your audience needs to feel engaged with whatever message you are presenting them with, and there's nothing better than giving them something of value to ensure it happens that way.
If you look at informational products, such as courses or guides, you'll see that most of their content marketing is about teaching you something that might prove valuable, if you're their target audience. A course about digital marketing might have several posts about optimizing Facebook campaigns, for example.
-
But traditional products can also make use of the inform factor in ways that you may have not thought of. For example, Thursday boots is a company that, well you guessed it, sells mostly boots. If you have a quick look at their Instagram, you'll see tons of posts showcasing their boots.
On the outside, it could seem like “soul-less” flashy content, but the reality is that their audience loves them for a reason. And that's because they strive to educate while showcasing their product. Thursday wants to make sure you're not only appreciating the beauty of their boots but also how and why are they special.
Essentially, giving their audience a quick class about what makes some boots good, and others great. What's the right type of leather, laces, soles? All of these questions are addressed in their content, and their audience benefits from learning about these, whether they buy or not.
Other brands, like in the Coca-cola example we gave above, focus on the entertainment factor more. This encompasses lifestyle brands, that sell the dream more than factual information about them. The new eCommerce wave of brands is a great example of this category.
-
Craftd London sells jewelry worldwide. Their pieces are nothing special in a market where most stores offer similar designs or materials, but the story they tell is what differentiates them. They are for the daring, the pirates of today, people who are not afraid to show what makes them unique with the jewelry they choose to wear daily.
Craftd doesn't inform with their content but instead uses their marketing to show you the Craftd lifestyle, with beautiful photos, and tons of user-generated content that inspire you to not miss out on the movement.
But Why Are Some Brands Getting It Entirely Wrong?
We mentioned previously, content without a story or value attached to it will do nothing for your business. Brands that want to make a quick buck selling tons of different products struggle with this problem. They have no story to tell, no special value to add to their customers but a cheap price, and a couple of flashy pictures. Even if they buy one time, it's likely that their attachment to the brand will be left nearing zero.
Business owners need to go back to the fundamentals when it comes to positioning their brands on the market. Understand what makes them special, and create a content strategy around those points. If you need help with this, remember that the MicroMentor platform can provide you with a marketing mentor to help you dial in everything related to your marketing game.
2. Is Content Marketing Going To Do All The Hard Work For Your Business?
-
The short is answer is probably not. Even though content marketing is great for creating a loyal following and cultivating an audience, it is not the only piece you'll need to scale your sales rapidly. Combining great organic content with an advertising strategy that brings in new eyes to that content, is what ultimately will.
The same brands that we previously touched on, that is Thursday's and Craftd, use direct advertising campaigns that work in tandem with their content strategy to close the sale. These ads have one goal only, to get the user to their websites, or at least create enough interest for them to explore their profiles and content. That is to say, the only thing limiting great content marketing is the reach of the nature of the content itself.
A marketing strategy designed for reaching a cold audience, it's likely to be a tad different from one for cultivating an audience that is already aware of your brand. That's why designing both strategies to work together should be the best bang for your buck.
If you want to know more about creating content marketing or anything related to small business help, head over to MicroMentor.org and connect with a mentor who can guide you on the way to success. Entirely for free. Thanks for reading!