Content marketing is more than just a hot topic in marketing circles. It’s actually a solid, reliable method for your business to engage with customers and spread the word about who you are and what you do.
However, many businesses faced with the concept of content strategy freeze as if with stage fright. Content marketing can also seem like a lot of work, and this can be especially daunting for small businesses that do not have too many resources.
Below are five tips for a creative content strategy that a company or organization of any size can put to use.
Decide Who You Are
The first key to successful creative content marketing is to decide who you are and how you want to convey that through content marketing. Is your business a warm and approachable knitting and craft store, a group of cutting-edge designers or a green-oriented building supply company?
How can you convey that image through your content marketing? The craft store might go with a photo blog or Pinterest boards displaying customers’ recent creations while the cutting-edge designers might highlight news and information about design innovation and the building supply company could focus on tips for more sustainable living.
Make a Plan
How often will you post and what channels will you use? It’s better to post regularly but infrequently than in bursts followed by long silences, and your channels will depend upon the demographic you are hoping to reach.
Some of your choices for content marketing include blogging, e-newsletters or mailing lists and various forms of social media. It’s better to focus on just a few outlets done thoroughly and effectively unless you are a company with enough resources to do it all.
Curated Content
Once you’ve decided who you are where you’d like to make yourself more visible, you may feel overwhelmed by the work ahead of you. However, providing good content isn’t about producing everything yourself. You can be a valuable resource for your customers by compiling links to information online.
You might do this in the form of a weekly blog post or newsletter that curates all the news of the week relating to your field for example. Linking is also a good way to engage with others online and may encourage links back although this should not be the primary goal of content curation.
Let Others Do the Work
There are a number of other ways you can produce fresh and engaging content that is linked to the identity of your business. Guest blogging is often a win/win situation; your site gets more content while guest bloggers get more exposure. Customers can also be encouraged to share over social media, and that brings us to the final tip.
Make Social Media Work for You
Social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus can engage with customers in a way that encourages them to produce content rather than simply broadcasting messages. Open-ended questions get more substantial replies while more closed questions tend to get a higher volume of answers.
A home improvement store could encourage people to post photos or stories of recent home improvement successes or even funny stories of failures as an open-ended question while it might simply ask people what room in their house they are currently improving to get a higher volume of quick responses.
Whatever method you use in your content marketing strategy be creative and endeavour to listen to what people want and engage on their level. There is always a place for interesting, relevant and informative content.
What creative initiatives have you deployed as part of your content marketing strategy?
Steve Minks has over 25 years of IT & Digital expertise with a background in Property Development, Telecoms and as an accredited Health & Fitness professional. As a Digital consultant with test.icesugarmedia.com, Steve also enjoys writing on a range of subjects, functional exercise, visiting historical places and spending time with his family.
This article was first published on Business 2 Community
