Yesterday we meet to discuss “content marketing strategy” with the community, to share our experiences, look at some case studies and debate the present and future of content marketing. This is a small summary of what we talked about.
First, it is important to start with a definition we can all agree on so we are all on the same page. What we found to be the most important thing within this definition is that it clarifies the most relevant aspects of a content strategy, it puts it in the frame of strategic work rather than tactical, it mentions the qualities of the content to be distributed and what are the objectives of such effort.
What we like the most about this definition is that frames content within a strategic intent defines the type of content that should be distributed, or at least the characteristics that should hold on the eyes of the audience, and ultimately provides the goals of any content strategy.
So if content marketing should be strategic in nature, the first thing to do in order to launch a successful content strategy is to do so by defining the strategy.
- Start with “why”. Here it is very important to define the goal and to make it clear for everyone involved. Answer the question: Why are we producing this piece of content? Why do we need content marketing? What are the real motivations behind this effort? It is important to go as deep as possible. We recommend at advertia to use the “5 WHYS” method in order to arrive at the root of what you need your content marketing strategy. Is it because you want to reach out to a new audience? Is it because you want to consolidate your brand values? Is it to present a new product? Go deep.
- What type of content will fulfill the goal? Are you going to produce video, photo, text, audio or a combination of all of them? Remember that the ultimate goal of your campaign is to capture attention amongst the vast river of content that is being thrown to the market. You must stand out from the noise and be relevant, valuable and consistent… so what type of content will fulfill your goal?
- Last but not least, you always have to be aware of who are you directing your content to. This, along with your “WHY” is the most important part to solve when creating your content strategy. If you have these two questions answered, then your “What” will fall into place much easier and will make sense for your customers. Try to define who you’re talking to in a very specific way. Do your research right.
Once you have your strategy in place, is time to structure your content plan. The way we do it at advertia is that we define the channels, the different topics of communication, the frequency in which we will deliver each type of content. Once the plan rolls out on a weekly and monthly bases, we take a moment to analyze retrospectively the strategy and make the updates necessary based on the feedback from the audience.
Finally, we examined some of the trends affecting content marketing, including interactive content, influencers, live video, automatization and other new possibilities that have the potential to transform the way content is produced and consumed.
We would love to hear from you which trends are the most important ones in shaping content marketing in the future, what are the limitations that we face when producing engaging content and what is your personal definition of content marketing.
Is content still king? Let us know in the comments.
BTW, don’t forget to join our Facebook Group in order to keep in touch with the rest of the community and help grow the discussion around the new ways to do marketing.