You want to create engaging and valuable content for your target audience, but how do you decide what types of content to produce and how to distribute them? In this article, you will learn what a content mix is, why it matters, and how to create one that suits your goals and your audience's preferences.
A content mix is the combination of different formats, topics, and channels that you use to create and share your content. For example, you might use blog posts, videos, podcasts, ebooks, infographics, social media posts, newsletters, webinars, and more to communicate your message and offer solutions to your audience's problems. A content mix helps you diversify your content strategy, reach more people, and optimize your results.
One of the best context mix in 2023 is Email (newsletters) and social media posts. Podcasts are rising. But virtually, every audience relates with email and/or social media posts
A content mix is essential for several reasons. First, it helps you appeal to different segments of your audience, who may have different preferences, needs, and learning styles. Some people might prefer to read a long-form article, while others might enjoy watching a short video or listening to a podcast. Second, it helps you create more value and authority by covering different aspects of your topic and providing different types of information, such as facts, opinions, stories, tips, etc. Third, it helps you leverage different platforms and channels to increase your visibility, traffic, and engagement. For example, you might repurpose a blog post into a video and share it on YouTube, or turn a podcast episode into a newsletter and send it to your email list.
When creating a content mix that works for you and your audience, four main factors should be taken into account: goals, audience, resources, and metrics. Ask yourself: what are your content marketing goals? Who is the target audience? What are the resources available? And what metrics should be used to measure success? With this information, you can create a content mix that aligns with your objectives, meets your audience's expectations, fits your budget and schedule, and delivers results.
Creating a content mix can be tricky. I usually ask myself where do my target audience get their news. Social media? Podcasts? Emails? Videos? I target 2 extreme demographics and chose.
Once you have defined your content mix, you need to balance it according to the 80/20 rule. This means that 80% of your content should be educational, entertaining, or inspirational, while 20% of your content should be promotional or sales-oriented. This way, you can provide value and build trust with your audience, without being too pushy or spammy. You can also balance your content mix according to the buyer's journey, which is the process that your audience goes through before making a purchase decision. This means that you should create content that addresses their awareness, consideration, and decision stages, and guide them towards your solution.
Finally, you need to optimize your content mix by testing, analyzing, and improving it. You should monitor your metrics and feedback, and see what types of content are performing well and what types of content are not. You should also experiment with different formats, topics, and channels, and see what resonates with your audience and what drives your goals. You should also update and refresh your content regularly, and make sure it is relevant, accurate, and engaging. By optimizing your content mix, you can increase your effectiveness and efficiency, and achieve better results.
If you think you'd probably do fine without content mix...you MIGHT be right. But...understand this, if you use only one channel to reach your supposed audience there's every possibility you're not reach your full audience potential. Always use content mix for best results.