#MarketingMinute / 5 Strategic Rules for Content Marketing

We hear all the time that content is essential. Content is king. Content is the voice of the brand. It’s the core of marketing communication. And then we get all kinds of tactical content advice like... You should use blogs. Or Twitter or Instagram. Maybe images or audio or video. Passive voice, active voice, first person, third person, plural, singular, formal, familiar. Enough! We get it. These are conceptual ideas on one side and tactical advice on the other.

But all that tactical content advice is of questionable value because it’s out of context, meaning that those people who provide you this advice usually do so without any knowledge of your content strategy. Of course, this begs the question, do you have a formal content strategy? Or are you just winging it and hoping for the best?

(If you'd rather listen/watch instead, play the following YouTube video. Otherwise, keep reading below the video.)

If content truly is essential to marketing -- and I promise you it is -- then you need to develop a strategic approach to creating and delivering your content. And when I say content, I mean all marketing communications that your organization creates and delivers.

So what can we do to make our content better from a strategic perspective? We need to start thinking conceptually and strategically, and then do the necessary research to work our way down to the tactical level that will support our content strategies. 

Here are five rules for strategic content marketing that all effective marketers should know and follow:

Content Strategy Rule 1: Listen before you create.

If you don’t really know your audience, you’ll never be able to create the right messages with the right voice and tone and feel that will best deliver the information that they need to help them solve their problems and reach their goals. And you can’t know your audiences if don’t listen to them. So take the time to do your research and become familiar with your various audiences. Observe them. Survey them. Invite them to focus groups. Conduct in-depth interviews. Have discussions. The more you learn about your audiences, the more you’ll understand how to communicate with them in an effective manner.

Content Strategy Rule 2: Develop a content strategy and stick with it.

Too many people chase the latest trends instead of becoming known for quality content in a particular area of expertise. They go off-brand or off-message because they’re trying too hard to be popular with the masses instead of being relevant to their target audiences. This does not mean that you can’t discuss other topics or change your tone-of-voice on occasion. That’s fine. But you have to become known for your expertise and your voice and your approach so that your audiences will come to expect some consistency in their relationships with you. The key is to be consistent yet flexible.

Content Strategy Rule 3: Create to your audience(s).

Whether it’s written communication or audio or static imagery or video, what you create needs to fit the needs, capabilities, desires, and motivations of your target audiences. Consider how and when they best process information. What imagery or sounds are most impactful to them? Where are they when they’re best able to focus on your messaging? How much time do they have to attend to and encode what you’re presenting to them? When you create communications that focus on who your audiences are and how they’ll react to your content, you’re much more likely to connect with them and build the rapport that will provide long-term exchange relationships.

Content Strategy Rule 4: Deliver high-value content.

It is crucial to give your audiences content that informs, entertains, inspires, intrigues, and otherwise keeps them coming back for more. When it comes to content, it’s a buyer’s (i.e., a consumer’s) marketplace. If they don’t find value in your content, they’ll seek out someone else’s content instead. In today’s world of quick content development, there is no shortage of content alternatives. But if you always keep content value at the top of your communication objectives, you’ll have a better chance of capturing and maintaining the attention of your market. Remember, what you think of your content is not nearly as important as what your customers think of your content.

Content Strategy Rule 5: Measure content effectiveness and adjust accordingly.

Content development and delivery is not an end to itself. We create content in order to communicate. And in marketing, we typically communicate with the goal of changing attitudes, beliefs, and/or behaviors. Because these are measurable constructs, we can find out if our communication efforts -- in other words, our content -- had the desired influence on our target audiences. If yes, then we’ll probably continue our content production and delivery without changes. But if our content effectiveness is lacking, we need to adjust tactics, and maybe even our content strategy, so that the higher-order goals of the organization are fulfilled.

If you start with these five rules of content strategy, you’ll be well on your way to building effective content that will benefit your organization. Of course, you’ll also need to add on effective tactics at each step of the communication process.

"Marketers who conceptualize, develop, and deliver content consistent with the needs, capabilities, desires, and motivations of their target audiences will likely be effective in building their brands and driving business success."

Remember, marketers who conceptualize, develop, and deliver content consistent with the needs, capabilities, desires, and motivations of their target audiences will likely be effective in building their brands and driving business success.

Have a productive week!

Anthony

P.S. Join me over at YouTube (YouTube.com/AnthonyMiyazaki) for more Marketing Minute videos (about marketing strategy and tactics, brand development, effective communication, personal and professional branding, marketing yourself, marketing leadership, and whatever other relevant and related topics come our way).