Is More Content Really Better? 3 Ways To a Rockin' Content Strategy

I feel like the phrase ‘Content is King’ has been tattooed onto my back. 

As a marketeer in the year 2015 all points sign to content to drive inbound marketing strategies, more leads, more sales, and business growth. 

In this blog, we’ll share best practices for overhauling ineffective content strategies and explain how to use leading metrics to accurately predict and improve the ROI of your content before it goes into market. 

Is more content really better? 

As a small business owner, I understand the challenge to continually create content that is relevant and useful for my tribe. Most people struggle to regularly get useful content out into the online ether…yet there is a growing number of businesses who have gone gangbusters on content creation and are completely spamming their audiences. 

Do you know the businesses I am talking about? 

Those people posting 10 times a day in social media, sending emails every day, sometimes twice a day. They have personal notes, they have newsletters, they have special deals and most of the time you just click ‘delete’. Yet, it looks like they are doing so well! You start to think…well everyone is saying content is important, and theses businesses are smashing it out…so maybe I should be doing this too. 

With the  growth of available channels — social networks, email, company blogs, etc. — marketers and small business owners often adopt a “more is better” approach, blasting more content across multiple channels, hoping for more impact. But today, multi-channel marketing has become the norm rather than the exception; simply engaging in content marketing fails to set brands apart. 

Before you start trying to ‘Make It Rain’ content like Fat Joe and Lil Wayne, check out the latest research from the US about the impact of content and my top tips to create a content strategy that is just right for your audience. 

According to a recent research report by Trackmaven, a data-driven marketing organisation in the US, a growing majority of professional marketing content fails to have an impact. 

The research points of poorly planned content strategy, and that those businesses who are over saturating their audience with content that is not relevant are losing the content race. 

Here’s what the stats say:
? Across 2013 and 2014, the output of content per brand increased by 78%, but content engagement decreased by 60%;
? On social networks, brand-generated content is seeing the lowest engagement rates now than anytime in 2013 and 2014;
?43% of professionally-marketed blog posts receive fewer than 10 interactions. 

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, customers rank traditional media and online search engines as the most trusted sources of information (63% and 65%, respectively). The trustworthiness of social media and owned media, however, trails by a third (45% and 44%, respectively). 

In light of these facts, plus the continued expansion of available channels, the time is right for marketers and small business owners to ask a different question: Is more content really better? 

The short answer is NO. The best way to reach consumers in a world with a myriad of options is to be the best option through a combination of content types, sources and frequency. 

Here are three ways to do that: 
 
Way # 1 - Get strategic 

Be Relevant
Do you have a content strategy? Have you tested your content strategy on your ideal audience to see whether what you are putting out is relevant to them? Here are a few tips to help you develop a shi*t hot content strategy the is just right for your ideal customer, that helps you develop and share content that people actually care about. 

• Survey your existing audience to see what types of information they actually want to hear from you, what they have loved to date, and any suggestions
• Check out your competitors and see what they are doing, what’s working and what’s not
• Create listening stations where you can analyse what current content your ideal audience is loving. Use tools like Buzzsumo to see what articles are currently trending and reach out to popular bloggers to guest post

 
Way # 2 - Get your ratios right 

Be More Than Just Branded Content
Marketers and small business owners need to get better at  creating content worth distributing, not just distributing content. Customers tend to trust peer-to-peer recommendations and review sites more than branded content. So not only do you need to be creating branded content, but you also need to get your business on review sites, as well as build getting reviews and recommendations into you core business strategy. 

• Post 60% industry content sharing, 30% branded added value content, 10% promotion
• Augment your content development through an online reputation building program where you get reviews and recommendations to build consumer trust. Try Grade.Us - it’s a great tool to help you do just that.
• Start guest blogging on industry leading blogs, and invite others to share their content with your audience

 
Way # 3 - Get your detective on 

Be Customer Curious
The biggest challenge and opportunity for small business marketing lies not only in the initial content creation phase, but also in reviewing and improving relevance as you go on. Improved analytics empower small business owners and to course-correct their small business content strategy in real time for maximum long-term impact. In the evolving digital landscape, taking an iterative approach to content marketing is the norm, not the exception. The explosion of new and advanced marketing platforms and technologies continues to amplify the distribution of content so don’t get left in the dust and watch your results closely. 

• Review and analyse your previous content and the engagement rates, through Google Analytics, Facebook Insights and LinkedIn Publisher stats - what topics are most popular? What times are best for posting?
• Keep a close eye on your conversion rates- is your content marketing strategy actually returning leads and sales results? If not you need to change it!
• Review your content theme approach regularly to ensure you are relevant, your ratios are right and you are keeping up with or leading industry trends.

Want to learn more about content strategy and how to start planning your best possible approach? 

Tune in next week where we will be giving you the best tips to become a killer content creation machine! 

About the Author

Meg Rose Russell is Director of Rosy Marketing, a marketing consultancy established to change the face of marketing in Australia. She aims to enable entrepreneurs and small businesses owners to realise their truths through strategic and systematic marketing. With over 10 years of marketing blood sweat and tears invested in growing a range of businesses including companies like IBM and SalesForce across a range of industries from Events and Charity to IT and Finance, she now uses her strategic insights to provide marketing tools, consulting and coaching to small businesses. She is also a proud member of the Duct Tape Marketing Consulting Network.

Interested in setting up a exploratory call?

Check her out at www.rosymarketing.com