Score a Touchdown with Your Content Marketing Strategy
Four Key Questions for Entrepreneurs and B2B Marketers
Last Sunday the Super Bowl circus touched down in Las Vegas (Vegas baby…Vegas!) and it did not disappoint. As always, it was a mix of exciting sport, classic advertising?($7 million for 30 seconds), innovative brand activations (Dora the Explorer turned Expert), entertaining musical performances (Usher and friends), and nation-wide social conversations (Taylor Swift of course). Only Americans can create entertainment like this.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. After a second half comeback and overtime, MVP Mahomes’ final pass gave the Chiefs their third win in five years. American Football has everything that makes a sport exciting: the need for strength, athleticism, mentality, teamwork, leadership, and most of all game tactics. Because in sport, strategy matters.?Without strategy, no victory!
In content marketing we often forget to take time out and think about our strategy. We run straight onto the field without much thinking. Mostly because making content has become so easy. Opening a social media account is simpler than doing the dishes. Camera phones, design tools and ChatGPT will do the rest. The low entry barriers are a blessing, but also a curse (the noise out there is deafening). The instant feedback and analytics can make you disillusioned but at the same time hopeful. Next time we get more likes or comments. Right.
Of course, quality matters: originality, authenticity, and creativity are all key ingredients. Creating compelling content will take time and effort, and even then, it will most likely not ‘go viral’. But luckily you can, and should, experiment.
At some point though, I would spend some time thinking of a strategy. I know, it feels like a luxury to take time away from operations and sales, but that doesn’t make it less necessary.
When designing a content marketing strategy, and before you dive into executional decisions such as content platforms, story formats, design templates, and publishing schedules, there are four key questions that will lay a strong foundation.
1. Brand Alignment
Do your content marketing activities align with your brand? A good content marketing strategy strikes you at the core of your company. Content marketing is about storytelling. And authentic stories are personal. Which leads to questions as, who are you? What are your values? What role do you play for your customers? And what is your proposition? While the proposition gives you inspiration for genres and topics, the personality questions leads to your tone of voice and visual direction.
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2.?Competitive Positioning
What we often forget is that we are not making our content in isolation. The competition is active as well. How do your activities compare to your competitors? Are your stories unique or distinct? Is there a territory that can be owned? Especially for B2B brands, thought leadership is key. An analysis of your competitors’ content genres, story topics, and tone of voice gives you a good insight in their positioning. Industry players tend to, often unknowingly, copy each other. Do the analysis and you will see for yourself.
3.?Audience Relevance
Is your content relevant for your customers, and their interests and needs? Companies, driven by sales targets, often publish content about themselves: mostly company news and product information. Although this content is important, it is not enough. You won’t leverage the power of social with product information. What stories does your audience find interesting or entertaining? What will help them think that you understand their business? Imagine you were the editor of a magazine, what stories would your audience like to read? This requires a deep dive into the world of your customers.
4.?Visibility
In the end it is important that your stories reach your audience. What is your share of voice? Is your content getting noticed or drowned out by your competitors? Comparing your own social KPIs to those of your competitors is a good start to understand how visible you are.
Of course, it’s zoo out there. Everyone, including influencers Tom, Dick, and Harry, is making content, thanks to the earlier mentioned low barriers. And unfortunately, some of it is really popular (just analyse your own algorithm). Hence a well-designed strategy becomes even more important. Especially if you want to win the Super Bowl in your industry.