What is Content?
Angie Snowball
LinkedIn Strategy Specialist | LinkedIn Training | Communication Consultant | Culture Coach | Podcast Host of Business without Borders | Public Speaker | Let's tell the world your story.
Content marketing is all the rage these days, but what is it? Content is just stuff – interesting and relevant stuff. Even though it’s annoying to hear all the time, content marketing is pretty cool because it really just means “entertain me.” Tell me a story but don’t try to sell me anything. Tell people who you are and what you offer in fun and interesting ways; make your story relative, educational and helpful.
You should also make it short. The world moves more quickly every day and often our attention spans shorten in pursuit of keeping up with the world. Personally, I squirrel out several times a day and most people do, so show your value quickly. Be concise, give your audience a hook and see if they bite. It’s important to understand that not everyone will bite no matter how cool your content is and that’s ok. If they don’t bite, they might not need your service or product at the moment. Focus on a very distinct target market and provide information that this specific audience will find useful. For example, if you are an interior designer, your target market might be women aged 45-60, with a household income of over $250K. Posting cartoons or using Snapchat would be a waste of time and money, but creating DIY videos posted to Pinterest would be a great way to reach your market.
Your target audience will define the best medium and the type of content to use in your marketing strategy. Blogs, videos, newsletters, emails, how-to’s, FAQs, social media posts, articles, statistics, charts and graphs are just a few of the types of content from which you can choose. Be creative and think outside of the box. What is your audience’s pain point? What questions might they have? What would they find helpful? Where will they look to find help?
All of this can be overwhelming, which is why most people just hire a marketing firm and check it off their list but it’s important to be involved in the process. No one understands your business better than you; make sure you or your marketing firm is sending the right message to the right people. If you aren’t seeing results, then it’s time for a change.