Why now is the time to invest in content (and how to do it)

We're in turbulent times right now but one thing I’m seeing from industry leaders is the continued development of their digital experience and content. While it might be tempting to wind down your content creation in an effort to save money, you actually need to do the opposite.

With fewer external touchpoints, your customers - as well as potential new ones - are reliant on your digital presence to remember who you are. This means that if you shy away from content creation now, it’s likely you’ll be all but forgotten about once we’re out the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Winding back up after something like this can be costly and time-consuming. We don’t know what our new normal is going to be and that means it’ll take some planning and hard work to create the right messaging for your customers. That’s without having to find those customers again after you’ve been silent for months.

What we all need now is reassurance and a nod to the familiar. We don’t need our favourite brands leaving us high and dry. We need information. We need entertainment. We need something to bring routine and normalcy into our lives. Whether that’s reading blog posts, learning something from a whitepaper, or scrolling through social media, it presents a great opportunity for brands.

So instead of halting your content creation, here are some things you can do stay in touch with your valued customers.

Rethink your strategy

Due to the current state of the world, it’s not possible to just go on as normal with your existing content strategy. Take some time to think about what your audience needs in this time and create a strategy that focuses on serving them in the best way possible.

Your customers’ priorities may have changed so you’ll need to consider this when creating a new strategy. While they might have once cared about stationery supplies for their offices, they’re now thinking about the supplies they need at home, for example. Some might have once focussed on performance parts for a beloved car but now want to know how to keep their car clean, safe and running smoothly when its sitting and not being driven.

There are a wide range of stories and topics out there that will lend themselves to your content strategy, no matter what industry you’re in. So whether you’re talking about how to disinfect your tech products, or how to dress when you’ve been furloughed, you’ll be able to find something relevant and helpful for your audience.

Create multiple touchpoints

Every good content strategy crosses multiple channels. You need to seek out your customers in the places they’re consuming content. Use any existing analytics to look at what people are reading, what they’re posting and the topics they’re talking about.

As you create your strategy, incorporate these different channels. Everything might start with your corporate blog but it’s important you push that content to the relevant social channels too. 

Multiple touchpoints often require different types of content so don’t be afraid to experiment with different written formats as well as video, photo and audio.

Develop content hubs

If you’re in an industry that’s relevant to, or heavily affected by, what’s going on at this time, or you have a lot of say, it might be worth creating a content hub. This is relevant if your products or services could support people working from home; if you regularly post mental health content; or you’re in the health or pharmaceuticals industries. 

By developing a content hub, you give your audience a specific place to go to find the content they need. This leads to increased brand awareness, trust, and traffic.

Create content that helps, informs and entertains

The purpose of your content might change during this time. As you’re doing your research into the topics your audience is interested in, think about what they need from you. Do they need support in this tough time? Do they want to learn something new? Do they want a distraction from the boredom of lockdown?

Knowing what your audience needs - and it might well be a mix of the above - will help direct your content efforts. Will you create video content that informs the watcher? Will you create entertaining quizzes and puzzles for social media? Will you keep your customers up-to-date with what you’re doing to handle this crisis?

Create COVID-19 content

There’s no need to dance around the subject and these timely stories will help keep your brand relevant in challenging times. Work topics such as health, sanitisation, working from home, lockdown mental health, homeschooling, business, hobbies and more into your usual content stream.

It’s no coincidence that news sites and blogs are focused on CV-19 content. That’s what people want to read about. They want to know what’s safe. They want to know how to keep busy. They want to know how to thrive. They want to know how to keep their families entertained. And they want to know the brands they trust and love are with them through this too.

But continue to create evergreen content too

Just because COVID-19 content will be slotting itself into your strategy, that doesn’t mean your evergreen content needs to go on hold. Make plans to create those explainer videos for your products, write that guide, release that whitepaper. The world hasn’t stopped and while things are very different and may continue to be this way for a while, you’ll be thankful when the world does return to normal that you were able to create content that’s now working hard to convert customers.

Whatever you do, don't stop moving forward with your content strategy. If things have to slow down due to lack of resources, that's fine. But don't go quiet on your customers as it'll take so much work to build that rapport back up when things do return back to normal.