Content is, well, everything. It needs to be attractive, powerful, convincing, flexible and much more. It carries the responsibility to be truthful and entertain at the same time. As it flows through various digital media channels, it attempts to imprint in the minds of the reader and create brand awareness.
In a content marketing campaign, content has a more complicated agenda. It cannot take the liberty of directly promoting the product. Instead, it has to establish itself as an authority to garner the trust that is required for the product and indirectly advertise it.
As a content creator for content marketing campaigns, you would be responsible for blogs posts, social media posts, infographics, etc. For every medium the content creation process is different but has the same desired outcome. Your content needs to hold the attention of the potential customer and generate sales or traffic on landing pages.
But, how do you create content that is effective and tells the story that customers want to hear? Here are a few tips:
Imagination
Imagination has the power to bring to life thoughts and ideas and it is the greatest asset to creative content generation. Do not restrict yourself, at least not at the beginning. Keep working on your idea in different ways. In a few iterations you will hit on the right notes or in this case, syllables. Successful content marketing campaigns are a great mix of imagination and creativity together with technological support.
Research
Do not compromise on research for your content. The more you dig, the clearer your ideas would become. Do not limit your research to the internet if possible. Read books and journals to cover more ground on the subject and subsequently more information for your content. However, research is not just limited to books or the internet. Depending on your content, you can research by simply observing people, nature, traffic, etc. Here is a list of free e-books on content marketing to give you an idea.
Correctness
Always provide correct information in your content. Do not falsify or post anything without verification as that would bring down your brand image. Double check on statistics if you are using any, in your content and always cite the source. If you are in doubt about any part of your content, do not continue with the rest unless you have resolved on its correctness. Did you know, according to statistics, 78% of women use social networking sites?
Target Audience
Content is always developed keeping in mind a target audience. Your target audience may be chosen as per the geography, demographics or preferences. For instance, if you are selling handcrafted jewelry, your target audience would most likely be women. Therefore, design blogs or videos for the content to sell your jewelry to women. The content for your marketing campaign could contain relevant and interesting topics like how to clean handcrafted jewelry, etc.
Interactive Content
Create interactive content that allows for audience engagement. Your audience is highly likely to engage with you once you have established your presence as a brand in your customer’s minds. At this point, you have created trust which is why the customer wants to engage with you. Always reply to the audience and do that as promptly as you or your digital marketing team can. As you may have noticed, your time to respond to queries is often advertised by social media platforms and creates a brand image in the minds of customers. If you take too long to respond, customers may shy away from asking about your goods and services.
Originality
Your content has to be original or else it won’t make an impression on your customers. High-quality and original content will make you different from others. And that is why your audience will remember you. Therefore, you are creating brand awareness among your target audience with original content. Inspiration can strike you anytime, however, you must stay original as you create content for your product.
Add Images or visuals
A picture is worth a thousand words. This old adage could not be more true today. Adding visuals and graphics is sure fire way to convey your thoughts in less words and more interesting ways. In addition, you can do a great deal with images to make your blog or content become more appealing and interesting.
Add Value
Your content must add value to the customer. That means, your content has to contain information that your customer can use. Maybe it is a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) or it is a cost comparison chart between travel destinations – anything that the customer was probably looking for.
Mobile Responsive Content
More people access the internet through their personal devices like mobile phones or tablets today than before. What these devices have in common is different screen sizes. Which means your content has to display properly in every device.
Offer solutions
Create content that states the problem and offers solutions. Suppose you have a product like a super absorbent cloth that wipes moisture off kitchen surfaces or bathrooms. Create a content that states the problems users will face if they do not have your product. You may even create content to show how to store the super absorbent cloth after use so that it lasts long. Thus, not only did your content state the problem but showed how your product can save the day.
Frequency
Create and post content on a regular basis if not daily. If you do not post regularly, you are allowing your competitors to gain access to the market share. This means, you as a content creator are under a lot of pressure to keep moving forward. Catch on to latest trends and create content to include them. A very famous butter manufacturer used this before the internet even existed. Small adverts would appear in newspapers with their mascot featuring with the ongoing political or entertainment trends.
Conclusion
It is estimated that 90% of all organizations, whether big or small rely on content marketing for their business. Good content keeps the customers engaged and generates leads thereby increasing sales. One of the most cost-effective forms of marketing, custom content marketing increases the chances of customers to follow brands and eventually take action or make a purchase.