Want To Move With The Times? Here’s How To Make Your Marketing More Agile
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. It’s a phrase we’re all familiar with, and the message rings true. If something’s working for you, why change it? But in today’s fast-paced world, the last thing you want your marketing to be is stagnant.
We’re big believers in the benefits of an agile approach. This doesn’t mean ripping up everything you’ve come to value in your marketing career, or running with every single marketing trend you come across. In a nutshell, agile marketing is just moving with the times. And we like to think we know a thing or two about how it’s done…
Mix it up!
First things first, it’s important to mix things up! Making sure your marketing strategy is backed by a wide variation of content means your posts won’t just be ‘more of the same’, and people will look to you for ideas and expertise.
But don’t think this means that you don’t need a plan in place. Mapping out what you’ll do – and when – allows you to build a strong backlog of quality, consistent content. If you’re stuck for examples, try company news bulletins, posts that showcase your services, thought leadership pieces, and evergreen content that stands the test of time.
Another thing you should always be prepared for, however, is change! Don’t be too rigid in your approach, and always leave room for reactive topics that you can comment on at short notice. This is where it’s important to quite literally move with the times – pay attention to what’s happening in the news or your industry, and see how this ties in with your company messaging.
Timing is everything
Every great content plan is backed by a carefully blocked content calendar. What key events are taking place throughout the year? How do these serve your content marketing strategy?
Here, relevance is key. Is there any need for you to comment on National Croissant Day (it exists) if you’re a tech company? At MYC, the annual budget is hugely relevant for a lot of our clients, so budget day is always a big one for our team.
Don’t be afraid to go live with it! With the rise of TikTok, Instagram Live, and live Tweeting, creating your own live feed for an event indicates that you’re one step ahead. And if you want to go one further, have a comment from a trusted thought leader on hand to boost your credibility.
Staying up to date is easy. We recommend subscribing to certain email lists and news sources, regularly checking social media, and setting up Google Alerts for keywords in your industry.
Content as conversation
This is where your marketing strategy can fall short. Your content’s creative, well thought out, and fits in perfectly with an upcoming event in the calendar. But what use is it if there’s no one to see it?
Promoting your content proves just as important as the content itself. Think about the timescale of a particular piece – how can you make the most of it while it’s still relevant? Some things call for a speedy turnaround to stay on the ball – especially if you’re trying to keep ahead of the competition.
For pieces with a longer lifespan, we recommend drafting up teasers for social media, plus creative or insightful captions to give them an added boost once they’re live. Share as much as possible for as long as possible! What’s the best social platform to access your audience? Are some pieces performing better than others? Why might this be? Asking these questions helps to keep your content fresh.
Are you ready?
Adopting a more agile marketing strategy doesn’t mean throwing out the rule book entirely – it’s important to have a plan in place. In fact, it’s this very plan that gives you the freedom to respond to something in real time – and if it comes to it, pivot.
Having the right resources helps you to avoid being reactive for the sake of being reactive, and generally, you’ll find that people place higher value on content that’s authentic.
At MYC, working with brands to offer up sound responses that add real value to the cultural conversation is where we shine. Let us know what you’d like to say.
