Don’t Think You Need A Content Marketing Strategy? Think Again
If you run a relatively small but scaling business, you might be tempted to think of marketing as more of a ‘nice to have’ than an essential part of your company. But the truth is, it isn’t something you can afford to ignore. And the longer you leave it, the more difficult it will be to implement an effective strategy.
Luckily, the guests at our recent Lunch & Learn workshop with Colony Coworking Space knew that – which is why they joined us for a 30-minute session about the power of content marketing. In case you missed it, here’s what they learned…
Why you need to market your brand
Content marketing is 62% cheaper than more traditional methods and can generate three times as many leads – if done well. And it’s not as easy as you think, with just 42% of marketers claiming to do it effectively.
But once you unlock the power of quality content, there are so many areas it can support your marketing strategy, including:
- Brand awareness
- Lead generation
- Lead nurturing
- Customer retention
- Cross-selling/upselling
- Employer branding
And chances are, at least one (if not all) of these will fit in with your brand objectives.
What kind of content should you be creating?
Once you know why you’re creating content, you can move onto the nitty-gritty stuff: what to create. If you’re a fun B2C brand with a predominantly Gen Z audience, you might consider directing your focus to short-form videos and eye-catching social media posts. If you’re a more established B2B brand whose principal values lie in professionalism and thought leadership, you’ll likely want to produce long-form educational content like whitepapers, blogs, and webinars.
It’s all about finding what works best for your audience. Content takes many forms which serve many different purposes, such as:
- Ebooks
- Guides
- Case studies
- Event collateral
- Podcasts
- Emails/newsletters
- Paid ads
- Social media content
But don’t get ahead of yourself. Jumping into content creation without a good idea of where you’re going could be a recipe for disaster.
The importance of content pillars
You wouldn’t build a house without laying the foundations first. And that’s exactly what content pillars are.
Before you start creating content, it’s important to establish a few fundamental themes to support your marketing strategy and social media timeline, as well as build out your marketing funnel. Without them, your content is likely to come across as disjointed, contradictory, and could even negatively impact your brand.
At MYC, we tend to live by four key content pillars:
- Education – As you might be able to guess, this content should educate your customers about an aspect of your brand or industry, and explain where your product/service fits into the wider conversation. Think how-to guides, infographics, and downloadable content.
- Industry – This kind of content helps establish your business as a thought leader within your industry and target those at the top of the funnel. Think white papers, market reports, and podcast interviews.
- Brand – People trust people (and more importantly, they buy from them). So it’s vital that your content represents the kind of brand image you’re trying to create. If you rely on relatability, you might share memes and team updates regularly.
- Product – Now you’ve laid down the red carpet, you can roll out the content that actually promotes what you sell. Your landing pages, product blogs, explainer videos and case studies should all show the best side of your brand, and be written in a compelling way to encourage conversions.
Once you have a good set of pillars in place, you can start to craft a comprehensive content calendar – covering everything from regular BAU marketing to reactive pieces and seasonal campaigns.
Already have enough on your plate? Outsource
Getting a good content marketing strategy in place isn’t impossible, but it is time-consuming. And when you run a growing business, time is money – which is why outsourcing might be your best bet.
We have over a decade of experience taking marketing strategy from the drawing board to reality. But don’t just take our word for it. As Ashley Hughes of Catena Media said, “MYC’s workshop about content marketing provided me with helpful insights on how to execute an effective marketing strategy. I found it very informative.”
Just imagine what we can do for your brand in more than 30 minutes. Get in touch to find out how we can supercharge your strategy today.
