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Content Marketing Recipe for Success



As a brand you will no doubt ask yourself: “How do we get people to pay attention to us?”

And no doubt you will be told things like: “Video is where it is at right now” and “High quality photography is essential on Instagram”.

That advice, which, by the way, I’ve probably given out myself before, is a bit like someone asking: “How do I cook something that my guests will love to eat at my dinner party?” and me turning to you and saying: “Use food!!”    

Duuuuuhhhhh!

So it is not a case of just posting a blog or doing something regularly on social media. It is not just the action that will drive the success, the content itself has to have some sort of value. It needs to have a goal, a purpose and an idea that will resonate with your audience.

So when you are brainstorming some ideas for your next blog post or big content project ask yourself:

Is anyone looking for this?

There are lots of tools that will tell you how much search there is for a specific topic or keyword. Equally there are tools to say people are having conversations on social about specific topics. Use these to at least understand what has been successful and then tweak your idea to make it unique to your brand.

Is your content the same as everyone else’s?

Taking my first point and just copying everyone else isn’t going to get you anywhere. Take an idea, add some opinion and the experience you have and make it stand out. Within this content, ensure your unique tone of voice shines through.

Who else might be interested in your content?

Draw up a list of people whom you can share it with – Industry experts, suppliers, press, influencers. Create something that they can have a conversation about and then they might want to share it too.

Will the audience engage with it?

You may well be creating some lovely content that your audience is interested in, but does it make them share it, comment on it or like it? If you understand how social platforms work you’ll know this is really important.

Can your core idea be used in more ways than one?

Getting more value from a core idea is essential. Taking your core idea and chopping it up for email, social, blog posts and outreach needs to be considered, but also are there ideas within the central theme that can be shared in a bite-sized format?

Can you create a consistent stream of content?

Your audience will start to follow you if they know what to expect and that the content you are creating is a series of valuable posts. Take Influx.co.uk which we create for Adrian Flux Insurance. I use the example all the time because it gets better every month and the audience grows and sticks around because it evolves but the core idea of niche cars, bikes, people and culture remains the same.

Does it have value?

Can someone learn something, be entertained or improve what they do by consuming your content? If so, great, but don’t forget, someone else will be creating great content – you just need to do it better!

Do you have a plan and budget to share this content?

There is no point creating content that is incredibly valuable if no one can find it. Make sure there is a plan and budget to distribute and promote it.

If you want to know more about the tools, tricks and techniques for building an award winning content strategy, we are putting on free sessions to help you. No sales pitch, no cost, free beer and food, what’s not to like? Sign up here

Image from Helloquence