Content marketing is the only marketing that’s left. If you’re not marketing your brand, business, or company online with good content, then it is safe to say you are non-existent. You MUST improve your content marketing.
As important as it is, content marketing is not always very easy to do. The massive influx of businesses into the digital world in the past few years has made marketing online a very difficult one. But it’s not impossible.
Whether you’re a corporation, a small business, a sole proprietor, or a startup, you can learn to make your content marketing more effective by using the 3 P’s.
Who rules the digital world?
Content does. Every single output by an organization or business into the online world is a form of content. If you post a picture, that’s content; if you publish an announcement, that’s also content; did you run ads? That’s content too.
The entire business sphere exists around content shared by different organizations and individuals into the digital ecosystem. Hence, content is said to be king.
Two decades ago, posting anything online will get you a good number of audience. Today however, businesses now have to pay more attention to how they create content because there are thousands of other businesses who are doing the same.
Now let’s talk about how you can improve your content marketing.
The 3 P’s To Effective Content Marketing
1. Planning
You definitely know the cliched proverb: “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” That statement cannot be truer than it is in content marketing.
Giving the overcrowded digital space, you cannot afford to barge in and post anyhow, or with very little thought about strategy and tactics. You must plan your moves. Every post (or at least majority of them) must weave into a strategic plan that you have created.
Planning is a very critical step if you want to improve your content marketing efforts.
To effectively plan your content marketing efforts, do the following:
- Start by listing out your content marketing goals. Why do you want to share content online? What goals do you want to achieve with your content marketing? Increased sales? More customers? Increased customer loyalty? More brand recognition? Take time to define your marketing goal. The more specific you are, the better.
- Highlight the avenues or tools you want to use. This involves listing out the platforms you wish to use to reach your goals listed above. The most popular of these platforms are Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms; however, your goal may need Mailchimp or ConvertKit as the digital tools you need to reach the goal. Be sure to know your goal and how to get it.
- Define how you want to relate with your customers on Social Media. How do you want to be perceived? Who do you want them to see, hear, and feel you as? Which words will you use and which ones will you avoid? What nature of relationship do you want to nurture with your audience? Formal? Playful? Fun?
- Pick a central theme and list out potential topics. This is helpful because it will guide the things you will be sharing. Your central theme should be as specific as possible so you can easily reach your smallest viable market. For example, your theme may be reproductive health for men above 40 years. Afterwards, ensure to list topics under the theme.
- Lastly, assign dates you will publish. This is a very important and often ignored step. You must assign specific days of the week that you’ll share your content. How many days per week? How many posts per month?
2. Production
This is where pen touches paper. In this stage, you start working on your chosen topics to produce something good. You may choose to produce your content in video, audio (podcast), text, or a combo of these.
Here are some of the very important things you should know about producing content:
- Be as intentional as possible. Don’t just produce content for the sake of production. Carefully select your topics, words and styles.
- Cut off the fuss. The best content is the one that delivers true value. Don’t bore your audience out by giving information they do not need
- Write for your audience, not to them. Be deeply interested in solving their problems. Engross yourself into their lifestyle; in other words, become your audience.
- Be consistent. You probably have heard this countless times, but it’s worth repeating. Be consistent. Be consistent with your tone, your style, your voice, and your entire content.
- Do it differently. The internet is filled with too many people posting too many things. You must differentiate yourself by introducing several nuances that will excite your audience.
Now, to the last P.
3. Promotion
What good is your content if no one sees it? If you’ve completed your content, your job is not complete until you promote your posts.
Promotion can either be by simply sharing to your audience or running digital ads. Whichever one you choose, it is essential that you share your posts.
Once in a while, try boosting your reach with ads. Although too many ads may hurt your brand, running ads minimally will improve your reach and grow your audience.
So, there you have it…
The 3 P’s that will help you improve your content marketing. Plan, produce, and promote. This is a very simple concept but when applied well, you will see your content marketing skyrocket.
Want us to help you grow your business with effective content? Reach out now!
