We live in a world teeming with constant messages at every turn. Today’s digital space is now so crowded that many consumers feel overwhelmed, and they’re tired of one-size-fits-all messaging that simply repeats what’s already out there.
What’s a problem for consumers is an opportunity for your brand. Create a content marketing strategy, and you’ll cut through the clutter with high-quality, targeted messaging that shines bright in the mountain of mediocre information.
What is content marketing?
Simply, it’s delivering a constant stream of compelling stories that grab the attention of the audience you want to reach. You want to capture the hearts and minds of your readers, so these stories shouldn’t be promotional or too self-serving. To create these stories, you’ll need to:
- Think about your customers first, and align with their unique perspectives.
- Create a personalized experience through content that is enticing, engaging and irresistible.
- Distribute content that’s accessible and easy to navigate on any device.
What can content marketing do for you?
Good content marketing copy engages your customers and motivates them to act without ever actually delivering a “call to action.” In addition, it can:
- Create conversations, develop relationships and maximize word-of-mouth referrals.
- Complement traditional marketing and add value with content that has a longer “shelf life” than traditional marketing tools.
- Bring life and vitality to your brand with videos, photo galleries, blog insights and more.
- Establish your brand as a thought leader and go-to authority with webinars and white papers.
How do you get started?
Like much of “new marketing,” content marketing may seem simpler to understand than to implement. Writing, editing and disseminating content for a specific audience requires research, talent and time. To support our clients’ content marketing strategies, Dana begins with its core specialty: storytelling. We use our in-depth knowledge about each brand and detailed data about its niche market and target audience. Only then do we implement these steps:
- Define a mission for our content marketing strategy, including the core target audience and the outcome we want to accomplish with this audience.
- Identify the best stories—every topic must be compelling, authentic and share-worthy.
- Create a detailed editorial calendar to organize the content.
- Devise a marketing plan to disseminate stories and leverage social and email channels.
- Measure the results of the plan and apply those findings to achieve even better results.
Intrigued by the possibilities? Check out Epic Content Marketing: How to Tell a Different Story, Break through the Clutter, and Win More Customers by Marketing Less by Joe Pulizzi. And get in touch with Karen Paton at kpaton@danacommunications.com or 609.466.9187, Ext. 130, to talk about making content marketing an integral part of your overall strategy.
