Part One: Focus on Quality
Throughout human history there have been many occasions where people, businesses, organizations or even nations make things more complicated than they actually are or need to be. Such tendencies can actually reduce comprehension or efficiency, and in short order reduce the quality of life through needless clutter! By contrast, think back to when you purchased a product with an elegant simplicity in its design—nothing extra just for show, nor to appear more sophisticated than it actually needed to be for brilliant functionality.
The same goes for content marketing, where a quick perusal of what is out there on the Web reveals myriad examples of overcomplicated approaches and strategies, leading to less-than-brilliantly-effective results in page rankings and actual cash flow. In general, some attempts to make subjects more complicated than they are can be a result of cluttered thinking which has not distilled things down to their elegant essence. (Sometimes needless complication is actually an attempt to convince you that you must buy the product, since its sophistication level is obviously quite high!)
Always keep your content marketing clearly and firmly focused within your overall business goals. As with any “hot” concept that makes the rounds within the business world, currently many companies are creating content by the reams, so that they can proudly proclaim that they are now on the cutting edge. Content marketing can become just another fad or catchphrase if it is not done in a quality manner with clearly-defined roles that powerfully support the pre-existing overall business goals of the enterprise. Keep in mind that it is the quality of the content as discerned by the latest search engine algorithms that will lead to desirable results, not just quantity.
Strategic brilliance is often what sets enterprises apart. So in content marketing, always keep in mind the precise strategic goals of any particular content. For instance, all too often there is not a clear enough focus on exactly which audience is being targeted. A coherent strategy clearly delineates the key needs that the content meets, or the key questions that it answers. These can be determined by a search engine keyword analysis, feedback from cli-ents and careful examination of social media trends.
Decisions must be made regarding precisely which forms of content are optimal for your purposes. With the choices of articles, blogs, white papers, videos, questions-and-answers and others, there are multiple and expanding options. Some content may be more effectively communicated via one instrument than another, but the final choice should also be based on a careful analysis of your specific audience and their media consumption preferences.
In the second part of this article, we will examine a few more foundational aspects of content marketing. Stay tuned!
Kelly Walker is Creative Director for Intrepid Marketing, a Bend, Oregon ad agency. For more information, contact Kelly at: 541-419-9976 or Kelly@intrepidforward.com
