It doesn’t take a marketing genius to know that if you keep on using the same content strategies when trying to promote your brand your efforts will eventually be met with failure. What you need to understand about marketing, especially the online type, is that it’s an entity that is constantly changing. This means you need to update your marketing strategy from time to time if you want your brand to be relevant.
Forbes understands this and has recently talked about the what mistakes companies still make in 2015 when it comes to their content strategies. To summarize it, they talk about what concepts marketers need to fully understand if they want to achieve success nowadays:
- You need to target the right audience. It is true that great content lays the foundations for successful content strategies, but it needs to be aimed at people who will take an interest in it. Keep in mind that even small details, like formatting, decide whether your content marketing strategy will be successful or not.
- Distribution channels are important. Putting together great content and planning smart content strategies is one thing, but distributing it is another. A lot of companies seem to ignore the latter. All distribution channels need to be taken into account. It is important to pick the ones that best suit your content.
- Hiding your motivation is not encouraged because it can send a bad message to your readers. They most likely already know you create content to try and boost your traffic and profits, so why hide it? Content strategies need to be transparent. Otherwise you risk losing credibility and seeming untrustworthy.
So what can you do if your content marketing strategy seems outdated and inefficient? Luckily for you, some content marketing experts have been kind enough to chip in with their ideas:
1. Content strategies should include the consumers as well
Social media has definitely made things a whole lot easier for those working in the marketing industry. Not only do most brands get to see what people publicly think of their product, thus benefiting from free advertising, but they also get to directly interact with them. More and more people have started defining themselves according to the brands they use and the amount of self-published reviews regarding said brands is growing by the hour. Centering your content strategies around real people is a must in 2015.
[ Photo Credits: Epic Fireworks’ flickr]
2. Content needs to be useful and engaging, but short and to the point
This is quite the paradox, isn’t it? In today’s fast-paced society, people cannot afford to spend half an hour reading a long blog post or article. They want to scan them and get the information as quickly as possible. However, this does not mean the content doesn’t matter at all. Good content strategies are all about engaging the reader and maintaining his/her interest, while still saving him/her time.
Most content marketing experts agree that it takes a lot of discipline to get your marketing strategy to such a level. They recommend familiarizing yourself with list types and ways to implement them, info-graphics and tip sheets.
So what is there to take from this? Well, understand that change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, especially when it comes to the success of your company. If you keep on using stale and worn out content strategies you won’t get anywhere. Incorporate these new ideas into your business plan and 2015 will be a great year for your business.
Remember to also check out our blog for more information. You’ll find plenty of articles that will keep you up-to-date with any changes that might occur in the content marketing industry. [this is where we would insert the link to your blog/website]
