If you've been sold on content marketing or you're committed to producing a specific amount of content, STOP. COLLABORATE AND LISTEN. Deep Dish is back with a brand new invention. Here's some tips to bust the myth of content marketing and start generating results. If there was a problem - Yo, I'll solve it.
If you caught the reference to Vanilla Ice, congratulations you had the same shitty taste in 90's hip hop as I did. But, I didn't reference the lyrics to Ice, Ice, Baby for no reason. You see, Vanilla Ice was a master of content marketing. The silly haircut, the story of being dangled over a balcony by Suge Knight, and purposely ripping off a bass line from Queen's Under Pressure - These things were all calculated moves that contributed to his story and led to a meteoric rise. This leads into the first tip:
Create a Story
The surest way to fall flat with content marketing is to take a scattershot approach with no underlying theme. If you want to succeed with content marketing then think about what part of the marketing funnel you're trying to impact and create a story around it. Is it generating awareness? Creating desire? Encouraging action? Ideally, you would have multiple pieces of content for each of these stages, but the main thing is having a consistent theme among them. Any good story has a narrative arc with a beginning, middle and end, so treat your content marketing the same way. If you can make it memorable, then even better.
Plant Evergreens
The best stories are timeless and have relevance in any age - this if often referred to as Evergreen content. Despite Vanilla Ice's career plummeting as fast it rose, the song Ice, Ice, Baby is still played today. Go to any Karaoke night on a Friday or Saturday for proof; the song remains a part of popular culture despite itself. Creating Evergreen content is easier said than done, but strive for it by thinking about what information will always be relevant to your audience. It has to be non-trendy and focussed on fundamentals. This sort of content is also great for search engine optimization and long-term website traffic.
Know your Audience
When creating content are you using lingo your customers are accustom to? Many companies are surprised when we do a keyword analysis of search terms used by web users when looking for their products. The results are often different than how the company presents its content. Companies have a tendency to emphasize their brand names, use industry classifications for product categories, and throw around acronyms. However, the most effective web content is often written at a Grade 8 reading level. Know how your audience talks about your products/services and don't over concern yourself with writing like university professor (unless your audience is academics).
Have a Destination
The biggest failure of content marketing is when it's put out there with no other purpose than existing. You created an entertaining and fun video, but now what? Your blog post is packed full of tips yet has no call to action, it's the first day of summer so you post a picture of a backyard BBQ on social media, and so on, and so on. This type of content is pointless. Where possible, provide direction with your content - Encourage the visitor to take next steps with a call-to-action. Move people along the marketing funnel to end up with a customer instead of just a traffic metric. Most content goes wasted due to a lack of value for the reader or lack of an offer that is actionable. Content marketing is only effective if it's tied to a strategy with a clear roadmap regarding where the customer journey is supposed to ultimately end up.
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Vanilla Ice got people's attention with a good story, created a timeless pop song, knew his audience, and sold a load of CDs. He might be the butt of jokes, but he's a better marketer than most. Will it ever stop? Yo, I don't know. Turn off the lights and I'll glow. To the extreme, I rock the web like a vandal. Hire Deep Dish Digital!
