Hitting Your Numbers Without Straying Too Far From the Pack
The marketing game requires creativity, a watchful eye on the industry and mapping out a content marketing strategy that hits home with your target. There are a number of ways to spark the kind of creativity needed to get the engines going on a new content marketing campaign, but what are some of the roadblocks you need to be mindful of as you proceed?
Learn From Competitors, but Strive for Originality
Marketers are constantly striving to be original while learning from others, it is a fine balance to strike. Keeping an eye on your competition gives you the knowledge you need to keep you from developing content too similar. It also gives you an idea of what works and what doesn’t work with the target market, giving you a road map from which to work. You want to take what you learn from the competition but be original when you develop your own unique content approach.
Be Tactful in Your Approach to Social Media
Do you remember your first couple of weeks on social media? It was difficult for you to decide what to put out there because you knew your content would establish what you were to your virtual friends. Then, you gradually realized you can’t keep up a calculated front forever and decided to just be human. That’s what the best content marketers do with social media.
Don’t automate your content and don’t send out content that doesn’t prompt conversation. If you’re approaching social media with the intent of “advertising” your brand, think about a new approach. It’s meant to be a two-sided conversation. Look at Starbucks’ approach to Twitter: nearly everything they tweet is in response to a customer. It’s reactive, but it has an excellent effect on generating conversation among the 6.7 million followers they have.
Zombie Apocalypse? Creativity is Key
SunGard, one of the leading software and technology services companies in the world, serves 16,000 customers in 100 countries. Their content marketing campaign focused on generating more interest from IT professionals. They took a unique approach to this: they used a zombie apocalypse theme, asking users “is your enterprise disaster recovery plan ready?” for the zombie apocalypse.
There may not be a zombie apocalypse, but many other disasters can occur that jeopardize a company’s sensitive data. They used various content marketing pieces to inform IT professionals how they can boost their durability during disasters, which resulted in a 300 percent increase in download rates. Going the zombie route might have seemed odd, creatively, but it worked for SunGard.
Call in the Professionals
Marketing firms are filled with people who understand the important steps in creating a successful content marketing campaign. If your team fails to develop the creative campaigns needed to see a positive result with content marketing, bring in a professional group of marketers who do this for a living. The return on investment is very high
