Content Strategy Can Cut Through the Noise
It is often said that “content is king” on the web, but why? Because advertising, once the primary method for marketing a company, has become less effective over the years. Each day, we are exposed to hundreds of ads which our overloaded brains dismiss as “noise,” making them easier to ignore. Therefore, creating a content strategy is a clever way to cut through the noise and lead consumers to take action.
Good content is like sampling products at a retail store. Samples are a highly effective way to get customers to try one of the millions of products on the store shelves that they have likely ignored for years. It’s human nature that once someone gives us something for free, we feel an affinity to buy that product, even if it’s something that we otherwise never would have purchased. We might even opt for the sampled product instead of the traditional brand we normally buy. That’s the power of samples. In the same way, content lets people sample what you offer and how you work. It builds natural goodwill. The great thing about content is unlike samples of tangible projects, there is no cost for distribution.
A good content strategy uses your business goals and search engine trends to guide the type of content you will post to your site. Content strategy is essential in getting what you have to say to the eyes of those who need it (a.k.a. your customers) by increasing your SEO. Once you develop your consistent strategy stick with it! The best results are to be had over time with continued posting of content that is in line with what your customers want to know. Too often organizations abandon their content strategy before they get to reap the benefits. If you are solving a real problem for real people then you are bound to find tons of things you can share (though finding the topics to write about isn't always an easy process).
Interruptive and repeat advertising is dead. Content is the future of marketing. To be effective in the world of the web-enabled consumer, you need to embrace “delight and engage” publishing. As Joe Pulizzi, author of Get Content, Get Customers puts it:
“All companies, no matter what the size, must start to think more like publishers than ever before. Consumer behavior has changed drastically over the past few years.”
Content can only be king if you put out great content. Mediocre content only adds to the general noise. Now that you are a publisher, let’s make sure we do it right.
Photo courtesy of Juhan.
