“All content is good content.”

“As long as you get it out there you’ll reap the rewards.”

As much as we’d all like that to be true, it just isn’t the case!

To build long lasting relationships and brand familiarity your business must seriously consider creating content, whether video, photography or the written word, that will strongly engage with its target demographic.

IngredientsNot all content is good content

To begin with let’s consider the marketing that permeates today’s marketplace.

Funnel Marketing

The objective of funnel marketing is to engage new customers and convert this engagement to sales.

The acronym AIDA is a long held and celebrated marketing model used to describe the process a consumer goes through when purchasing a product.

So, what does it mean? It’s self-explanatory, simplistic yet effective:

A -    Attention or Awareness through eye-catching advertising

I -    Interest in the product must be maintained through additional marketing

D -    Desire is aroused through more targeted strategic and emotional advertising

A -    Action results in a sale

AIDA is a form of funnel marketing that takes the consumer through a series of steps to engage interest and ultimately end in a sale. Generally speaking, it is product-focused with the end goal of making a sale.

Brand Marketing

The objective of brand marketing is to drive engagement and encourage followers to spread the word of your business/product/service. People listen to their peers and make purchasing decisions based on these opinions. If you buy their product not only will your problem be solved but your life will be better.

At one time branding was limited to slapping a label on a product; now it’s an all-encompassing phenomenon that aims to build relationships between business and consumer. Branding expresses company values and gives it a ‘voice’, all the while maintaining consistency and reacting to current trends. In simple terms, It’s not just about the product but about the whole business, and if you're a personal brand it's about your customers getting to know you.

Portrait photoCustomers like to buy from people they know

What works best?

In today’s environment brand marketing is the go-to means of building awareness. I’ve said it before but people buy from people, so your content needs to really speak to your target consumer on a personal level.

How to Create Engaging Content

You can’t engage with your audience without understanding it. 

So first things first, create an ideal customer profile. This can be done by:

• Learning what they value
• Discovering what kind of content they engage with (video, photographic or written) and on which platforms
• Researching Facebook groups, forums, feedback/review sights
• Empathising with them and getting to grips with their gripes

Secondly, do a deep dive into your competition and study their successful (and not so successful) marketing campaigns. 

Now we’re getting to the nitty gritty.

Top Tips

• Keep it consistent - your brand message must be the golden thread that runs through all of your marketing
• Maintain authenticity - clued-up people won’t fall for falseness
• Use language that your audience will understand - keep up with the vernacular of your target demographic
• Don’t lose sight of your business values and message - this is what you customer has bought into
• Have a clear call to action - shouting about your business is the goal but what do you want people to purchase?
• What’s the problem you can solve for your customers? - identify their pain points and develop solutions to suit
• One size does not fit all - develop your content to suit the medium (i.e. website, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, You Tube etc)
• Ask your audience - simply post a question or a poll on your social media
• Have a click-worthy title and an intriguing thumb nail with eye-catching colours
• Create an interesting headline that draws in the reader
• Test different styles to see what sticks
• When creating video clips consider the lighting, wardrobe and palette -  create a look that’s uniquely and distinctively yours.
• Become the business that’s known for “..............”
• Make videos and create images about topics that you’re passionate about and that people can relate to. Source a respected photographer and videographer for a guaranteed bank of reusable photos and video clips.
• Make content regularly to remain on the radar of your audience but don’t go overboard
• Research and test optimal posting times on social media
• Regularly study your social media analytics to identify the content that’s working or not working
• To create intimacy with your audience express feelings about your topic
• Study what works in terms of response and incorporate these aspects into future content

Tour of Tapestry MuseumThe Quaker Tapestry Museum in Kendal

By doing this work you can confidently create written, video and photographic content that will prove popular with your demographic. Avoid complacency and bear in mind that marketing trends change at a rapid pace so it’s worth keeping on top of them and reacting accordingly.

I’ll finish with this: always remain true to your business values and ethos and the rest will follow.