I’ve been thinking about all this content marketing we’ve been exposed to lately. Although essential in today’s marketing environment, we may be at the crossroads of too much messaging going across our eyes; many of it not as quality as it should be. This is especially true for a smaller business, or a business that lacks resources, or a poor quality SEO firm. Social media has forced us to write as much content as possible in order to drive website traffic (what CEO’s want to see). SEO has forced us to write as much content as possible to drive backlinks and increase search visibility.
We’ve always had content; back in the day, we called it copy writing We were advertising professionals; not content marketers. Clients wanted emails and phone calls. We were about ads and collateral; with the occasional white paper that publications mailed us (remember BRC cards?) Then came the website and the growth of email along with the World Wide Web.
Think about all we have to write:
- Social Media: blog posts and infographics, social profiles and posts, tweets and updates
- Lead Generation: white papers, case studies, webinars, slideshares, eBooks, landing pages
- On-site SEO: web pages, page titles, meta descriptions
- Off-site SEO: guest blog outreach letters, guest blog articles, online press releases
- Pay-Per-Click: Ads
- Lead Nurturing: emails, more helpful articles and webinars!
- Other content: Video scripts, podcast scripts, powerpoints
The power of the written word is undeniable. Words persuade and convince; they also inform and educate. Like any marketing strategy, you have to have a plan for content; I’m not going to go into content planning (see my ebooks), but your team must have a budget for the quantity AND the quality of the content. Yes it’s a challenge.
I have two new clients that have budgeted content; for SEO and social.
- Client One: 4 website articles, 4 blog posts, 4 guest blog posts (for backlinks), 3 video scripts per month (for site and YouTube)
- Client Two: 8 blog posts, 2 guest blog posts (for SEO), one white paper, all per month
Our goals with content:
- Sound like an expert; write great content (with a passion) and focus on the needs of our audiences
- Be Strategic; have a plan that educates and persuades
- Commitment; great content doesn’t stop; it continually is written, published, and promoted
Every piece of content you write or your firm writes; ask these two questions:
- Why should your audience care
- Why should your audience share
Then proceed. ’nuff said.
