Content comes in multiple forms — from social media posts, blog posts, videos to the emails you send to clients.
Making use of the right content gives your brand or business credibility and helps establish you as a trustworthy industry leader.
But before you get too excited and start pushing out content, there are a few things you should take note of. These include things you should definitely do and things you should definitely not.
Continue reading as Saads Abrahams from media update breaks down the dos and don'ts of content marketing!
Let's check out the dos.
Know and understand your audience
You can't go creating content all willy-nilly; you've got to know:
- who you are creating content for
- why you are creating it for them, and
- what they will get out of it.
There are a few reasons why one would create content, such as:
- recognition
- engagement, and
- the main reason: revenue.
To achieve any of the above, you need to know and understand your target audience's needs and wants. The reason for this is that you want your content to:
- capture their attention
- be relatable, and / or
- solve a problem they have.
Have a strategy
So now that you know who you are creating content for, you need to create and implement a solid content strategy.
Your content plan needs to align with your brand values. It also needs to decide on:
- which avenues to publish content on
- what style your content will use
- how often you will create and share content
- what type of content you will create, and
- what you aim to get out of your content.
Make it personal
If you want your content to stand out, you need to add personality to what you are creating. No one wants to interact with a generic robot that looks and feels like every other business page and account.
Ways in which you can add a personal feel to your content are through:
- making use of humour
- entertaining or educating over selling
- personalising responses or messages to your audience, and
- keeping your content casual.
Choose quality over quantity
When you are creating content, you may think that pushing out a lot of content is the best way to reach your goals. However, you are competing with so many other brands that the only sure way to get engagement is through creating quality content.
Do your research on your competitors, see what they are creating and work out a plan to make your content stand out from theirs.
Now let's check out the don'ts.
Don't be clickbaity
Do not make use of misleading or provocative headlines just to get clicks. While you may get the clicks, your brand loses its credibility and authenticity.
If you are looking to get real and honest clicks, make use of proper and natural SEO keywords in the content you create.
Don't be pushy
When viewing your content, people will get annoyed if everything they view is a product or service being advertised to them.
Your content's aim should be to entertain, educate and engage with your audience to be well received.
Don't think one-size fits all
You cannot create one piece of content and post it everywhere. What works on one platform may not do well on another. You need to find out what content works on each platform and tailor your content to fit the requirements of each.
Don't forget about user-generated content (UGC)
When it comes to content marketing, UGC is your best friend. This is original content created by people who are interacting with your brand.
The reason UCG works so well is because it is not promoted by the brand itself — giving the content a genuine and authentic feel. Viewers are more likely to trust this content over any promoted content.
What are your content marketing dos and don'ts? Let us know in the comments section below.