What is Content Marketing?

“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action” (What Is Content Marketing?, n.d.).

In today’s digital world it can be hard for marketers to get their message across due to the abundance of “noise” and outside factors influencing peoples behaviours. The times of only newspaper and radio ads are gone; today organizations need to reach their audiences in new innovative ways. Enter content marketing; this form of marketing can help company’s stand out from their competition and relate to their customers on a different level. It is a way of creating an impactful message that helps your company “break through the noise” of the outside distractions. When it comes to content marketing it is important not to get it confused with copywriting. Organizations should use both forms when developing their marketing strategy.

According to Dayna Rothman, author of Content Marketing Foundations, some additional benefits of content marketing include, creating brand awareness and preference, as well as reaching more consumers at a lower cost. Today, many people go online before making a purchase whether that is to look at reviews or perform a product search. An excellent way for a company to reach its audience is by creating content that instills a relatable message, and in turn, hopefully impacting the business positively in the future. Content marketing looks at “best practices; it is educating customers and helping them improve their skill set. This form of marketing is not about being pushy and selling a product or service; it is about educating.

Content Marketing Team

Internal Team > Managing Editor, Associate Editor, Employee Contributors, Subject Matter Experts, and Content Requesters

External Team > External Writers, Design Team

It is essential for content marketing to be aligned with all marketing departments. Everyone should be in the know or information may be miscommunicated or missed when creating marketing content. Information needs to be consistent and represent the brand throughout all marketing forms. A content service bureau can help create alignment between departments and provide support when creating content.

Setting Content Goals

> Meet with stakeholders
> Ask yourself foundational questions
> Define qualitative goals
> Define quantitative goals

Once your goals have been set it is essential to track them so you can see the progress you are making. Having the goals set in a plan hold you accountable and can help in measuring the development of content.

Content Plan

When coming up with topics for content it is a good first step in prioritizing your content initiatives. Looking at buyer personas is important here as it can help in creating specific content for those types of buyers. Different content for different personas. It is also a good idea to have themes that surround your content throughout the year so they overall tones stay in unison. Once the content ideas have begun and are taking form, it is then crucial in making sure they are targeting buyers throughout their purchasing journey. Deciding on the type of content you want to put out there in the world is also an important step in content marketing as there are many different forms. Blogs, videos, reports, and E-books are some examples of the types of marketing content a business can develop.

Creating Content

Now the fun part; bringing your plan to life
Step 1) Find a subject matter expert- research your topic
Step 2) Create an outline- stay organized
Step 3) Write your first draft
Step 4) Always review
Step 5) Write a second draft

Designing Content

Once you have completed your second draft it is time to move onto design! When designing content you should keep things in mind like fonts, colours, and layouts that relate to the brand. It can be difficult coming up with content all the time so sometimes marketers curate content from others. “Content curation is content written by others, which you then organize and share with your audience” (Rothman, 2015). Some examples include articles that relate to your business, “best of” lists, or trend highlights.

Step 1) Find a subject matter expert- research your topic
Step 2) Create an outline- stay organized
Step 3) Write your first draft
Step 4) Always review
Step 5) Write a second draft

Promoting Content

After all the hard work of creating and designing your marketing content it is time to actually promote it!
Step 1) Create a strategy document
Step 2) Always score your content
Step 3) Meet with stakeholders
Step 4) Create a promotion plan
Step 5) Make sure your plan is multi-channel

Measuring Content

Once content has been promoted it is important for organizations to measure it. When content has been put out there you’ll want to see if it is meeting your initial goals. This step is where you can see what type of traffic your content is getting and eventually looking at the financial returns generated from the content.

Conclusion

Content Marketing is a way for organizations to connect with the public and grab their attention with the end goal of turning them into a customer. An example of content marketing is the company Hootsuite; they created a video that intertwined their brand with the TV show Game of Thrones which generated awareness and over 1 million views (Hall, 2019). This video caught people’s attention by being relatable and relevant while also promoting their brand.

References:

Hall, S. (2019). Optinmonster. 25 Clever Content Marketing Examples with Amazing Results. Retrieved from https://optinmonster.com/content-marketing-examples/

Rothman, D. (2015). Content Marketing Foundations. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.lynda.com/Marketing-Lead-Generation-tutorials/Welcome/369044/386345-4.html?autoplay=true

What Is Content Marketing? (n.d.). Content Marketing Institute. Retrieved from: https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/

What is Social Listening and Why does it Matter?

Social listening is a way for businesses to see and hear what the outside world is saying whether that be about their organizations, their competitors or the thoughts of consumers. It allows for organizations to see how the public is reacting to them and their competitors along with giving them a platform in reaching out to interact with people. Social listening can give companies a competitive advantage over those not paying attention to what is being said on social media, and it gives insight as to what is going on within the industry. An example of social listening is following hashtags that relate to your industry and company. “Social listening does not happen in a vacuum. You need to combine it with other research initiatives and customer data, and then you can access a real-time pulse that reveals new opportunities or gives you the backup you need to refine or develop your marketing plans” (Waxman, 2017).

Develop a Strategic Approach

A challenge for businesses is staying relevant and innovative in a world where consumers have a lot of purchasing power and where competition is fierce. Organizations around the world should be careful not to underestimate the power of social media especially when it could be used strategically. Integrating social listening into a company’s marketing strategy is important; consumers are valuable when it comes to their opinions and thoughts. Listening to what customers are saying gives organizations insight into what they need to focus on and what they can include when it comes to their marketing plans.

In today world it is essential to stop and listen to what is being said; everyone is eager to voice their opinions, and now with social media, it’s easier than ever. Organizations need to listen to the right “voices” when it comes to their marketing plans. Within industries, different segments have different wants and needs which is why companies need to be aware of the types of social listening they are exploring. Also as a business, when it comes to their marketing strategies, they need to focus on what is being said and building relationships with consumers.

Some tips on becoming a better listener are:
• “Listen for curiosity
• Ask questions
• Let people finish their points
• Repeat back what you heard” (Waxman, 2017).

How to Get Started

Media today gives users multiple platforms when it comes to searching for what their wants and needs. There are many apps and site available for organizations to use that help them when it comes to social listening. Google and Bing are popular search engines that people use when they are in need of information, DuckDuckGo is similar but its results are of a wide range, and Google alerts and Talkwalker are available for businesses to follow and track keywords. There are also functions on social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) that can be used when it comes to social listening. Another website mention in the video is “Social mention” which allows company’s do a more advanced social search. Many different websites are available for marketers to use for social listening.
Hootsuite is a website available for users to merge all of their social media profiles and manage them from one site. On the site you create a tab and add your social media accounts to it, you then add “streams” from your social media accounts such as Twitter; you can add things like mentions or messages to the dashboard. On the website, you can also track hashtags or keywords, and it gives the markets a chance to get involved with conversations happening on social media when applicable.

Social Listening in Action

WestJet is an excellent example of an organization that has a successful social media presence with their customers and the public. WestJet was the first airline to provide 24/7 social media support which demonstrates their focus on adapting with the digital era and using it as an opportunity to connect with their customers. Social listening is a way for organizations to address issues that may arise or concerns customers may have as well helped increase their brand’s reputation. By solving problems and taking action, organizations show their customers that they care and a willingness to find a solution for them.

It is essential to know the difference in a situation that is classified as an issue versus a crisis. Social listening allows an organization to correctly identify situations and gives them a chance to handle it properly and find the right solution.

Issue– “Negative situation that has the potential to grow and harm your business”
Crisis– “Situation that poses major long term problems that could impact your finances and reputation”

In today’s world, there are many apps and websites that users communicate on; these platforms are full of useful information and features that allow businesses to monitor and track what is being said. Social listening is a helpful tool for companies to use and it gives them an opportunity to connect with customers, stay ahead of potential problems, address issues, and much more.

Conclusion

A great example of social listening is from the fast food conglomerate, Wendy’s!

“Wendy’s utilized social intelligence to conduct audience research leading to brainstorming around alternative marketing strategies, ingredients, product offerings, and labeling. Through this audience research, they discovered “Sea Salt,” is talked about much more positively than salt or sodium” (Franks, 2018). Wendy’s was able to better their product, i.e., fries, by listening to their audience and focusing on what consumers gravitate towards more, i.e., sea salt versus regular salt.

They also have a heavy presence online and have become quite popular due to their smart sarcastic remarks to users and other big chains. If you are looking for a laugh I would suggest following Wendy’s !

References:

Franks, D. (2018). 8+ Awesome Examples of Business Uses for Social Listening. Retrieved from https://blog.infegy.com/business-uses-for-social-listening

WestJet first Canadian airline to provide 24/7 social media support. (2016, April 26). Cision. Retrieved from https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/westjet-first-canadian-airline-to-provide-247-social-media-support-576593801.html

Waxman, M. (2017, June 6). Social listening for research insights.[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.lynda.com/HootSuite-tutorials/Next-steps/546104/621995-4.html