Content sells but not all content; and this speaks to your company’s ‘Why’ and their values.

The world has changed in myriad ways: while we grapple with the aftermath of COVID-19, in the mix is marketing. This has also been turned on its head and as much as content sells, not all content does, in fact, sell.

  • People’s perceptions have shifted. They want a story, an emotional narrative, not just a ‘buy me, I’m the best’ approach.
  • They want to be engaged, almost wooed into a new purchase or thinking about a different path. It’s mighty competitive out there, so you must stand out.
  • This ‘standing out’ is done by not selling your content, but by telling a compelling story. People want to be inspired and thought-provoked, not sold to.
  • This is where companies earn trust; when they dig deeper into their target market and genuinely focus on those who they think their products and services will resonate with.

Be confident and varied in your approach, and sell your story and your ‘Why’.

  • Reveal your uniqueness by sharing what you have done without having to say, ‘we are unique – choose us’.
  • Anyone can be unique – show how you are, who you are, and what your values stand for.
  • Create marketing for those that already know you, to remember what attracted them to you in the first place; and for new eyes, take them on a journey.

Entertain them and they will gather

Marriott

Marriott was one of the first tourism brands to embrace influencer marketing. In one particularly successful campaign, the hotel chain worked with YouTube influencer Jeana Smith (@PrankVsPrank) to celebrate reaching one million check-ins on the Marriott app. The video features a surprise dance party for the mobile user that completed the milestone check-in. The video went viral and currently has nearly four million views.

British Airways

While unveiling the company’s “UnGrounded” innovation lab, British Airways flew 100 technology experts with varying degrees of influence from Silicon Valley to London. During the flight, the group of ‘influencers’ brainstormed concepts for a new platform that would enable technologists like themselves to address social issues from all over the world. The flight illustrated how great ideas come to life when people can meet face to face.

There are several reasons why content does not sell, so look and rethink what you are doing.

  1. No marketing strategy: Without a plan, you have no chance in a space saturated with marketing material. Look at your successful competitors and see what they are doing that works – learn from others and their focused approach.
  2. Take time to plan: Invest in your objective and it will pay off. As we all know, it takes money to make money, and you most certainly get what you pay for.
  3. Dull, dry and boring content: People are busy, busy, busy – time is racing by and there is no time to read content that doesn’t grab you and capture your interest. Any topic can be made to sound exciting and inspire action, so make sure it’s interesting. You are also wanting to create conversations and prompt dialogue, so people are driven to your site.
  4. Manage your expectations: Work according to your marketing strategy and don’t expect instant success after two blogs and an infographic.
  5. Show up and be patient: You can’t populate a website or blog and then vanish into the ether. Also, one post won’t win you awards but don’t quit. There will be swings and roundabouts, dips and spikes – stick it out and the payoff will come. A large part of content marketing is promotion; so use all marketing channels to share and be online to respond to potential clients. Be consistent, reliable and available.
  6. Take note of the analytics: You need to measure your success. Monitor your website traffic and delve deeper into your SEO rankings, social media shares and increased customer satisfaction. Track your efforts and then you can observe your conversion rates.
  7. Is your audience right? Make sure you are reaching the right audience. Who are you engaging with, and will they respond to you? Delve into their age, income, gender, spending habits and anything else that might be relevant. How do they like to interact with the content and on which marketing channels?
  8. A tricky niche: Some brands are very specialised – don’t let this scare you off. You can very easily curate a strategy in a market that is very competitive, and it’s also a great time to get creative.
  9. SEO is dead: This is NOT true. SEO is essential to a successful content marketing strategy and must be measurable, relevant and specific.

Let your company’s personality, culture and quirks shine through all you do. Your clients want to relate to your company on a human level, not just a banner on a website.

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