Twenty-five years ago marketing was much simpler. We had a set of eight channels – TV, radio, print, display, events, direct fax and mail and telephone. Today we’re swimming in a sea where we have literally hundreds of channels from which to choose. These channels are no longer dominated by a few big media companies and to this we have to add that anyone, even the customer can be a publisher!
It is now widely accepted that content is an important factor that directly affects the success of marketing activities. We know that as consumers we spend more time on beautiful, appealing and relevant content but are blind to content that is difficult to consume or use or has not been appropriately prepared. We recognise the material which is soulless. This is why content activities like content creation, content and content repurposing are 2 significant activities.
Content creation requires several tools but before tools come into play one needs a solid understanding of the customer and imagination! One also has to identify the facet or aspect of the business one is mostly knowledgeable and passionate about at this helps to create a diversification strategy from the competitors. Naturally this has to be a facet that is appreciated by the customer and is highly relevant so before one engages in serious content creation this is something that needs to be tested. When it comes to standing out from amongst the competitors, this is the biggest trick and challenge in a world that is overflowing with content. To be effective, the content has to be unique, proposing a new idea and narrating a new story. The specific topics that content will cover are an essential part in all this and ideally should be well researched to ensure that there is enough following for that topic. Once you have the topics, one can consider which will be the primary channel on which the stories will be published. Content can take various forms. From articles, blog posts, and reports, to videos and webcasts and images, illustrations and infographics, there are many ways of saying the same thing. The content has to be prepared and this can involve the skills of content writers, artists, photographers, and a variety of other specialists. Another factor that comes into play is which social media channel and platform will be utilised. Apart from this, one can also include content curation, which is the exercise of sifting through other related content that is already available and sharing it with your followers.
Once the content is available, the same content can be changed in little ways to make it look like fresh content and published in different places. For example a lengthy blog post can be split up into multiple Facebook or LinkedIn posts. This is referred to as Content Repurposing and it is an important activity because in this way one gets more value out the content that is originally created. The same content can be presented in different ways on the company’s website, App, YouTube Channel, Google+, Facebook and LinkedIn. This also helps in cross-promotion but ultimately repurposing is about getting the most out of the content that was created!
The beauty of content marketing is that even a small business can by working with the right team and the right processes come up with delightful content that can be beat big media companies. At Accent Gaming Services, our content marketing expertise will help in devising the right content to fuel your campaigns and ultimately monetize the effort.
