Simple content marketing isn’t a fantasy. But it does take some work. Seems like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Maybe we should say there are ways to make your clients' content marketing simpler.
Simplicity starts with a plan.
A plan keeps you focused, so you don’t waste precious time and effort on distractions, creating off-target material or using off-target delivery platforms. Your plan should include an editorial calendar, to help your clients publish regularly and with diversity.
After all, your clients' goal isn’t to crank out endless content, it’s to get the most effectiveness from it.
Simple content marketing is about time management.
Good managers are efficient. Plan in hand and end results in mind, think about how you can maximize that content effectiveness we just mentioned. For instance, you could:
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Repurpose your original content so you get the most mileage from it. Expand on social media “tips of the day,” turning them into blog articles. Turn a series of blog articles into an e-book, whitepaper or webinar, or vice versa. Turn key message points into an infographic. Use your e-newsletter to further distribute articles, visuals, tips, videos, etc. via social media and other links.
Repurposing is not only more efficient, it enables you to take maximum advantage of all your delivery options. No matter how or where your audience is searching, they’ll be more likely to find your content, and find it faster. Simpler for you, simpler for them.
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Repurpose other people’s content via curation. There’s a lot of good, pertinent material already out there, so help your audience link up with it. There’s no better way to be “socially” acceptable.
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Save time by sharing tips, “insider” information, templates you’ve created – takeaways people can actually use and appreciate, but things you already have at hand and don’t have to create from scratch.
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Save more time by keeping a file of ideas, quotes and links as they come to you, so you can snap them up when you need them. Diversity keeps content fresh and interesting, and frankly, some days it’s most expedient to assemble a quick “top 10” list of tips from your files.
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Invite guest blogs from industry thought-leaders or your own customer service expert, to lighten your load and add new-but-relevant voices to the mix. And if you aren’t straight-out asking your audience for topic ideas – not to mention personal stories about their experience with your company and products – you’re crazy.
Nothing says “we care” like asking for someone’s opinion or shining the spotlight on them. People love to enter contests and respond to surveys, especially if you reward them with a special thank-you. And you’re automatically generating more highly relevant and unique-to-you content you can pass along.
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Get help with writing and design work, if you don’t have the time or inclination or in-house colleagues to do that. You’ll get reliably top-notch work, on time, and you can focus elsewhere.
There’s nothing simple about content marketing that doesn’t work.
One of the great beauties of inbound marketing is that you can monitor results to ensure your efforts are bearing those tastiest of fruits – happily engaged prospects and increased sales. Investing some time to identify benchmarks that match your strategic business goals and near-term marketing objectives, and then investing time to regularly evaluate and tweak your content will keep you on track.
The reality is, sometimes it does feel overwhelming.
If you’re just getting started you can easily become paralyzed by the myriad content-related alternatives available to you. Where to turn first? How to prioritize? Is there, in fact, such a thing as simple content marketing? Even content veterans can find themselves feeling mired instead of fresh and effective. But you can overcome.
Go forth and streamline. Create a solid – but simple -- plan for your clients. Leverage content to squeeze maximum value from it. Stay focused. Your creation and management processes will be sleeker. And you’ll be engaged in simple content marketing you can take to the bank. And that's no fantasy--for you, or your clients.
