Don’t take a fly-by-night approach to the content your business publishes

You have so many digital marketing platforms at your disposal: your website, blog, social media, and email. When your content elicits an underwhelming response, it’s natural to wonder if you’re using these platforms to their full potential.
Creating fantastic content begins with honing in on your company’s best characteristics. In Part 1 of this series, we discussed a fun way to discover your company’s essential characteristics by sitting down for an imaginary drink with him (or her).
After the exercise, you should be able to identify:

1. Key personality attributes: reserved, boisterous, trendy, carefree, etc.
2. Preferred topics of conversation. Think of that friend who always has something to share about the latest blockbuster. What is your company’s blockbuster?
3. Essential brand benefits. How does your company enrich the lives of others?

And with those lists, you now hold the key to content marketing that is a.) excellent and b.) much easier than trying to reframe your approach every time you sit down to write a social media or blog post.

How to Create Content Based On Your Happy Hour Conversation

Now that you’ve gotten to know your company, here is how to create content marketing that fits your company and is attractive to your target audience.

Visuals: Photography, Video, and Graphic Design

High quality visuals create interest and stir users’ emotions

Quality visuals are essential to content marketing. Think about how all of the visuals you include can be informed by your company’s persona.
For example: After sitting down for a drink with their company, a General Contractor discovered that their brand was more sleek and modern than many of their visuals communicated. They ditched photos taken on old point-and-shoot digital cameras and hired a photographer to shoot a few large format and panoramic photos of their worksites, along with a few time-lapse videos that showcased the sophistication of their process.

Social Media

Social posts should be focused around content your audience craves

Posting on social media sites like LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook gives you a chance to build rapport with your audience. But social media sites can also be a place where content goes to die, if it sounds too much like a sales pitch.
For example: A home remodeling company stopped writing social posts about promotions and product sales. (Even though they were good deals, they simply weren’t gaining traction on social media!)
Instead, recognizing that their company was obsessed with the visual effects of a transformed space, before and after photos and video walk-throughs became the primary focus on Facebook and Instagram.

Blogging

Too many business blogs contain information that is only relevant to employees. Your company’s blog is not just a place to put company news. After sitting down for a drink with your company, you’ve realized that there is so much more to offer your audience.
Your mission: help your potential customers solve a problem related to your industry using your blog!
For example: After acknowledging that their company was essentially a trustworthy source of health help and information, a Chiropractor’s office refocused their blog away from staffing announcements.
Instead, they wrote a series of posts explaining answers to frequently asked questions and misconceptions about their industry. Some posts included short videos of various procedures along with a brief (but thorough) explanation of key points.

Email

Carefully curate content for emails

The inbox is a sacred place and deserves respect. The content you put in front of someone should be carefully curated before that send button is clicked.
For example: After having a caramel macchiato with her company, an event planner saw her company as someone who got things done efficiently while also lavishing attention on the details.
Instead of sending sporadic emails reminding leads to keep her in mind, the event planner created a bi-weekly email newsletter that included photo-rich event recaps and themed inspiration boards.

Quality Content Boosts Search Rankings and Sales

Creating content based on your company’s persona is not only much easier, it’s fun. Even better: instead of desperately trying to attract attention, your desired audience may locate you through search and social media.
What’s more, creating enjoyable and beneficial content for your blog, social media platforms, and emails keeps your audience engaged. An engaged audience is more likely to keep you in mind and purchase your services.
Let us know what you discovered about your company’s personality—and if it changed the way you approached content marketing!