However, simply creating content for the sake of creating content isn’t going to cut it this year. To be successful with content marketing, you must be intentional with the content that you create.
You Owe it to Your Business to Stand Apart from the Fluff
When creating content, you have two options: produce value-added content that will hit home with your audience or create fluff. While the first option seems like a no-brainer, many businesses take the second approach because it’s easy and allows them to hit their quantity goal.
The sad truth is that many businesses end up falling into the trap of publishing self-promotional, fluffy pieces because it’s easier and less time consuming. As a result, they end up losing sight of why they started a content marketing strategy in the first place, and instead fall into the rabbit hole of publishing content that doesn’t have an impact on their audience.
With the arrival of a new year, you owe it to your business to re-evaluate your content marketing strategy to ensure that you’re being intentional with the content that you’re producing. As you put together your content calendar for the coming weeks (or months), ask yourself if each article is going to bring legitimate value to your target audience. If the answer is “no” or “maybe,” it’s time to refocus your strategy. Creating intentional content will allow your business to stand apart from the fluff and be perceived as an authority in your industry.
How to Be More Intentional with Content Creation
Some of the best advice that you’ll ever hear in regards to content creation is to slow down. With so many digital marketing outlets at your disposal, it can be tempting to get wound up about needing to publish content multiple times a day. However, if you’re feeling this pressure to do more, you need to stop and reassess why you want to create content in the first place.
When producing content, your target audience needs to be your focus. Think about the types of content that will help them to succeed, thrive, and improve. Find a way to connect your content creation efforts to this goal.
Consider Your Audience’s Pain Points
What are the struggles that your audience is facing as they relate to your business and industry? Conducting qualitative research will help you to uncover your customers’ pain points, which will allow you to be more intentional with the content that you produce. Aside from asking your customers directly about their struggles, turn to your customer testimonials and online reviews for more insight about how your product or service is proving to be beneficial. This powerful material will be invaluable in helping you to craft meaningful content that appeals to your target audience.
Create a Content Marketing Plan
When was the last time that you mapped out your content marketing plan? Surprisingly, many businesses have never put together a concise content marketing game plan, which prevents them from being intentional with the content that they create.
If you want to get results from your content marketing efforts, you must begin by defining what you want to accomplish from your strategy. These goals should be your guiding light with every piece of content that you create. Establishing SMART goals will allow you to track the progress of your strategy to determine if it’s working.
Businesses that experience the most success with content marketing use an editorial calendar to plan content weeks or months in advance. By visually planning out the types of content that you plan to cover, when you’ll publish the content, and which channels you’ll use to publish content, you can ensure that you have a well-rounded content marketing strategy.
Ensure You Have Resources to Implement Your Strategy
Many businesses have the best of intentions when putting together a content marketing strategy. However, when it comes time to producing the content, the strategy falls short.
If you want to deliver intentional, value-added content to your audience, you need to put in the time to create high-quality content. If you’re not a writer or have the manpower within your organization to produce content, it’s worth it to explore your options for outsourcing content creation to a professional agency.
In summary, with so many businesses in 2019 investing in content marketing, you can’t afford to publish mediocre content. To get results, you need to be more intentional with the content that you associate with your brand.
We can help you with your content creation needs. Our creative team at New York Ave can help you to increase brand awareness and search visibility with organic content creation that aligns with your content marketing strategy and inspires more conversations.
Contact us to learn how we can help you realize results and stand apart from the fluff with intentional content marketing.
