If you’re not thinking strategically about content, you’re in trouble.
How many times per day do you read or hear or talk about content marketing?
If you’re like many of the home brand marketers I know, I’d imagine that you and your team think about it a lot. You may remember the race – not too long ago – to establish your brand’s presence on social media channels. Then the “yikes” moment when you realized that you needed “content” to fill those channels.
How many times did you put something out there, just because you needed to put something out there?
It’s been fascinating to watch brands evolve in social media – and begin to live into their full potential. Here’s what most brands need to be thinking right now: the mission today is to ensure that we are thinking as strategically about content marketing as we are about other initiatives in our communications plan.
It’s not difficult to take an intentional step in that direction – using the right kind of content, in the right channel, to achieve the right objectives. For instance, Kohler “invites you to play” and design your own faucet using an online tool. Andersen Windows features customer stories in their project showcase. The online resource, 1st Dibs, promotes Introspective, a beautiful online magazine. And SieMatic has produced short films on “Great New Insights.” These are all innovative uses of content.
I suggest that you start by asking how content can help your brand achieve its objectives. What role can content play as part of your marketing mix? Not all content is alike, of course, so these are important questions.
- Can content help you educate consumers or the trade?
- Do you need to inspire or persuade consumers who are working their way down the path-to-purchase?
- Might content serve as a close-agent, helping you convert and make the sale?
- Or could it help build awareness and improve loyalty, simply by entertaining consumers?
The team at Smart Insights put together a brilliant chart that illustrates how various forms of content can help achieve different kinds of objectives. It’s a great graph of the content ecosystem that helps you understand the right kind of content to develop for your brand.
So depending on what you need to accomplish, film those interviews with designers and those how-to videos. Share the inspiration boards and trend forecasts. Post the customer reviews and testimonials. Just make sure that you think strategically about it.
