Content is king, as Bill Gates said back in 1996 – and it’s as true now as it ever was. Sure, you might have a killer product or service, but without engaging digital, printed or video content you’ll be all but invisible.Consider this: TV programmes, from mass-market soaps to masterpiece dramas, are, first and foremost, content designed to pull in a specific audience for the purpose of firing tailored advertising at them. In fact, ‘soap operas’ are so-called because they were sponsored by soap companies for this precise purpose. Now that’s not just a cool bit of trivia you can wheel out at parties, it’s a symbol of just how powerful content marketing is - that something as iconic as Coronation Street is the result of a marketing idea. So, yeah, content is still king. But, as entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk says, marketing is queen – and she runs the household. So the question is: how do you obey your queen and get your house in order? Well, as is often the case, successful content is a question of what, how, who, where and when.
Who, Where, When?
So, you know what, you know how. But hold your horses - you shouldn't get all creative until you’ve considered your content strategy’s who, where and when.Have you created detailed buyer personas and should your content vary depending on their characteristics? Where does your audience reside? Do they love social media – and, if so, which channels? – or are they wedded to more traditional advertising media? And when are they most engaged with their preferred channels?