What exactly is a content marketing strategy? It might surprise you to know that it relates to many sites other than your own company website. It includes social media, videos, and blogging, as well as the content on your own site.
But it’s not a boring topic. Essentially it relates to all the content and marketing messages you share with your customers or potential customers. And because of that, it’s a conversation.
No matter how you like to express yourself, you can do it online and promote your business in the process. Videos are fluid, photos are stagnant. Blog posts can be cliche, quips, or in depth analysis depending on your personality.
Social media is like party comments made to strangers. It’s all about how you present yourself and your business. Because of this it includes your brand and your marketing message, but it’s so much bigger than that.
Don’t overlook this aspect of your business. You should plan to have all your efforts dovetail into one movement about where your company is going so your customers can get excited and get on board. You want them to share the message with others, and get involved. So don’t misrepresent it. But you can be creative in how you share that message through content marketing.
Infographics and images are a fun and easy way to grab attention, but video works really well, too, since Youtube is now the second largest search engine. You can really be silly, or serious and educational. You can use filters to set a tone for images and video if you have the right tools.
Blog posts can be whimsical, thought-provoking, or inspiring. Use images and video on these as well. They don’t have to be your own if you reference your sources.
It doesn’t have to take a ton of time either. But it does involve having a marketing plan.
Sit down with a calendar and determine where you want to take your business and how you plan to get it there. What promotions, sales events, community gatherings should you use to fuel that? Let that inform your content strategy. Put it all down on that calendar and then stick to it. You can pencil in months in advance.
Look at things like holidays (obviously), but don’t forget other annual events like the Superbowl or local events like the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin or the Red Poppy Festival in Georgetown, TX. These are all things you can hitch your wagon to, so to speak, if you have time to put it together. That’s what this calendar is all about. More ideas here.
Don’t forget local school occasions either. Homecoming and Prom are likely candidates.
And of course all that organization will free you up to also grab some limelight attention from other trending events if you keep your eyes open. We share about how to do that in our free webinars. Join us sometime if you don’t already.
Once you have that in place it’s much easier to know what to Tweet about, or share on Facebook, don’t you think? Let us know if we can help. If you are around us very long you will likely hear us say that “Content is King.” You’ve probably heard that before. It’s true. But that calendar is the king’s advisor. And we all know that’s where the real power lies. (Wait, I’m confused… is Gibson Girls the advisor or the calendar…?) Exactly.