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Killer Content: A Digital Necessity

innovative content venn diagramMost marketers are aware of the importance of content marketing. Although content is considered king, it also loses its luster quickly. Guy Kawasaki has said that if you provide good content, you earn the right to promote your product. Keeping content fresh and creative is a marketing challenge, but here are.
six innovative ways to meet that challenge:

1. Text: Blog posts, eBooks, white papers, and fact sheets are efficient ways to distribute relevant content with varying levels of depth and breadth. Blog posts should be between 400 and 800 words and include graphics, images and links. Longer formats like eBooks and articles can vary in length based on the subject matter. “Gating” longer format content is a common strategy and is achieved by requiring a response to a form with “name” and “email address” fields in exchange for said content. Content gating can be a strong lead generation strategy for B2B companies.

 

2. Visual: Last year, 39% of B2B buyers shared infographicsbig data decision stat. Infographics, datagrams and regrams not only show data and statistics beautifully but also attract attention because they are in-and-of-themselves, meaningful buzzwords. Identify the most interesting topics around your brand or product and create an infographic (more in-depth) or datagram (snippet or stat, example below). canva.com, visua.ly and creatively.com are free tools that make it simple to create such beautiful visual content.

 

3. Video: Use short videos for product demo’s, how-to’s and marketing messages. YouTube and Vimeo are well known options for video, but platforms like Instagram, SnapChat and Vine are also moving video sharing to the forefront. Vine videos are short by their very nature, at six seconds. We recommend both YouTube and other concise forms of video as well. Ideal length for any general video is under two minutes. More technical or topic-specific videos may need additional time for descriptive purposes, depending on the target audience.

 

virgin mobile vine

4. Interviews and Exclusivity: Enlist the help of others by sharing insights and opinions through interviews with experts outside your company. This recent CMO.com interview shares 3M’s Chief Strategy Officer Eric Galler’s thoughts and ideas around innovation and brand marketing. In turn, this exclusive content becomes an important way for CMO.com to increase loyalty and readership for their publication. Furthermore, CMO.com’s use of images and video alongside text increases the engagement and effectiveness of this article.

5. Tweet it! It was once noted that the reason Twitter employees a 140 character max is that if you can’t say what you need to in that many characters, you need to reevaluate what you’re saying. Attention spans are short and people are busy. A micro-blogging platform, Twitter is an efficient way to send out brief, concise material in real-time. Integrating Twitter with websites, blog posts and social profiles is another way to increase access to your tweets. Remember to share compelling, valuable content rather than selling or promoting.

6. Podcasts, Slideshares, etc: Different people like to access content in different ways. Many marketers have started to incorporate creative types of content including podcasts, slideshares, prezi’s, webinars, quizzes and more. While it can be time intensive, this strategy delivers content in engaging and fresh formats, thereby increasing the shelf life of content and expanding its reach.

Content Marketing is an important part of the digital strategy and provides many benefits,including:

· Positioning you as an online expert and subject matter expert
· Search Engine Optimization through use of keywords and links
· Social Media linking and sharing
· Providing valuable resources to customers and prospects
· Connecting with people and entertaining them

Although implementing a Killer Content Marketing plan can seem daunting, the effects are worthwhile. Common challenges include idea generation, resources and management of content. When taking a strategic approach, however, these challenges can be easily met. Creating a plan and process up front can help but don’t be afraid to optimize and change course on the fly. Content Marketing should be fun and engaging rather than a chore. Utilizing some of the tools and ideas contained here can help to make and keep it fun.

Contact the friendly team at Kona Company for a free analysis of your social media or digital marketing strategy.