We all experience visual stimulation and messaging throughout the day – from adverts on cereal boxes at breakfast, to the messaging on the radio news as we drive to work, or the billboard we pass on the way to school, or the online advertising on our Facebook news feed or Twitter timeline.
The list is endless. And the job of cutting through all that noise and getting attention for your brand is tough!
At TMA, we have found that employing a strong content marketing strategy has helped our customers to reach their target market, grow their audience and influence prospective customers.
Here are some of the ways in which content marketing can be executed:
Free material/information
Everyone loves getting something useful or interesting for nothing. E-books have made inroads into marketing and content strategies in recent years.
As well as increasing brand awareness through a positive action they also help businesses build a database. Prospective customers can gain an e-book in return for agreeing to subscribe to a newsletter.
The same principle applies to offering how-to guides which are perhaps less intensive to create than an e-book. And in the case of B2B markets, industry guides or insights and advice work well.
Email newsletters
Using the database you’ve built or enhanced from your free content give-away (above), you can stay close to those customers by sending a good quality, well timed and well executed e-newsletter.
People of working age, from 23 years of age onwards, check email regularly, particularly first thing in the morning when they will either be on their phone or at a desktop. Getting your brand into that inbox is powerful.
But to be successful you have to keep analysing the detail as email newsletters can easily become annoying if they are not relevant. So analyse the subject lines, content and messaging. Which ones convert to click-throughs and purchases. Likewise, understand those which do not.
Then, by ploughing this data into your next e-newsletter, you will keep the process worth your time.
A picture speaks a thousand words
Leading on imagery should be a key tactic within your content marketing. Tweets with bespoke imagery perform much better than those without imagery. On other social media platforms like LinkedIn, imagery is still quite unique and posting a good, but relevant image, on your businesses profile will perform well. Not many organisations do it and it’s still quite intriguing on this platform, so it is a quick win at the moment.
Remember, all imagery needs to have a clear call to action or message for your audience / followers.
In addition, think about the other image based platforms available to you that are growing very fast – Pinterest, Imgur.com, Instagram etc.
If the image and related content is the type which people love to share, then even better!
But remember, you need to make sure your followers, likes, connections are relevant to your target market for this to have the maximum impact.
Blogging
This needs to be at the centre of your content marketing strategy. Blogs will have a direct impact on purchasing decisions. And as the audience grows in line with the growth in mobile technology, blogs offer a unique opportunity for your brand.
The key to a successful blog is to focus on what you know. Focus on your niche. Offer good information and insight. And sound friendly but authoritative.
Tone of voice
And whilst we are on the subject, make sure you find and adopt a tone of voice which suits your brand and make it work for all of your content and marketing.
To do this, understand your target market and what is important to them. This will help you build a connection with the audience.
Create content that people will want to share
Shareable content will simply multiply the number of people who read it, see it and who are therefore aware of you and your brand.
Shareable content is usually either unique, has a story within it, or is useful. As outlined above, this is usually imagery, either still or moving, with a message and call to action. It is never, ever boring!
And with that message, I’ll end here before I eat my own words.
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Chris and his team will send you a weekly email offering high-value insight and advice about a variety of marketing and business development topics related to the tourism industry. We address specific destinations, tours and activities, and the hotel industry. We also provide important travel industry news and updates.
