2014 Content Marketing isn’t for Sissies
If you’ve been a marketer or involved at all in marketing for the past decade, you’ve witnessed how the landscape has changed at warp speed. One constant is targeted marketing. Yet, the channels and know-how to keep communicating your good or service will be a constant evolution, at fastball pitch speeds — especially when it comes to content marketing.
Some sage advice–be BRAVE and BOLD. Learn all you can about the new marketing and content marketing environment so you can be relevant and successful. Here are some key points to keep in mind for your 2014 marketing plans, whether you are a Chief Marketing Officer or a one-man shop trying to keep your canoe afloat, keep it ahead of the competition and keep it pointed in the right direction:
- Create content that evokes emotion
In the book Contagious by Wharton professor and author Jonah Berger, he stresses that products, ideas or concepts get attention or go viral due to the emotions they arouse in people. For instance, anything from cat videos to the ‘Safest Economy Car’ rating of the year get attention because they evoke certain emotions. The cute cat video prompts the ‘awww’ factor and the car rating taps safety and security concerns.
- Communicate the right story for the right audience
Make sure your message scratches an itch of your target audience. Obviously the safest economy car of the year won’t be on the radar of a potential buyer who’s searching for the safest luxury SUV. So if you are targeting economy car buyers — Instagram can be a more effective channel than print, email or LinkedIn since it skews to a younger demographic, who are first-time car buyers.
- Invest in expertise & time
Marketing has become more complex in this 21st century and it’s not getting easier. In many cases, the best marketing strategy involves both digital and traditional tactics. Not only does successful marketing typically include traditional and digital marketing expertise — it involves a tremendous amount of TIME. The right type of time that is. Spending hours surfing how-to gardening videos or Facebook stalking friends does not a social media marketing expert make.
If you are digitally savvy and can invest the time-hurray! If you can’t invest the time and/or lack the interest to be up on the latest social media and marketing trends–then don’t waste your valuable business management time. To make the new marketing world work for you and your business perhaps it’s time to hire an expert. This professional can be bold for you–either internally or even outsource to an agency skilled in content and traditional marketing. Instead of letting 2014’s new marketing and technology intimidate you, make it work for you.
