How does
content marketing work?
It is
basically a practice involving the creation and promotion of content across
various online channels. Content is not a monolith that can be classified into
a single category. Preference for content keep changing with time.
Podcasts are
an example of this point. Five years back, podcasts were still an underground
phenomenon and not part of the content mainstream. Now, any company putting out
content first considers the possibility of publishing podcasts.
One of the
more immediate ways to observe changes in content is looking at key events.
Take the end of the year as an example. Many companies consider updating their
content strategies during the festive season in order to engage with their
target audience. This updation of content strategy isn’t just restricted to
simple blog content. Even social media copy, ad copy, video content, and a
number of other content channels come under the spotlight.
This begs
the question – how should marketers frame their content marketing strategy around key
events? Here’s a brief guide explaining the same.
Step #1 –
Study the context of the event with respect to your audience
Every
culture is different. This should naturally help you understand that audiences
are different as well.
An event may
hold a lot of significance to one set of audience and less so for another.
Let’s take
an example and assume you’re running a Diwali sale on your drop-shipping store.
Making Diwali references in your ad copy is a natural instinct. However, this
strategy may not work very well while targeting audiences in South India. This
is because Diwali is largely a North Indian festival.
Understanding
these vagaries within the target audience while shaping a content marketing
strategy. Once you know the significance of an event to your audience, you can
start framing your content copy.
Step #2 –
Select best content medium
We generally
think of content and assume it is text. This is not always the case. Content
can mean video, audio, text, or a combination of these mediums.
Your content
marketing strategy must reflect the medium your audience is most open to.
Not all
segments of the audience are looking for blogs. Not all are active on YouTube
or listen to podcasts. Every segment of your audience will have different
content medium preferences.
Selecting
the ideal content medium can become especially tedious when we add the prospect
of event-based content planning. You have to specifically analyze which content
medium performs best around a certain type of event.
Step #3 –
Add event references
No content
marketing strategy based on a coming event is compete without making references
to the same. Make sure the content you put out makes references to the relevant
event. This is essential to actually make your content strategy work around a
given content.
Study the
content put out by other competing companies and improve upon their efforts.
In
conclusion
This article
covers three steps you should follow while framing a content marketing strategy
around key events.
Understanding
content marketing can be difficult at first. You need to take up a digital
marketing course to understand the deep lying technicalities. Kapil Heera
Academy is a great digital marketing institute in Delhi where you can start your journey to
become a digital and content marketer.
