Content is king, and in today’s age of constant media consumption, the company with the most relevant, informative, and engaging forms of content that offer excellent customer value are those destined to succeed. In fact, it’s the very reason why platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and even Facebook marketing see a lot of traffic because it places brands up close and personal with their target audience.
Sadly, only a select few small to medium-sized businesses are professionals with their marketing and promotional effort. The vast majority of the online world is still dominated by household brands that can flex their financial strong-arm to spark a viral phenomenon. Thus, to help level the playing field and provide actionable steps to transforming your current marketing strategy, we’ll be going over some content development guidelines you can use today and the type of content you might want to try right now.
Some Content Development Guidelines to Follow
People love debating the advantages of quality over quantity. Still, when it comes to content creation, these two go hand in hand because volume alone won’t generate traffic, and limited output will struggle with conversion rates regardless of quality. Specifically, some of the features you want to achieve with your content development include superior credibility, increased shareability, and alignment with your brand message.
- Your Target Audience Wants Credibility: While countless people are guilty of having their fair share of gullible moments, consumers are more informed today than ever before, and they can spot clickbait and the lack of substance from a mile away. Your target audience wants and deserves credible content that can’t be traced back to peer-reviewed studies, factual resources, and well-backed references. Plus, relevance plays a huge factor as well, which means learning things about the opportunities of the Metaverse and the like are excellent starting points.
- Make It Shareable and Engaging: Although people love credible information, you can’t just create long-form content that feels dull to read and expect web traffic to skyrocket miraculously. Consumers demand content that’s not only engaging but equally shareable, the types of content that make them feel the need to let their friends, family, and peers know. You should also make it easy to share via quick links to relevant social media platforms.
- Keep It on Brand With Your Message: While credibility and the opportunity of going viral are both effective in their own right, the most important feature you mustn’t forget to follow is keeping your content on-brand with the company’s message. Sure, you could pump out hundreds of blogs, videos, e-books, podcasts, and more without any downtime, but does that output actually reflect your business’s goals? In fact, you should also consider management training programs for your teams to help maintain solidarity and unity in vision.
Keep Things Fresh and Use Trends to Your Advantage
Given the benefits above, it may feel challenging and a lot to take in at first, especially considering the fact that so many forms and types of content exist today. However, a good rule of thumb to follow is keeping things fresh and using trends to your advantage, naturally pointing to short-form video content and social media posts, arguably the most engaging ones you can approach right now.
- Short-form Video Content: Whether it’s through a viral TikTok Duet, squeezing an actionable video advert on YouTube, or sponsoring an influencer through Instagram and Twitch, short-form video content reign supreme. While the limited-time engagement may seem like a disadvantage, this method provides you with the chance to cut out all the fluff and get straight to the point. And if there’s one thing consumers love today, it’s innovative and straightforward brands, so don’t shy away from using the many “shorts” video types available.
- Social Media Posts and Updates: The vast majority of internet users are constantly active on social media platforms, and whether that’s surfing through Reddit, sharing funny memes on Facebook, or having a laugh with friends on Twitter, you want to be present on these websites as well. In doing so, you attach a grounded and down-to-earth image to your brand, making your business feel more personal and relatable from a consumer’s perspective. Plus, it’s a lot less invasive than consistently pushing out newsletters to emails that never respond to your backlog of digital advertising.
Experiment and Identify the Best Ones
At the end of the day, content development and management require uniqueness, and knowing which ones work best for a specific industry and company will require a bit of experimentation. Therefore, feel free to try out some of the ones mentioned above but don’t shy away from implementing other forms of content creation and curation as well, like blogs, reports, testimonials, and many more.
