Everyone is producing content for marketing – we are flooded with marketing content. How do you break away from the crowd?
You get a content strategy… but this is short-sighted. This is inward focused, not outward. If you are all caught up with a content creation plan, you may be missing the big opportunity.
Instead of attacking a content creation strategy, you need to start with an audience strategy! Find out what your audience needs and wants. Find out what your audience is expecting and deliver that. The audience strategy focuses on the “why”, not the “what.” Audience strategy is the umbrella under which your content creation strategy rests.
Good content marketing is not about putting the right lures on the line; it is about selecting the right pond to fish in.
You can and should develop personas for your content consumption, but there are different methods for accomplishing these with different results.
- Develop internally on a whiteboard (internal focused, fast, cheap, limiting)
- Based on click-stream from current customers (helps optimize current customers, not finding new ones)
- Based on behavioral research about your possible audience (expensive and thorough, expands the pie)
When you learn to change your audience behavior and focus your content marketing in that direction, you will achieve great results.
