Is Your Marketing Content Too Vanilla to Interest the Media?
Marketing content has many jobs. It needs to build your SEO so that people can quickly find you online. It needs to connect to your audience and readers so they begin to know, trust, and value you. It needs to inform them and provide value as well. Marketing content builds your brand, drives traffic, and sometimes it makes sales and incites action.
A good marketing content plan and editorial calendar take these goals and objectives into consideration. However, there’s often a disconnect between marketing content and press and publicity. This is unfortunate because press and public relations really don’t stand a chance without good content.
What is Good Content?
“Good content” is defined by your reader but you, as the marketer and perhaps business owner, need to know what your reader thinks about your content. Is it good? Is it…
Valuable? Valuable content is content that leaves your reader and prospect as if they’ve gained something from reading or consuming it.
Informative? Not all content is informative, but that’s one measure of value. Have you told your reader something they didn’t know? Did they learn anything?
Entertaining? Again, not all content is entertaining but, generally speaking, your reader should enjoy reading or consuming your content.
Consistent with Your Brand and Message? Finally, your content MUST communicate a consistent message to your reader and audience. This is how bonds are forged, how trust is earned, and how brands are created and strengthened.
So, Who Is Your Audience?
When planning your content it’s imperative to keep in mind that your audience consists of many people. It contains:
Your prospects – These are the people that you know are interested in what you have to offer but haven’t taken any action yet.
Your leads – People who have opted in, or who have taken some sort of step with you and your business, but haven’t actually spent any money yet.
Your customers – People who have bought from you.
Influencers & Peers – These are the folks in and around your industry who can influence your success.
The Media – This is one of the many ways press and PR and content marketing overlap. If the media finds your content to be too boring (too vanilla) then they won’t buy in. They won’t be interested in your pitches, your press releases, or any real contact with you.
So How Do You Write Content that Appeals to Everyone In Your Audience?
Find your brand first and foremost. Who are you marketing to, what are you selling, and what makes you unique? Know this deep down to your core and communicate it in every marketing piece that you create. You have to create a story and a message that resonates with your target audience (your prospects, leads, and customers).
If you appeal to them, then the media will be interested in you. Why? Because your audience is their audience. Your audience, the people who are interested in and buying your products and who are reading your content, are the same people who are consuming media. Build a solid following with your audience, and the media will follow.
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