Are You Sitting on a Goldmine? (Part 2)
In part one we looked at how a content brand can improve your business reputation and drive sales, and we talked about the value of your knowledge and experience as something that is an asset, where it might have been undervalued in the past. Part two looks at how to devise a content marketing strategy for your business.
You may already have a company blog, and you might think about using this as the platform for your content brand.If you have a good established readership then this is a great option – it brings your content brand and your core business together.If your company blog doesn't have such a wide reach it is advisable to set up a new blog, perhaps under your name, to host your content brand.
The first post should be an introduction, a personal story and a way for your readers to get to know you.The story of how you started your company is an ideal topic for the first post as it gets readers to know who you are, why you started your business and what experiences you have had along the way. Following on from the first introductory post you could introduce other key members of the team, especially if they will contribute to the content brand.
Some other solid blog post ideas are:
- The best pieces of advice you have been given, and the worst
- A series of posts on the history or development of your industry
- Answers to questions the industry keeps asking (this may involve some research)
A series keeps people coming back, and allows you to evaluate from visitor metrics what is most popular.It is important to heed feedback from your customers on what they want to know and what is most useful for them – without this feedback loop they won't keep coming back for more.Allowing comments and encouraging discussion on your blog posts and/or social media channels provides a space for interested parties to converse, and new content ideas can come from these conversations.
News events are great fodder for blog posts, but there's no value in repeating what someone else has already said word for word.Your audience wants to know what you think about the event, and what you think are the best ways forward.Adding insight and evaluation to the facts is a valuable exercise and one which your audience will appreciate you doing.
You may have to undertake or commission some research to answer questions that the industry doesn't currently have the answer to, and this type of original and insightful content is worth its weight in gold to your content brand audience.Someone needs to answer these questions, and there's no reason it can't be you. People who are seen to be proactive in seeking solutions and solving riddles are the ones who lead their industry, and your analysis and suggestions for the future on top of the original data your research generates is a very valuable thing. Engaging in this type of activity not only helps you grow your own business, but establishes you as the key person to go to for answers, and could lead to paid panel appearances on television, radio and at trade events.
We hope this introduction to content branding has inspired you to forge ahead with on in your own industry; after all, a great content brand inspires the people who engage with it.
