Content marketing (sharing useful, topical, non-salesy information with your audiences on a regular basis) allows brands to stay ‘front of mind’ with potential customers on an ongoing basis to increase repeat business and word of mouth recommendations from powerful ‘brand advocates’. The problem is, it can sometimes be difficult to come up with new and relevant things to say without repeating yourself and risking annoying instead of delighting them!
Something that’s always happening is awareness days/weeks/months. There’s even a Two Left Feet Week or my personal favourite #WorldGinDay! Whilst they can be annoying, they are great for creating a topical talking point and the relevant hashtag usually starts trending on Twitter meaning that if you share content about it, you’re likely to get in front of a much bigger audience than usual.
Start with a content plan
Having to remain topical and relevant means that the traditional marketing plan has gone out of the window. It is just as important for brands to be reactive to what’s on the agenda as it is for them to proactively plan ahead. However, a flexible content plan which plots in key dates that you do already know about is key. Your content plan should be an ever evolving document which you can refer to on a daily basis, this ensures that you aren’t missing out on an opportunity to position yourself as a professional in whichever sector that might be.
Do your research before you get involved
There’s nothing worse than blogging away and joining a conversation on social media during an awareness day thinking you’re being topical and then realising that you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. For example, it would be appropriate for a medical practice to create content to share about Know Your Numbers Week but it wouldn’t be so fitting for an accountant to jump on the bandwagon too. Save yourself the embarrassment and check it out before you say anything! Once you’ve researched it, you can start on creating quality content to share that you know your audience will find useful.
Don’t make the links too tenuous!
There are endless awareness days/weeks/months but that doesn’t mean you should jump on every bandwagon. Only choose those that are relevant to your brand/business/audiences and make sure your content has some substance and adds something useful, rather than just a really tenuous link (just because it’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day doesn’t mean you have to get involved!). It takes time to write blogs in a way that adds value and speaks in the language of your customer, so why would you waste time writing about something which is totally unrelated to you? Don’t become a ‘trendjacker’, trust us when we tell you that it won’t make your business any more attractive to your potential customer.
If you’re quite happy plodding your way through the calendar to celebrate each and every awareness day/week/month, you perhaps need to ask yourself if your audiences are enjoying it as much as you are or if you’re wasting your time and energy tryin’ t’ speak like a pirate, me beauty!
For a more focussed approach and help with your content strategy, contact us and we’d be happy to talk to you about ways to stay front of mind with your audiences.
