Social media has become the most common Internet-based activity, created a new form of social engagement and is absolutely a legitimate form of communication and connection, not only person-to-person, but brand-to-audience. The core of this connection is sharing by personal referral, with content – and in particular video content – being the key medium to facilitate this connection. This sharing provides the opportunity for brands to circulate information to wide demographics of potential customers without traditional mass media process or expense.
But how can you create the content that your audience will share, to gain new customers and continue to establish your brand DNA?
Keep Up To Date
Know what’s going on with your target demographic. All content should be interesting, and most importantly, relevant to your audience. This applies not only to the messaging of your content, but to the style and the medium. As video is the most popular form of online content, you should always be aware of new platforms and formats for the best engagement. For example, if you’re not making vertical video content, microcontent and taking advantage of Snap Ads, IGTV and Facebook Canvas, it’s time to do some research.
Get in the habit of staying up to date with trends and news in content creation by following blogs, like this one, and industry news aggregators, like Mumbrella, to ensure your content and strategy stays relevant.
Schedule
Content creation and distribution is not a set-and-forget game anymore. Where once a quarterly campaign with a print, broadcast and outdoor spend might have been sufficient, online content moves as quickly as the Internet does, and that breakneck speed also applies to brand relevance. A steady schedule of content for online and particularly socials, is an absolute necessity for solid brand DNA.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you need a new campaign each month, or a 1,500 word blog every weekday, but an agile schedule of content split between video, copy, images, audience engagement, themes and news should be the very first step in making content work for your brand.
Going back to the breakneck speed of the internet, if you’ve scheduled a post a fortnight ago, and it’s no longer relevant or the joke has passed, don’t feel obliged to post it. There’s nothing worse than a brand late to the party, awkwardly brandishing a meme. On the contrary, if there’s breaking relevant news, or a particularly applicable meme of the week, don’t be afraid to spontaneously engage your audience with relevant content.
Curate Content
Content curation is one of social media’s primary functions – sharing a video on Facebook, retweeting, pinning an image, but as I alluded to above, your content messaging must be relevant.
Marketing expert Guy Kawasaki suggests that you must “You must position yourself as an expert and genuinely interact with your communities.” That means reflecting on what works with your audience and what doesn’t, what will add value and what won’t. A well-curated Instagram account that posts three times a week would support your brand messaging and gain a more loyal audience than an Instagram posting any information multiple times a day.
Again, this doesn’t apply just to messaging, but to aesthetic. Your demographic wants to trust your brand, and maintaining an aesthetic through the content you create and curate is reassuring and will keep your audience returning.
A Content Agency
Whilst content marketing can be done inhouse, heading to a content agency is an increasingly popular option. Here at DOTF, we offer a combination of strategy, creative and content creation following a non-traditional marketing process which allows for a greater efficiency of content through collaboration with our clients. What does ‘greater efficiency’ mean to us? It means campaigns that are delivered quickly to stay relevant, nimble enough to span multiple demographics and platforms and of course, a maximised ROI for our clients. Approaching campaigns with a foresight mindset to challenge the norm, disrupt and innovate, we create powerful content with a focus on authentic storytelling. Plus, working with our strategic and creative team will leave you more informed about your brand and your audience, and armed to create content and solid strategy independently of a traditional marketing agency.