Content, which, these days, seems to be discussed almost as much as it’s actually created, is a word with many connotations–some current, some not, some positive, some negative. Before the dawn of digital marketing, the word content was usually applied to undistinguished items or substances that were, in fact, nearly indistinguishable–for instance, the contents of a cereal box, a cookie jar, or a sock drawer. Back then, content meant a commodity, something that was necessary, like the stuffing in upholstered furniture, but that didn’t inspire much thought or action. Sadly, today, even when content often refers to a product’s value proposition, which should be compelling, the word’s earlier connotations still seem applicable.
This sorry situation has arisen in part because of digital marketing’s thirst for new materials across diverse communication channels, from web sites, email campaigns, and landing pages through social media like Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, and–in Europe and Asia–Zing, WeChat, and Naver. Faced with this demand, some companies rely on recent grads and free-lancers to create easily developed content like helpful hints, trend overviews, and lists of do’s and don’ts. Unfortunately, such run-of-the-mill marketing material is of limited value to the companies developing it because it fails to deliver their unique selling propositions and to convince customers to buy their offerings rather than the competitions’.
Developing content that moves customers down the marketing and sales funnel — that creates awareness of your company’s product and then gets customers to consider and finally to purchase it as the preferred solution — isn’t easy. It requires careful planning, a sound content strategy, and effective execution. This might sound like a lot of trouble to go through just to churn out filler. And if concocting filler — generic content with which to stuff your company’s web site and social media — were the true goal of content creation, it would indeed be too much trouble. But, since content’s true purpose is to communicate and deliver on your company’s brand promise — well, then, there’s no question that developing differentiated content is worth the effort, because, in the end, it’s about selling your company’s product.
Please look for my next post, in which I’ll continue to discuss the characteristics of high-value content and why these differ in each stage of the buying process.
Ronald-Stéphane Gilbért, Global and Content Marketing Practice Director— Gilbért, Flossmann & Zhang Worldwide, Cleveland
