The numbers speak for themselves. Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs your company 62% less to create. And that’s not all: the conversion rates for producing content are six times higher than any other marketing method – yet most brands still do not have an effective content marketing strategy in place.
Content marketing has the potential to transform your business. High-quality content increases brand reputation by building trust, influences conversions, increases website rankings and improves SEO efforts while remaining cost-effective. But, above all, content solidifies your commitment to your audience by providing knowledgeable, quality content for their benefit, and helping to promote your brand as a thought leader in your field.
In short, content always will be king. But not all brands and entrepreneurs are maximizing their content efforts. In fact, 70% lack a consistent or integrated content strategy. At Wordsmith, we strongly believe that every piece of content must serve a purpose – there’s no point in writing content just for the sake of creating content. All of your content should support your content marketing strategy.
The initial step is to take a look at your brand’s overarching business strategy and development priorities, then creating a custom content plan that meets both of your brands short and long-term goals. Some excellent questions to consider are:
1. Who are your target audience, and what are their needs or issues?
In today’s day and age, brands need to be more customer-centric than ever before – especially when it comes to creating content. What sets successful brands apart is that they’re taking the “customer first” approach to the next level by offering personalised experiences, great perks and quality products and services, uniquely tailored to each one of their customer profiles. Successful brands listen to their customers while taking advantage of new technologies to create a seamless experience across different content touchpoints.
And when it comes to customer loyalty, we are increasingly seeing that customers are becoming more “belief-driven” than ever before. Instead of prioritising convenience and low prices, customers are now keen to interact with brands that demonstrate a social conscience. So, to retain customer loyalty, brands now need to communicate how they help improve the world along with making a profit.
International sandwich chain, Pret a Manager, aimed to do just this. In 1995, they set up the Pret Foundation Trust (PFT) to help alleviate poverty in the UK, setting up a number of content-led charity initiatives targeted at breaking the cycle of homelessness.
With 300,000 estimated to be without secure and safe accommodation in the UK, and above 500,000 people sleeping rough on a nightly basis in the US, homelessness has reached a crisis point. To help make a difference, and give individuals who are experiencing difficult chapters in their lives a future, Pret created their Rising Stars programme which aims to donate surplus food to shelters and charities around their stores, while also opening up opportunities to homeless individuals who are looking to get back into work.
“Helping the homeless has been part of our promise to our customers and the communities in which we operate,” said Clive Schlee, CEO of Pret, adding that, “we believe people need three things: food, employment and shelter.” Teaming up with homelessness charity, West London Mission St Luke’s (WLM), they’ve established the Pret House, that offers accommodation to their Rising Stars while teaching them to manage their own finances, giving them advice on how to open a bank account, save up for a deposit and boost their literacy and computer skills – all crucial to making the move into a permanent residence.
Aiming to shift the stigma and negative perceptions of people who have experienced homelessness is no easy feat – but through YouTube videos, Instagram stories, informative blog articles and more, Pret are successfully changing the face of homelessness through their social good content-led campaign. With over 450 people re-integrated into society since the programme began, the Pret Foundation Trust is committed to continuing helping Rising Stars while supporting charities across the world that assist people getting back to work.
2. What areas does your company want to grow and where are the best opportunities for growth?
When it comes content strategies, it’s important to be open minded and cast a wide net of different unique customer profiles and tailor your content towards their specific needs. Too often, brands focus on what they think is a great representation of their brand or try and pigeonhole their content in accordance to what's trending. However if done clumsily, it can make content look inauthentic or redundant. To build a strong content strategy, you need to identify what your consumers want and what you can provide that's different. Think about your brand’s unique USP’s and communicate them through every piece of content, and ensure that it’s something they simply can’t get from any other competitor.
Confectionary giant Cadbury’s is king when it comes to personalised content campaigns over the years. However, increasingly the well-loved brand is aiming to raise brand awareness and market penetration in unexplored Cadbury’s territory, in order to maximise brand awareness amongst a new generation of chocolate lovers.
Using Idomoo’s Personalised Video as a Service (PVaaS) platform, Cadbury’s launched a content-led campaign to increase market penetration in India and emotionally connect with customers through the art of storytelling. In an effort to change perceptions about chocolate as a form of gift-giving in India, Cadbury’s created an integrated social video marketing campaign that integrated photos and names pulled from Facebook profiles in a touching video – encouraging users to enter a phone number for Cadbury’s so they could send a Cadbury’s Glow chocolate gift to a recipient of their choice. Utilising technology and cleverly weaving in the customer’s unique background, Cadbury’s achieved a 65% click-through rate with recipients, with a 33% conversion rate for viewers who filled in a subsequent promotion form.
Since, Cadbury’s have successfully launched their ‘Unity Bar’ in August 2019, on the cusp of India’s 73rd Independence Day with a front page spread on the Economic Times, reading, “The headline above is not a misprint. It is in Kannada/Telugu/ Marathin. Sweet things happen, when we unite.” An ingenious content campaign led by Ogilvy India, which wanted to reiterate that Cadbury’s celebrates India’s uniqueness that lies in its diversity and strength in unity – and it quickly went viral. With thousands of shares on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, customers warmly welcomed the brand’s celebration of India’s motto, “unity in diversity”, that comes from the country’s melting pot of religions and cultures. Truly hitting the sweet spot when it comes to a strong content marketing strategy, Cadbury’s successfully seized the opportunity for growth through knowing their audiences and effortlessly weaving in a seamless customer experience.
3. How do you want to showcase your content to your target audience?
It's no secret that high-quality content leads to increased sales, better retention rates and customer loyalty. But to get there, your content needs to be visible. The point where great content meets effective distribution is where most brands dream to be, and believe us, it’s not as easy as "one size fits all." From social media channels and offline methods to PayPerClick advertising, the sky’s the limit. But with so many different outlets at your disposal, finding the ultimate distribution algorithm that works for your brand is no easy task.
One of the best ways to distribute your content is through your brand ambassadors and employees. A great way to gain customer’s trust, is when it comes directly from the source itself – with no hidden agenda. And no one understands that better than Seattle based coffee giant – Starbucks.
Since 2014, Starbucks have been giving back to their employees by introducing the Starbucks College Achievement Plan (SCAP), that allowed eligible baristas to apply for full tuition coverage to earn their bachelor's degree. Whether they want to pursue marketing and business, filmmaking, or even dance, the coffee giant arms them with all the tools they need to succeed. The four-years bachelor’s degree is offered online through Arizona State University’s degree program, and the brand is committed to graduating 25,000 students by 2025. With Starbucks’ inspiring content-led campaign, their YouTube videos, Instagram stories, informative blogs and twitter posts, track the journey of four different baristas who could never have been able to afford higher education, if not for Starbucks’ innovative college tuition programme. Promoting the profound message to customers that, “Every day, you help put a barista’s name on a diploma,” empowers target audiences to interact with Starbucks in a new and unique way.
The response to this programme was overwhelming. This initiative not only increased their social media following, repeat purchases and customer loyalty, but also acted as major recruiting and retention tool. Martin Brok, president, Starbucks EMEA, was quick to comment, “Starbucks has always been a company that puts our people first. And if we can remove the financial burden of the cost of a university degree while helping our partners gain skills that will set them up for future success – we can’t think of a better investment.” And it’s not stopping there. With plans for creating a customised retail degree for those who want to grow their career after they’ve completed their education, Starbucks are also developing a mentorship programme and have since, expanded the programme to eligible employees in the UK.
Asking these three simple questions can help you devise a strong content strategy to effectively guide lead generation and maintain your brand’s competitive edge. Creating high-quality content that truly engages your target audiences gives you the opportunity to influence conversions, increase website rankings and improve SEO. But above all, having a solid content strategy in place shows your commitment to providing knowledgeable, quality content for your audiences. After all, the customer always comes first.