The most effective way to get attention as an organization is by practicing content marketing. That raises the logical follow-up question: what exactly is good content?
That sounds like a simple question, but rarely is. To answer it, and decide what is the right content to publish, you first have to know what your company stands for, who you are and where you’d like to go. Those are questions that take time to explore, existential questions even, that resist easy answers. Perhaps they are already clearly formulated in your organization, for instance in a document detailing your core values, or perhaps you are still at the beginning of this process. Make sure this is the first step you take, before you start thinking about content.
Your content strategy
Armed with this knowledge, you can begin. At Vuurwerk we usually divide this work into two phases. First, we look at things from a strategic angle. This is about your company’s core values and the effect you want to achieve. Would you like to generate attention for that one product that launches next month? Do you wish to grow to one hundred thousand followers on social media by next year? This dictates which kind of content is best to employ.
Of equal importance is how much budget you have. Content usually isn’t cheap, but with clever tactics it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. For instance, seek out connections to large events to increase your reach (sponsoring is an effective strategy for this). Or try to create a hype on social media, spurring your followers to spread the content. Easier said than done, of course. This requires a good network and know-how about the latest technological innovations—and of course a bird’s eye view of what is going on. The best way to organize this is with a content calendar, for which it pays off to hire an expert.
Getting it done
Once you have decided on the type of content to use (video diaries, an interactive quiz, daily text updates, spotlights on your products, stories by happy customers…), the next step is to develop them. At Vuurwerk we use our flexible layer of professional artists for this. These people are specialized in their own artistic area to produce high quality texts, designs, code, films or interviews; anything and everything that needs to be made. That is how we ensure content of the highest quality, closely working together with you to ensure perfect results.
The process is key
You will have noticed that, so far, we have mostly written on the process of how to think of and develop good content—and that’s exactly our message. There is no definitive answer to the question of what exactly is “good content”. This changes in every situation and there are no shortcuts. In our process, we continuously analyze what we publish, research what activates people and what generates the most traffic to your site. Measure and improve, and keep doing that. Only by going through these steps will you discover what works for your organization or campaign.
From that moment on, your content will always be good!