Creating Quality Content: 3 Simple Rules to Always Consider

Marketing and advertising tactics in 2018 have definitely advanced from the radio jingles and sales commercials we grew up with.

It seems like every day there’s something new. From Google algorithm updates to hot hashtags to the latest social media star, different methods of creating content and measuring its success are popping up left and right.

You have probably experienced such innovation first-hand in a variety of ways. If you aren’t playing catch up with your PPC and SEO campaigns, you’re redesigning your website for the current trends or looking for new ways to make email campaigns engaging.

The list goes on. We all know content is king, but with so many different marketing options out there, it’s hard to understand what it takes to make the best content.

Here are three things to always keep in mind when creating something for your audience. Whether that be a new landing page, a blog post, a brochure, or a social media contest, use these to guide your content generation process.  

1. The Customer Comes First

The point of any kind of content is to start or continue a conversation with your audience. This means it pays to truly understand the people you want to connect with. It might seem like an obvious concept, but too many companies are missing their mark all too often.

Make sure you’re not one of them. To best reach your audience, think of your target as one person. Give them a name, a job, a certain level of income, hobbies, and more. You should know how they think and what they’re passionate about, too. Develop this persona in such a manner that you feel like you can talk about them as if they were a close friend.

Then, any time you’re working on something new, ask yourself:

“Would (the name of your ideal buyer) be interested in this?”

“Is this enough to make (him/her) want to take action and continue engaging?”

There are more specific questions to check yourself. Those will depend on the kind of content you’re working on and what campaign and initiatives it’s meant for.

Starting with the buyer, though, rings true for anything you do.

2. Trends Will Change, Do Something Classic

If you already have your buyer persona perfected, try to update it from time to time. Remember, the behaviors and desires of your target market will shift with your market as a whole.

Luckily, there are certain things that will always be effective. The key is to balance what is on-trend now with what you’ve historically stood for as a company. Use company values and internal culture to guide you through the ebbs and flows of what tools come and go.

Focus on the message. This creates a voice that is easy for your audience to recognize no matter if you’ve changed your UI design approach yet again or if you’re trying new lead generation strategies.  

3. Your Brand Is Everything

What is on-trend is constantly changing, which is all the more reason why what is on-brand should be as consistent as possible. This aligns all of your marketing efforts. Such an approach makes it simple to boost things like brand recognition and brand loyalty.

But, these successes don’t happen by chance. They require a strong understanding of what best represents your brand and how to make it matter to the audience. Branding is everything from the way you place your logo to the colors on your website to the font style and the manner in which you write your copy. When you craft each of these tools, use the ones that are best suited for what you stand for and who you’re trying to reach.
 

Quality content is crucial to any marketing campaign. But, no one has time to reinvent the wheel every time a new trend or tool pops up. Make your creative process as effective as it can be with the help of the tips above.