For quite some time now the buzzword on every marketer’s lips have been content marketing. It has evolved into a get-on-the-train-or-go-out-of-business mentality, but how does one really master the art of content marketing? It all comes down to choosing a strategy relevant for your brand, as well as managing your digital media and channels.
The point of it all
Consumers might know of your brand and your product, but nowadays they expect you to do so much more to be worthy of their attention. They are of course right. Customers should be rewarded for choosing your product. Therefore content marketing is all about adding value to your brand and product. And just so we’re on the same page, we’re not talking about the type of value you get with a discount or coupon. We’re talking about providing quality content to your consumers, with a connection to your brand.
There are many varieties to content marketing, all of which are more or less fitting for your business depending on how you want to be perceived. Basically, it all comes down to what you want to say to your consumers, and making it relevant for your brand. The important thing to remember is that you’re not telling them what’s good with your product; you’re showing them all the wonderful things they can achieve with your product.
Say you’re a camera manufacturer. Show your customers how to achieve wonderful images by providing tutorials and guides to photography. Teach your consumers what settings to use for different lighting conditions, or how to think when composing an image.
Not a clue what content to use? Well, another strategy is to have your customers create the content for you. Create a website where you feature your customers’ best work and where other customers can view and share the content. AirBnB, a website for people renting out lodging, let’s their customers create “neighborhood guides” for the city they live in. After all, who knows the city better than their citizens?
Or say your business has a rich history. Use storytelling to show your company’s journey from start to where you are today. It will make your customers feel like they have a deeper connection to your brand. For instance, Adidas has created an online museum with stories linked to each of their many iconic products.
You want another example of content marketing? Just take this blog post for instance. Here we are, teaching you different strategies to content marketing with the aid of QBank. We want to make sure you’re getting the most of your digital asset management!
"The important thing to remember is that you’re not telling them what’s good with your product; you’re showing them all the wonderful things they can achieve with your product."
Mix media and channels, but don’t lose track of it
Whatever strategy you choose, just remember that at the heart of good content lies the use of varied media. There’s a reason the saying goes “an image says more than a thousand words”. We absorb more information when we’re making use of several senses, so make sure to use images, videos, articles and graphics. And your media better be of high quality. Few things can damage your brand as much as posting low-resolution images. A pixelated jpeg image of your product will make customers think your brand mirrors that quality.
Then there’s that question of which channel to use. The problem is, you can’t just create one great post and publish it in every channel. Well, you can, but consumers are expecting individual content to each channel. And of course they’re right, again. Customers use several channels to interact with a brand so keep this in mind when you decide what to post where. Approach each of your channels with the aim to show a different perspective in order to create a dynamic brand experience for your customers.
However, using several different types of media and crafting unique posts for your different channels poses a challenge in controlling all your digital assets. Say you’ve bought the rights to use an image for a year, posted it on your company blog, forgot all about it and then two years later the artist is demanding substitution for copyright infringement.
That’s where QBank will be, keeping track of your digital assets to make your work easier. Upload your high-resolution images or videos into QBank, and you will have access to them at all times, no matter where you are. Apart from the amount of time you’ll save, time otherwise spent looking for the right images or videos, QBank will also make sure your files are converted to the correct format for the chosen output. If you don’t want everyone at the company to have access to your files, there’s the ability to set access rights for your employees, making sure the right user is posting the right image. QBank also keeps track on which channels your media is distributed in. For instance, that image you posted on your blog and forgot about? QBank will keep track on the date of expiration and alert you in time to remove it and post something else.
Basically, let QBank worry about keeping track of all your digital assets, and you’re free to focus on deciding which content strategy that’s best for your brand. We wish you good luck!