We all know what successful marketing is – it’s about delivering the right content to the right person in the right context. But what does this mean for you and your business? Well let me help you understand by diving into these principles more deeply.
What is content?
Content is information and/or communication presented in a readable, viewable, relevant and useful way with the purpose of attracting and retaining a clearly defined audience – in other words “telling your story”. Content comes in many forms, be it written in an article (like this) or a blog, a video, photo or any other form of specific communication.
Who is the right person?
Put simply, there are two forms of people who you should be marketing your content to:
- The person who buys from you – you should already have a clear understanding of who your core consumer is. If you don’t, you need to find out.
- The person or persons who can get lots of other people to read your content – chances are that no matter what industry you are in, there are individuals out there with large followings in that industry that you can team up with to share your content.
What is the right context?
From experience, this is one of the things that a lot of marketers get wrong. Understanding the right “context” just means that you understand your audience, their needs, their boundaries and you understand your subject matter.
It’s not about “not being yourself”. It’s quite the opposite in fact. It is being “yourself” but in that specific context, or environment. It’s natural that we might speak to our grandparents differently to our friends. It’s not that we are not being ourselves, it’s that the context is different and we naturally respond to that context differently. Get it?
So I kind of get it. So what now?
It’s important that you do your research on a number of things:
- Who is your core consumer?
- Where is your core consumer consuming information? Is it radio? Is it Facebook. Is it Instagram? is it YouTube? Is it on a highway billboard?
- Create a content strategy focused on the platforms in which your core consumers are spending most of their time consuming information.
*Pro tip: Don’t be romantic about which types of marketing methods you are using to communicate with your audience. It’s not about the method – it’s about where the “ATTENTION” is!
We are living in a digital age. Chances are your consumers are more focused on digital products than looking at highway billboards. If you aren’t familiar or confident with digital marketing, you need to be.
