One of the biggest disappointments as a marketer is having a story you’ve worked so hard on fall flat. Storytelling success makes a major impact in marketing.
From the outside, it looks like you did everything right, including posting on social, sharing an email, and even some community engagement on Reddit, but ultimately, it just didn’t run as long as you may have liked. And if you find yourself in a similar boat, then it sounds like you might need to consider how to better plan for more full-circle, fulfilling campaigns. Here’s how:
Establish Topics You Can Sink Your Teeth Into
A big part of producing content is learning how to enjoy what you produce. Whether it’s a photo, video, or the written word, everything needs to compile into a final product that you have the capacity to produce day-in and day-out. Additionally, your content needs to be worth the amount of time and labor put in, where the balance boils down to keeping a level of consistency while not compromising quality. Finding that involves looking at what your brand stands for, as well as why people will gravitate towards it.
Your brand is more than just what you post on social media. It’s also the ethos and mission behind your business. This is something that practically every consumer looks for. 64 percent of consumers cite shared values as the primary reason they have a relationship with a brand; which basically means whatever we buy, we feel as though that’s a part of who we are.
A sporting goods company might write content about nutrition or how to shop for certain equipment as primary content but might fit in entrepreneurial or marketing content sparingly, too. Make sure your content is things that stay within current industry conversations (if not ahead of them) to help with garnering the most views, as well as keeping yourself as engaged as possible. Although content planning takes practice, take it as an opportunity to explore more about your industry, as well as how you can present yourself as ahead of the curve.
Know Your Anchor Materials
Your anchor materials are the pieces that you can set down and establish content rollout from for days afterward. While they take a little bit more runway to develop, anchor materials can sometimes be utilized to last weeks, if not months at a time. The primary goal for this is to create something that you can pull not just more material from, but across multiple mediums as well; for example, a video speech where you can pull quotes with photos, or chop up into different segments. A big part of this, however, is knowing how to plan content with substance that’s strong enough to stretch.
As we discussed above, a lot of creating anchor materials comes with knowing what standpoint your brand comes from, then creating a base piece around a related topic in your field. An excellent place to start is with video, which is shared 89.5 percent more often than other types of content on Facebook. When you consider how many different iterations you can create out of a long video (including photos, quotes, and short clips), that type of content can trickle out to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and even Pinterest. All-in-all, the main mission is to start long, then chop short, giving yourself enough content to churn for some time to come.
See What Type Of Content You Can Repurpose
The thought of repurposing or reusing old content makes some marketers cringe. After all, the common rationale is that if a customer has seen it before, why on earth would they want to see it again? However, repurposing done right can be one of the most efficient ways of using your content long term; in fact, as noted by Curata, 29 percent of marketers repurpose content, making it a practice much more popular by big and small brands alike. The secret to being successful at repurposing? Starting with what’s current, then going back in time.
There are two primary ways that people find use in repurposing content: first, by sharing stories that didn’t get as much love due to another overshadowing event; as well as content that was once somewhat relevant, but now has grown much more prominent due to a big event. Utilizing tools like a hashtag generator can help get more eyeballs on your content. Additionally, when it comes to spacing your posts, note that the internet has a short memory.
You know your audience best, ultimately make it your mission to deliver the stories that you feel they would want to engage with. While that mind sounds simple, it’s the cornerstone to great content, as well as what pushes you to keep things fresh and original. Plus, who doesn’t love a little motivation in setting the bar higher? As the core to great content production is to do better than the last, it’s what will separate you from the pack in being the center of the conversation.
Make Your Social Media Campaign Come Full Circle
What are some strategies you’ve implemented to make your content run full-circle more often? Comment with your insights on Twitter @BootstrapsBiz @MikeSchiemer #BootstrapBusiness today and share this post!
