Is Your Marketing Content Connecting with an Audience?

For anyone who has been listening there is little chance of missing how important content is to an effective digital marketing strategy. Creating impactful website blogs, producing how-to videos, and utilizing sharp images to demonstrate a brand’s purpose and promise is a content strategy that can elevate a brand’s authority in the field, promote increased customer interactions, and foster a better understanding of the needs of the audience. Content marketing is revolutionizing the way brands are connecting with customers through two-way conversations in social media channels and has even been elevated to “King” status among the tools in a digital marketer’s tool box. But like a horseless carriage, without a clear understanding of the landscape and energy driving the message in a specific and efficient direction, even the greatest prose will remain idle and fall on deaf ears.

Regardless of the quality of content, identifying a consumer segment or market niche is critical to engaging relevant consumers in the marketplace. In fact, identifying and understanding each consumer cache should precede message creation. Knowing where the best potential customers are listening improves a brand’s opportunity to engage in a more productive conversation. Identifying and attracting customers has always been a formidable challenge but, in the digital era, new technology can ease the tasks of collecting relevant, measurable data on consumer behaviors and personal purchasing habits. But an old, well-worn adage remains true even in the modern digital age; the most desirable conversation begins with listening first.

Gaining the attention of an audience begins with developing a comprehensive marketing strategy that is built around a well-defined goal and a budget with specific and objective priorities. Reaching the correct listeners, optimizing the quality of engagement, and achieving increased conversions demands a multichannel approach. Not all social media platforms are alike by design. Seek out the digital channels and collateral that are likely to produce the quickest and most meaningful connections and generate the best results. Tame the immensity of the noisy social media beast by targeting the platforms where customers are most likely listening. Even a small ad spend with great content, broadcast over the right channel, will help to improve a brand’s engagement rate and attract a larger percentage of its best audience.

Develop a process of validating content driven campaigns by measuring consumer responses. Social media users are mobile, not only in the devices they are using but the channels they are frequenting. Every day, more than 4.2 billion people are active across multiple social media platforms, each spending an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes looking for solutions. Embrace a comprehensive system of measuring and tracking two-way conversations and respond quickly to customers’ feedback. Revisit original assumptions and be open to reevaluating and modifying each campaign to optimize its performance.

Success of any digital marketing effort is not reliant on any one element, but rather on a combination of elements designed to engage two-way conversations with a targeted audience in order to promote brand value and consumer awareness.