Marketers are of the opinion that long-form content is best left to be at least mildly promotional.
It is important to provide value for the reader or potential customer. Prospects will then gradually begin to perceive the company as an expert in solving their problems, sign up for demos, or contact them on a discovery phone. This is how long-form, quality content can grow businesses.
Not all marketing content is meant to be promotional. What is the appropriate level of promotion for each marketing asset? How can companies determine the right level of promotion for their content marketing mix, and how do they achieve it?
Consider these three principles when deciding how to create promotional marketing content:
- The channel
- The assessment of the customer journey
- Your cocompany’sverall content mix.
- The marketing content should be adapted to the channel on which it appears.
Most editors reject thought-leadership bylines because they are too promotional.
Why? The purpose of an opinion piece in a third-party media publication is to inform readers about best practices within the industry, not to promote a product. Byline writers who promote products have overstepped the mark.
To determine the right level of self-promotion in your marketing content, you should either adapt it to a particular channel or select a channel based on how much promotion it has.
- The byline of the guest thought leader should at least be minimally promotional.
- Blog posts are your assets. They can be used to promote anything you want.
- Social Media Content should be a mixture: A little self-promotion can work, but if you do it too often, you risk alienating your audience by not being helpful.
Create marketing content that considers the customer journey
Startup founders, as well as those new to marketing, often ask: “W.” Why should all of our content not be about us? Our solutions, the problems we solve, and why we are good at solving them?” “What is purpose of marketing content? IsIsn’tt to show our customers what we can do for them?”
“air questions. These questions are not comprehensive enough to cover the entire customer journey.
If you have readers at the bottom of the funnel who know that they have a problem and are aware of the solutions that exist to solve it, or who know that you of the companies who can help them, then explain why you would be the best choice to solve their problem is appropriate. Blog posts about your bottom-of-funnel that compare you to your competitors and describe your approach are the best way to reach “B”BoFu’eaders.
What if the prospect has never heard of you before? If you are a company that specializes in contextual advertising and your prospect has never heard of you, what would you do?
You can then tell prospects about your solution and explain how it is different.
This is what it means when you write with your customer in mind.
Take into consideration your context mix.
You might be thinking, “O.” How do I know the right balance between vendor-neutral thought leadership and sales-y content? “H” Ho How many blog posts, LinkedIn posts, and bylines do I need?”
“you need a mixture of content for the top, middle, and bottom of the funnel. The first type speaks about the problems that you solve. The second kind talks about the solutions and differences between them. And the third kind is all about the results you get from solving these problems.
If you are beginning a content strategy, start with content at the bottom of the funnel. This is the easiest way to provide your sales team with valuable content that will help them advance and close deals. You can then work your way upwards the funnel to generate demand and advance deals by bringing in people who would not otherwise know about you or need a solution for the problem that you solve.
Blog writers who describe your solution will need less industry-specific expertise and journalistic knowledge than thought leadership writers who are going to craft consensus-shifting arguments worthy of your inindustry’sop trade publications. Bloggers who describe your solution, for instance, will require less journalistic and industry knowledge than thought-leadership writers, who are able to create arguments that can change the consensus in your industry.
YoYou’lllso need an expert in SEO to make the most of your blogs. YoYou’lllso need a professional in media relations to make bylines successful. The type of content that you choose to prioritize depends on the talent at your disposal.