Killer Content Marketing Creates Opportunity!

by malliehart | Aug 9, 2024 | Mallie's Marketing Blog Posts

Killer Content Marketing Creates Opportunity!

You hear it all the time, but especially at the launch of a new year … content marketing is where it’s at! Content marketing is do or die. Content is king. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Do I agree?

I do, indeed! In fact, my focus and/or word of the year is CONTENT.

But many of you, dear readers, are still waffling about blogging – or creating other types of content, like videos, images or even podcasts. You just can’t seem to make the time to create content on a regular basis. Why?

Maybe you’re busy? Running your own business takes time. A lot of time. But …

Content Marketing Creates Opportunity!

Here’s hoping – fingers and heart crossed – that one, or more, of these five content creation benefits will sway you to add creating content to your busy schedule!

1. Unique Content Ups Visitors & Views!

The creation of unique and targeted content, what you write, record or design – rather than what you share, gets visits to YOUR site. Your website! That website is the hub of your online empire. It’s where you direct traffic to all of the other digital goodness you’re creating, sharing, discussing, dissecting and more.

Guess what? Visits to your site just might lead to someone take action (you know, via a Call to Action or other pretty button they are compelled to click), which just might land you a new connection, or even a prospect or solid lead!

In the end we’re all in business to make money, in order to sustain our lifestyle. Prospects and leads are crucial to finalizing a sale and bringing in the paycheck!

Killer content marketing drives the connection necessary to get prospect eyes on your product(s) and service(s) prize!

2. Let’s Talk Lists!

You want people to sign-up to your lists, right? Of course. Your list, or email list if you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, is something you own and it won’t go away unless you do something really stupid.

But, in order to add new lovelies to that list,  or those lists – many a savvy marketer segments, so has more than one list – you have to – YES – get them to your site. Content you’ve created is a big draw when it comes to creating clicks that land eyes on your site.

When your content marketing efforts are of the killer sort, those who see it will undoubtedly want to see more. And when they want more, they like it delivered straight to their inbox. That means more list lovelies!

3. When It’s New (And Awesome), People Want To Share It!

Social media shares generally don’t get as much reach and response as unique content, whether it be an image or a link to an article or video.

Social media marketing and smart sharing is valuable to your overall marketing efforts. You don’t want to be the “it’s all about ME marketer,” after all.

But, creating unique content for your social media platforms, content that drives prospects back to your site, your calls to action and your list building efforts is really the end goal.

And it doesn’t have to take hours and hours! Twitter’s a great place for unique content sharing, even and especially with images, in 140 characters or less. Pretty please Twitter top brass, don’t raise the limit to 10K characters. SHUDDER!

4. Content Marketing Creates Conversation(s)!

Taking a stand on an issue, sharing your unique perspective or taking on the devil’s advocate role can create conversation or discussion.

Discussions and the further sharing of ideas can often spark interest in other things you have to say and share.

5. Content Marketing Inspires, Invokes & Influences!

What’s influence? It’s that special something that comes when the content you share strikes a chord, is highly valuable, generates trust or drives a discussion.

Sharing the content of others is great, and shows you’re generous and on top of your industry.

But, creating content that inspires is one of the best ways to gain an influential position and credibility in your target market.

With influence comes greater interaction and with more interaction you gain more interest in your service offerings. When you inspire someone to take action, you just might be the one hired to help implement that action!

So ….. Are You Ready To Create Some Killer Content?

Hopefully one of these five content creation benefits will strike with the AHA moment needed to make creating content one of your main marketing pursuits!

How will you up the ante on your content marketing as 2016 continues?

Is Storytelling Sabotaging Your Content Marketing

by malliehart | Aug 7, 2024 | Mallie's Marketing Blog Posts

Is Storytelling Sabotaging Your Content Marketing

Much like busy, epic, and engagement, storytelling has become another overused, often misunderstood buzzword amongst content marketers, bloggers, copywriters, etc …

Are You Telling Your Story?

We’re asked daily if we’re telling our story. Our brand story, product story, personal story, bathroom break policy story.

Okay. It’s possible I took it a step too far with the final example. But, that leads me to the point and purpose of this publish.

Are we taking storytelling too far?

Can storytelling go wrong? Can we sabotage our story and, with it, our brand or business?

Yes! If you get a little too caught up in telling your story, the focus becomes all about Y-O-U. While the story should always reflect you, it should also draw in your audience with the allure of either a shared experience or a solution that fits their needs, suits their situation.

As you well know if you’ve spent much time on this site in the past, I believe that your brand, your website, your story is ABSOLUTELY about you. But, you also know I’m a big believer in balance, intent and purpose. Smart and savvy storytelling involves the balance and the Y-O-U!

Successful Storytelling?

The story has to relate to your readers in a significant way or they’ll toss it into digital File 13 because they see it as needless and/or narcissistic.

The story starts to sabotage you when you forget you’re sharing your story for the audience and start lauding yourself as the storyteller.

If your story resonates with your readers, taps into their emotions, causes them to reconsider or persuades them to pose a question … well, then it’s successful. If your story causes your audience to take any action except clicking away to something more suitable, I say you add a check to the win column.

However, far too many stories cause that calculated “click away.” Once a reader clicks away too many times they might consider opting out, hiding you from their streams or even, YIKES, unfollowing you.

Is Your Story Too Long?

A connection of mine recently spun out a personal story over several blog posts, social media posts and more.

The story was quite compelling. Something very relatable to a large part of the overall population and her following.

The problem? It centered solely on her experience. Which would have been absolutely fabulously okay for one reading, one share. But the story went on and on, with the same chapter and verse repeated over AND over again.

Instead of spinning the story in a different direction and drawing in readers by making it about THEM, too, she centered the story on herself and was a little too free with the self-praise.

Self Congratulations = The Storytelling Saboteur!

This connection made a fatal error when the story stopped being about the story itself, a shared experience that could have touched many, and continued to share her own successes, tied to the story, in a self congratulatory way.

Put quite simply, the repeated postings started to sound an awful lot like bragging, nothing humble about it.

Stop Turning Stories Into Press Releases

If your story screams, “See ME, see how I prevailed,” it’s no longer a shared story that’s meant to spark discussion, create connection and build lasting relationships.

Consider this, is it a story or a press release? Are you broadcasting or sharing? Is it all about you, or is it about your audience and their experiences?

Stories can absolutely sell. But they first have to connect with your audience, building trust in your shared experiences. Otherwise it’s just a promotional blast that will fade into the noisy and forgettable content coffers.

How do you share stories without making them all about Y-O-U?