Content is king! We’ve all heard this before but why is this and what makes good content anyway? In an overcrowded digital world where businesses are constantly competing for visibility content has become increasingly important.
The importance of content marketing
Creating interesting, relevant, engaging and well written content whether it is for your website, Twitter feed or a printed leaflet is key to reaching and engaging with your target audience.
Well crafted copy in the right tone of voice is as relevant to establishing and strengthening a brand as the logo and design elements associated with that brand. Get it wrong and you risk alienating or confusing your customers.
Good content is anything which captures and engages your audience. This will usually be something interesting or useful. It might be informative or in some cases could be something that provokes an emotional reaction.
Social media has given new meaning to the expression “today’s news is tomorrow’s chip paper.” In a world where we share everything on social media and a post is there one minute and barely visible the next you could be forgiven for thinking that what and how you say it isn’t as important as it used to be. I’d argue strongly that the opposite is true! The ease and speed with which mistakes travel on social media make it vitally important to get things right first time. One embarrassing mistake and your brand and reputation is at risk.
Depending on your business and brand a more informal style might be appropriate but striking the right balance can be difficult. The key is to think carefully about your organisation and its personality. How do you want to sound?
Here is a checklist of things to avoid which should help when creating content.
• Being over familiar
• Making grammar or spelling mistakes, it is always worth having new content proofread by someone with an eye for detail
• Using the wrong tone for your audience. I’ve lost count of the number of brands who have attempted to be “down with the kids” and failed disastrously. This can result in alienating your existing audience. Misjudge it and at best you will irritate people and worse your brand could be made a laughing stock.
• Creating content for the sake of it. Think about what is relevant and useful for your audience. It needs to have value so it should either inform or entertain in some way.
If you consistently create quality, engaging content your organisation will reap the rewards. Your website will perform better in search rankings and your social media platforms will work for you because engagement from your audience on social media is crucial in maintaining visibility.