PUBLIC RELATIONS
Calibrating The Content Marketing Machine To Cure Information Density
By Irene Mbonge
People have been telling stories since the dawn of time . We are hard wired to better understand information that way . The Internet has leveled the playing field for content creators , allowing anyone the opportunity to create and distribute almost any kind of content . We live in an age of great opportunity where marketers have more power than ever to tell stories through content .
However , while it is easier than ever to simply publish content , it seems harder than ever before to make meaningful content that effectively generates business by organically connecting with the right people at the right time , in the right way , with the right message to advance your business goals . Truly great content marketing communicates effectively , builds community , and moves leads closer to being customers . Sharing stories through text , videos , photos , podcasts and memes can be a powerful force to induce sales , retain customers , communicate a brand , or even promote a cause .
The goal might be to bring customers into a store , rally people to an event , or attract visitors to a website via a search engine . Great online content will achieve these goals through ranking on search engines , drawing links from other websites , and generating inbound traffic .
With great power comes great responsibility . For marketers , that responsibility is to tell the right story to the right people and organize content around business objectives . The challenge is not only to get good content out there , but also to make your “ it ” the right “ it ,” and to create and share it in a way that cuts through the fluff and makes an impact on your bottom line .
The Age Of Execution And Information Density
It used to be enough to just be online , publishing content . It meant you were ahead of the curve . Five years ago
With great power comes great responsibility . For marketers , that responsibility is to tell the right story to the right people and organize content around business objectives . The challenge is not only to get good content out there , but also to make your “ it ” the right “ it ,” and to create and share it in a way that cuts through the fluff and makes an impact on your bottom line . everyone was talking about the value of starting a blog , sharing content socially , and optimizing that content to be found by search engines . These days that ’ s all common practice . If you ’ re not doing those things on some level , you are way behind the curve in not out of your wits .
The age of experimentation for its own sake is long gone . We are now in the age of precise execution . Creating and sharing content for its own sake , or throwing content at a Twitter or Facebook wall to see what sticks , aren ’ t good enough anymore . With so much content being created , the new challenge is to make sure that the content you do create is tied to business objectives , speaks to the right audience , and effectively reaches that audience .
I had an opportunity to deliver a presentation during a Content Marketing and Brand Building session to a Master Class recently . As I ran through the ten most important trends in digital marketing , as has become custom in most of my presentations , I couldn ’ t help but read the surprise on the faces of the audience as I mentioned the penultimate trend : Information Density .
According to a recent survey by Tamba , 86 % of B2B and 77 % of B2C marketers are using content marketing . Last year , an average of 32 % or 28 % of marketing budgets in North America was paid for content . The amount being spent is also going up by an average 51 %, and only 3 % are looking to cut it . It looks like the growing investment in content is
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