What is ‘good content’?
Good content is
- original
- engaging
- creative
- and informative
Most importantly, it has the right calls to action (CTA) to hook a potential lead.
While all this are definitely essential ingredients of quality content, there is a larger picture that digital marketers most often overlook.
The bigger question every marketer needs to ask before creating any content is, “Does my audience really need this content?”
While the question might sound simplistic, most marketers often make the mistake of creating quality content that their audience may not really want. This leads to campaigns that do not perform and generate adequate return on investment (ROI).
Role of content in different stages of the funnel
The content marketing process, like traditional marketing, can be classified according to the different stages of the funnel. Most marketers focus on the volume of the content they need to create, while the real value of content creation lies in creating custom content for customers that are at different stages of the funnel. Different formats of content have inherent strengths that make them more suitable to be used during different stages of the funnel – awareness, evaluation, purchase, and delight.
LinkedIn’s ‘The Top Indian Content Marketing Predictions’ report states, “We’ve seen how the versatility of content marketing allows it to meet objectives across the buyer’s journey. Unfortunately, marketers around the world are predominately stuck measuring success with lower-funnel metrics, like lead generation, even if their goals are upper-funnel.”
Not only does the format of your content but even the metrics you use to measure their effectiveness can determine the value you derive from them.
So, how do you know when to use what kind of content? Here’s a handy guide of some content formats that are better suited for different stages of the marketing funnel:
– Awareness – Landing pages, video explainers, ads, social media
– Evaluation – Case studies, webinars, blogs, whitepapers
– Purchase – Ratings, feedback questionnaire, reviews, and testimonials
– Delight – Giveaways, special offers, surveys
There is no definitive rule that only these kinds of content can be used in the corresponding stages. This is, at best, a guide map for marketers.
Content formats for best value
LinkedIn’s ‘The Top Indian Content Marketing Predictions ’ report also goes on to state that digital penetration in India is set to increase to 70.7 percent in 2020. With the digital penetration being fragmented across India, it becomes important that marketers use multiple methods to reach out to their audiences.
Creating ‘good content’ is an art as much as it is a science. A creator’s job is never done because the content has been published. Measuring the level of engagement and performance is crucial to tweaking and improving the content.
Continuous improvement is key to consistently creating good content. What are your parameters for evaluating whether content is delivering value?
Also Read: How to build a content team that rocks
