Content Marketing to Grow Your Brand [IMPORTANT TRICKS]: I recently had the pleasure of speaking with financial marketers at the Arizona Credit Union League‘s Annual Meeting. The theme of this year’s event was “People, Passion and Purpose” and I think it captured a theme that many industries are embracing today. To reach customers you have to share their passions and understand the higher purpose to what drives them.
In my session titled, “Connecting with Members: Taking Internet and Social Media to the Next Level” we talked about how it’s important to know how consumers want to interact with your brand. Firstly however you have to attract them and platforms like SocialWick will help you in doing so.
Shift Happens: Consumers Are Choosing Digital Content
Remember when people were Protective of their Email addresses?
Not anymore. When we polled people on Linkedin and asked how they preferred to receive information from their financial institution, email was the most popular method at 54% of the responses – that’s up from 39% just a two years ago. The preference toward digital is even more dramatic when you see the data sliced by age.
As marketers, we have the tremendous challenge of juggling consumer preferences from print, email and online to the various social media channels. So we encourage clients to think of themselves not as “marketing departments” but as “newsrooms.” If your job is to tell stories and deliver news each day to your customers and prospects, would it change the way you approach your marketing? If you approach marketing from this angle, then you have a higher purpose – to teach, educate and inform your markets, rather than to simply sell them something.
News organizations are all about compelling stories and content that has the power to change the world.
Can your Brand Message Change the World?
Here are Three tips we recommend for marketers who want bring passion to their Marketing:
1. Create Great Content:
What’s your story, what’s the story behind your story?
In the news game, everyone is covering the same headlines of the day but what makes them interesting is the new angle on the story. Creating great content is about teaching your customers something new – or at least having a new angle or point of view on your products and services.
This is why blogs are so popular online because most blogs (even this one) have a point of view that makes them great content.
2. Content in All Forms:
Even though the world is shifting toward digital content, remember to package your content in multiple formats.
Integrate your brand and content in both offline and online messages so you don’t miss an important segment of your audience.
3. Create Conversations:
News organizations like CNN are always encouraging people to comment on their blogs or to Tweet feedback. Why? Because we’re all interested in what others think about news – and that’s why we include polls in our market research.
We know people are curious about what other people think. It’s no longer about one person reading the news. Today it’s about a conversation around the news from varying points of view.
How can your organization create conversations?
Facebook and Twitter are common outlets and you can integrate them right into your website.