Content might be the most overlooked element of a marketing campaign, but it’s hard to imagine where marketing would be today without it. Well, here’s the simple answer – marketing, especially digital marketing, would not exist without content!
People often get fixated on their site’s search engine ranking or what keywords are most relevant to it, rather than evaluating the most important component to any marketing campaign – content. Search, organic, paid media, social media and local citations are all important components to any digital marketing campaign, but what they all have in common is a dependence upon content to work well together. Quote from Bill Gates.
What is content?
Content is the reason search began in the first place and search engines still rely on content today. Think about it – in order to conduct research, content is needed to answer questions. How can someone expect to show up in specific search results online unless their site has relevant content? Simply put, they cannot!
Wendy Piersall said it best, “Google only loves you once everyone else love you first.”
But don’t get hung up on the words alone. Content is bigger than just a typical blog post. Content also includes other areas of focus such as infographics, videos and podcasts. Content can be anything that is tangible to a user. Ideally, all of these aspects contain the three basic elements of storytelling: conflict, authenticity and audience.
How to tell (and sell) a story
Conflict creates tension to keep people engaged in your story. Conflict between who we are, what we want to be and what others think of us is the central thread of human lives. When people begin to look into their own lives, they will see that internal conflict and the tension it causes. Everyone feels it, so the story must portray this element to resonate with others and be successful.
Authenticity is crucial to storytelling. Content marketers must be mindful of not falling into the trap of looking for keywords or quick hits in order to get a boost within Google’s or any other search engine’s ranking. The key is to stay true to your brand and true to your voice as audiences will respond to that authenticity with vigor and emotion.
The third and final element of storytelling is the most important, your audience. They want stories and eat the good ones up. They will share them, comment on them, tweet about them, hyperlink to them in their own personal blogs, make gifs of them, etc. All we have to do, as content marketers, is offer that great story to the audience – preferably the correct audience!
Content is king and a good story is everything, so it’s our job as content marketers to tell better stories. Express yourself with confidence and always remember that it is the risk takers that will be remembered and highly ranked.