March 2, 2018
We're in an age where every company, brand and organisation has the power to be their own editor, publisher or broadcaster. That's great, set up the channels, post some content and you're done.
But here's where the problem starts. Real editors have a duty to fill their publications with interesting, engaging and relevant information on a regular basis. If not, people stop buying the newspaper or magazine. What's more, they just can't run out of things to print.
So it is with your business. Whether you have a website, blog, Twitter account, Facebook Page or multiple LinkedIn outlets, they all need constant 'feeding' with content that meets the needs of your target audiences.
So how do you create this content, where do your ideas come from and how do you ensure a constant supply
Let's think about a reservoir for a moment. This vast artificial lake serves to supply water to towns, cities and industry. The water comes from a variety of sources - the weather system and also from rivers which top up the reservoir if it doesn't rain enough.
Looking at the above diagram, you should think about having a content reservoir for your business. It needs to be large enough to provide all your channels with a constant flow of content, whether they be web-based, social or traditional.
Just as with a real reservoir, this content comes from four main sources - internal, external employees and finally clients/customers. Harnessed together, they should ensure you never run out of something to post.
Looking at these sources in more detail, the internal sources are your employees, each of whom could provide ideas and inspiration. A fully-engaged workforce could be the best marketing department you could ever wish for.
External sources are varied and include social media, the traditional media, suppliers, business associates, the internet and other companies. By collating this information and repackaging for your target markets, you can save a huge amount of effort but also still provide the necessary quality of content that your audiences require. Newspapers have been doing this for years.
The third source is the content that could be created by your own employees. All staff will have a smartphone, so should be able to take high quality images. Even better, they could even create video content. I work closely with a company called Brightest Bulb who train staff within organisations to shoot, then edit and ultimately create amazing videos …. using their own smartphones. How brilliant is that?!
The final source is customer or user generated content, known as UGC. @mentions, posts on Facebook Pages, testimonials, selfies, video case studies, comments on LinkedIn updates all count as content.
The trick is to encourage this wherever possible. Whilst it mostly happens spontaneously, you can create the conditions where a customer will want to post.
As with everything in marketing, it's all about making the most of your resources, being innovative and taking a proactive stance on producing the kind of material that people will be interested in.
So next time someone moans about having nothing to post or you are struggling to keep your online profiles fresh, cast your net a little wider and be creative!
If you would like to know how to build a proper content reservoir then get in touch with me via david@dnasix.com