The Type of Content That Never Gets Old

I wish that one day we will move along and stop questioning about the type of content to use, quality or quantity.

I don’t know how are you but I get sick every time I hear or read about this topic. More than that, there are the specialists who are talking over and over again about the 2Q (quantity and quality) content and then they go deeper into the text, visual, format and other details.

But why we, as marketers, are talking about this topic when we already know the answer? Wait, what? Exactly. I bet you already know the answer to this question but you just love to hear a debate from a SEO perspective or from a creative one.

The answer is right in front of us and this type of content never gets old. More of that, this type of content was, is and will always be the trend for every marketer.

And I’m not talking about video marketing, live marketing, snapchat or instagram stories, infographics or .Gifs.

I’m talking about the content that your community will consume every time you put it out there for them.

So what type of content is this?

The one that your audience will care about. The one that your community is taking their time to read, watch or hear. It’s the type of content that they need and want.

This is the content in the intersection between the needs and desires of your community.

Because there is a reason when a community wants a type of content and there is another reason when the community needs a type of content. They know what they want, so you need to create and give it to them.

But there are moments when they don’t know what they need, so you, as a brand, need to create that type of content so they can consume for their benefits.

But there is a catch: what if the type of content they need they are unaware that they need it but they are not willing to consume? Then you, my friend, might have some problems.

This can be a mother-child situation, the mother knows when the child needs to eat vegetables and other healthy food, but the child only wants to eat candy. So the mother will give the child vegetables but there are the happy moments when the child can eat his candy, only when the mother will allow it.

Maybe this is an extreme example, but I want you to understand what responsibility you have as a content marketer when you are about to create content for your community.

But how do you know what is the intersection between needs and desires in content marketing?

There are 3 steps you should take to get the results:

1. Talk to your community – this is the best you can do for them. Talk to them. Even if you are a SaaS company, a small shop on your street or a blogger. Even if you have a small community or a big community. Ask them about their lifestyle, about their habits, hobbies and other stuff that will help you understand better their behavior. Talking to your community is maybe the best strategy you can do for your content marketing. How do you talk to your community? You can use social media, you can call them or send them personalized emails. You don’t have to talk to everybody in one single day. Just take 30 minutes every day and see how many calls you can make, or how many emails you can send (I recommend you to stay away from the automation email – it’s better to write it with your own hand, because they will know how much you care about them).

2. Research – start a research on your market. Who is your competition? What is the competition doing? How they are doing it? How they react to the community? How to get closer to your community? The core of the research is to start with the question that will give you the answer you want. As a marketer, I believe that you need to be in a constant research mode.

3. Test and Experiment – there is no secret recipe you can do today and that will work tomorrow. The world is changing so fast (and sometimes so furious) that you need to test and experiment to see whether a strategy is working for you or not. The smart marketers not only work smart, but they are also experimenting new channels, new platforms and new ideas. In this case, you will know what is working and what is not.

Creating the content is the easiest part in content marketing, but the hardest is to know what to create for them and then how/where/when to publish it so they can see and reach it.

Don’t forget that the best type of content is not about the quality or the quantity, it’s about the one that your audience will consume.

And when your community is happy, your brand is happy!