In a few recent blogs, I’ve been hammering the fact that businesses need to start putting out ‘good content’ across their social media. However, I’ve not really been all too clear on exactly what makes your content ‘good’…
Content comes in two main forms – education and entertainment. When I refer to ‘good content’, I’m talking about something that has a reason to be consumed – it needs to provide VALUE! It’s difficult for businesses to align themselves with this approach when they are in ‘sales mode’, but in short, you should always give more than you ask for. This is known as ‘content marketing’. Your content should aim to build a dedicated audience, in turn creating and building your brand. Sales then become secondary, because the audience you create will have already ‘bought in’.
Here’s a few content strategies that I believe a lot of businesses should be considering:

1. Expert in the Field

Becoming an ‘expert in the field’ is the idea of producing informative content that highlights your specialist knowledge. This could be educational blog posts (like this one), how-to tutorials or even a series of reviews on relevant products in your industry. This gives a reason for people to come to you when they need information, advice or recommendations – when you play for the long-term, it means they are more likely to come to you when they enter the market.

A lot of businesses fail to see value in this because it doesn’t get them immediate sales. What they don’t realise is that people can easily get the information elsewhere.

The information is already out there for them to find, so what’s wrong with them getting it from you?

Produce content in a way that feels natural and authentic, but never be afraid to try something new. Many business owners or marketers shy away from the camera for example, but video content could be a massive opportunity in your field. Try and think of the audience and how THEY would most like to consume the content.

One of the best examples of this strategy is Gary Vaynerchuck’s ‘WineLibrary TV’, an online review series that launched in the early days of YouTube. Filming over 1,000 episodes, the show was a major factor in growing his family wine business from a $3M-$60M dollars in annual revenue

2. Content Creation

Now this is an interesting one – most businesses have the view that no matter what they post on social media, they are ‘creating content’. I beg to differ – sharing a link to your product page every day is not creating content. It’s barely even content. To me, ‘creating’ means capturing something that wouldn’t naturally exist; it is pre-planned and ‘staged’ or ‘set-up’. This strategy is easily-suited to the likes of filmmakers, musicians, influencers and personal brands, but you’ll see how any business can ‘create’ content.

One of the best examples is John Lewis. Their Christmas TV ad is one of the most-anticipated releases of the festive season. It’s normally a touching story that doesn’t directly ‘sell’. Instead, it builds brand. I think more businesses need to look at creating their ‘John Lewis’ ad. It’s just a simple piece of content that resonates with people in some way – and with social media allowing the easy route to consumer, the opportunity of going ‘viral’ has never been easier.

Here’s some great (real world) examples…

EG #1 // JOHN LEWIS: #ManOnTheMoon

This advert cost £1M just to produce! John Lewis then spent a further £6M on TV placement. Of all the John Lewis Christmas ads, this may be one of the most popular. For me, it was definitely the advert that defined this kind of content as John Lewis’ ‘Signature’ thing…

EG #2 // STUDIO YES – Recruitment campaign

Studio Yes show us it’s not all about big budgets, but creativity, and this has to be one of my favourites. It’s a very simple piece of content, and if you haven’t already seen it, you’ll soon see why it achieved instant viral status.

EG #3 // DAN BEASTALL – Love is a Gift

It seems the festive period brings out our creative side, and this short film is a prime example. One of the easiest ways for filmmakers to ‘create content’ is to simply do their job – go out and create videos and films that highlight their capabilities. Christmas of 2018 was all about Dan Beastall. He produced a short Christmas film that many said outdid John Lewis themselves. His video went viral across multiple social media pages in December, building himself huge brand awareness and as I’d assume, a tonne of work in the world of video! I genuinely believe we could expect to see his work on the big screens in a few short years – THAT’s how powerful this piece of content was.

3. Documenting

Documenting is probably one of the easiest strategies to execute. By simply documenting your work and process of your business, you could be both creating content and becoming the ‘expert in the field’ at the same time.

Something as simple as a regular vlog (video blog) would do the trick. It’s the easiest to create, and consume. Have a cameraman follow you around (or do it yourself) and capture all those great moment we don’t get to see. If you’re founding a business, don’t miss the opportunity to document things from the very first idea, right through to market launch!

Again, this can work for any business. People have the default excuse that their life is “not that exciting” – but the truth is, we crave reality. It’s why god-awful programmes like Big Brother and Love Island exist.

Let me give you an example: Most people would argue real estate/property isn’t all that exciting, yet we have so many TV shows out there of people dedicating their lives to it – buying some cheap homes, fixing them up and selling for more money. We have ‘Grand Designs’, ‘Location, Location, Location’, ‘A Place in the Sun’, and a load more programs that make for a great watch.

With this, you are essentially becoming the TV programme that people want to watch, and not the adverts we avoid in between. Publish regular episodes on your social media pages and with a bit of patience, you’ll begin to grow an audience that take some level of value. In the short-term, you basically have a business producing easy-to-watch content. In the long run, they are building their brand and customer relationships with potential clients/buyers. I really believe that the biggest downfall of businesses in any industry is their lack of patience. They need to think more long-term in their content strategies and work for the next decade, not just the month ahead.

This was a pretty lengthy blog but I hope it gave you some a level of value, and not just a headache from so many words on the screen! If you have any questions or want to see how I could help with a content strategy for your business, please do not hesitate to email – david@WinterMediaUK.com
Speak soon! 🙂