Let’s get to content creation excellence. One of the biggest marketing challenges for today’s brands is getting content noticed by the people that matter. Aside from the fact that there is so much high-quality content to compete with, it is often difficult for businesses to find unique tones of voice and the right words to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
If this is you, and you need a hand producing and delivering valuable, relevant content, you’re in the right place. From understanding what success looks like to developing a tone of voice that truly resonates, read on to discover 5 actionable tips for content creation excellence.
Get to know your target audience
Whether you are an established brand or new to the market, it is always a worthwhile exercise to make sure your content strategy is aligned with the needs of your audience. Here are a few tips for getting to know your target audience.
- Analyse your customer base. Why do people buy from you and not your competitors?
- Develop customer/buyer personas. Not sure how? Check out our blog on 4 steps to creating an effective buyer persona.
- Conduct interviews with new and established customers.
- Carry out a competitor analysis. How are other brands presenting themselves, and what makes them appeal to their customers?
- Monitor your analytics. Google Analytics offers a wide range of insights about which content your audience is engaging with, how they are discovering you, and much more.
Define your tone of voice
An effective exercise for defining your brand tone of voice is to organise a workshop with your colleagues and/or agency. Here are some exercises to consider:
- Discuss your brand’s values and personality? What is its mission in the world? How does it treat people, and what are its hopes and dreams?
- If your business was a person, what characteristics or personality traits would it have?
- Assemble these points into a first-person style overview.
- Develop a style guide, including preferred terms, paragraph lengths, pacing, jargon and slang.
- Decide what you want to sound like. Try reading some of your content aloud, at the pace you feel is appropriate to your brand, and adjust your TOV accordingly.
Want to know more? Check out our free E-Book on developing a tone of voice for your brand.
Be authentic
Today’s customers can see straight through brands that aren’t authentic and original. When creating content, always focus on how your brand benefits your customers and what you do to help. Be honest, cut the jargon, and speak from the heart. You won’t win every potential customer over, but you will be credible, believable, and gain your audience’s trust.
Be consistent
Presenting your brand consistently goes hand-in-hand with the authenticity mentioned above. Every touchpoint your customer has with your business and its people must be recognisably you. The look and feel of brick-and-mortar stores (should you have them); your website’s customer journey; the way you manage your customer service; your product’s packaging – every brand experience should feel cohesive and unified.
Know your direction of travel
- Set and prioritise your content marketing goals (e.g, lead generation, increased web traffic, boosting brand awareness).
- Set benchmarks based on your brand’s progress and successes, as well as industry norms.
- Understand what success looks like. Set up analytics and listening tools and make sure you are tracking the metrics that matter.
- Create a plan for continuous improvement. Always be on the lookout for ways you can refine your content marketing strategy, understand your audience better, and boost your performance.
Achieving content creation excellence is a considerable challenge. But the rewards are 100% worth it. When you create and publish content that delivers real, tangible results – or hear first-hand from a customer that you made their lives better – it is a great feeling, not to mention elevating for your brand and business!
A big part of the process is keeping on top of content marketing trends. We spent the first quarter of 2022 speaking with content marketing experts about the trends they believe are shaping content creation. Interested in reading their insights and recommendations? Download the report today.
