Today is a big day at Geben. I am very excited to introduce Amy Taylor (@nomeatballs) as the newest member of our team. As Geben grows, we’re continuing to play a larger role in our clients’ content marketing strategies. Content and PR (traditional and digital) are increasingly intertwined, so it only made sense that our next hire would be someone with a speciality in this area. With that, here’s a guest post from Amy. Happy reading!
It seems content is all the rage these days. Everywhere you turn, you’ll find people throwing around the phrase, “content is king.” But what does that even mean? For the purpose of this post, I’d like to ditch the royal metaphor and turn to something we can all understand: a party.
Imagine you have received an invitation to what promises to be the event of the season. You don your finest party clothes and head out in style, expectations high. Upon arrival, you discover that the party is a total dud. The playlist stinks. People are awkwardly standing around with nothing to do. The punch bowl is empty, and there isn’t a snack in sight. Worst of all, the hosts spend the entire evening working the room, talking about themselves. Surely this is NOT what you had in mind for your Friday night. You make a mental note then and there: the next time you receive an invite, you will politely decline.
A communication plan without a content strategy is the equivalent of hosting a really bad party. You can’t expect people to show up and listen to you talk about you. If you want people to engage with you, you have to give them something to care about, something to talk about and something to get behind. If you’re hoping to get people talking about you, you’ve got to take it one step further by giving them something worth sharing.
Enter content.
Content comes in many forms—from blog posts to Instagram photos, tweets to video clips. Some content is generated by brands, while other content is generated by brand ambassadors and fans. There is no one-size-fits-all content strategy. Brands must evaluate at their target audience and goals, then decide how to join the existing conversation or spark a new one. Regardless of industry, audience or goals, at least one universal truth remains when it comes to content marketing: if you don’t create content worth reading or sharing, people won’t visit your site and they won’t share your content.
Content is your brand’s story. It ignites, inspires and instigates. Content offers your brand fans, advocates and customers something valuable—whether that be a tidbit of knowledge, a glimpse behind the curtain or a reason to align with your brand. Content is the engine that drives conversation.
It’s time to step back and look at what you’re sharing with the world. What does your content say about your brand? What kind of story are you telling? What kind of conversations are you igniting? Who are you connecting with and what are they saying about you? Perhaps most importantly, if you received an invite to your own party, would you gladly accept…or politely decline?
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Want to learn how Geben can help your company develop and execute content marketing as an extension of your PR strategy? Email Heather: heather[at]gebencommunication.com.