Not sure you have the time to come up with effective video? You’re not alone: according a survey by Wyzowl, when businesses that don’t use video were asked why, 30% cited lack of time as their number one reason. But those who use video marketing have found an impressive return-on-investment, with 87% of respondents in the same Wyzowl survey having seen an increase in sales, and 90% or more of respondents saying that it has increased consumer understanding of their product or service, increased brand awareness, increased traffic, and helped to generate leads. And customers are fans – 89% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service after watching a video, and 91% of people say they want to see more brand video content in 2023, the above Wyzowl survey finds.

Today any small business with a smartphone can shoot a good, low-budget video to use online. But like any successful marketing content, your videos will have the most impact if you think strategically about the content and the execution. Here are a few key areas to consider as you develop and shoot your videos.

Know Your Audience

Before drafting a script for your videos, consult your customer personas (or generate them if you haven’t already!) to make sure you have a firm grasp of who your target audience includes. Consider what kind of content they would be most interested in and determine on which platforms – including social media apps and sites and even email – they would be most likely to encounter your video and even share it with their network.

Create Video Content Intentionally

When picking a topic and direction for your video, be sure to have a clear understanding of your intentions. Clear intentions will help you produce videos that drive sales.

• Reviews and testimonials allow you to build brand loyalty and trust with existing customers and increase brand awareness among potential new customers while staying authentic.
• Company history and behind-the-scenes content can deepen your relationship with customers and cultivate trust in your brand.
• Demos and reviews can provide customers with key product or service information to aid them in understanding what your e-commerce business can offer them.
• Comment and sharing engagement on key social media sites can extend and advance relationships between your brand and customers.

Optimize Videos for Platform and Search Engines

Gone are the days of slick, high-budget videos – at least on social media. But your video content should still be appropriate for the platform and catch and hold viewers’ attention while they’re scrolling. Your ads should intrigue viewers, not annoy them. Once you’ve developed your concept, a few steps can improve your ranking on YouTube and other services and make sure potential customers will find your video.

• Create compelling thumbnails and video titles that are at least five words long to catch potential viewers’ attention.
• Choose a target keyword – a topic, question, or highly specific keyword – and work it into the video’s title and the script of your video naturally.
• Use cards and end screens that tie into your video’s topic and offer viewers an opportunity to further engage with your video.
• Add hashtags to your metadata that signal the video’s topics and scope.
• Encourage viewers to comment and subscribe, and answer the comments you receive on your videos.
• Add tags to your video, including your target keyword, a few variations on that word, and words that highlight other topics included in your video.

Work with NetElixir

NetElixir’s experts are here to help you design a strategy for success for your e-commerce business. We’ll work with you to write video scripts that showcase your business and converts new and existing customers from viewers to buyers. We also offer video editing services that will take your content to the next level. Contact us today to find out more about what we can do for you.

Additional Resources:

• NetElixir’s Insights and Trends for 2023
• The 2023 E-Commerce SEO Strategy: How To Stay On Top Of The Search Engines
• What’s Trending? The Importance of Trend Research in Your Marketing Strategy

The post Why Video Content is Important For Your Marketing Strategy appeared first on NetElixir.

Whether you’re trying to sell your product or services, or you’re seeking to stay up to date on the best platform or channel to reach high-value customers, being late to a trend can mean losing business to your competitors—or spending a lot of time and money, only to miss the trend completely. Working with a team of trend researchers who know how to spot trends and respond to them in an e-commerce capacity is key to the success of your digital marketing strategy. 

Trends are Changing Faster than Ever

Whether we’re talking about fast fashion or social media crazes, trend cycles are accelerating. By the time you’ve realized the “coastal grandma” summer trend is transitioning into “prep school chic” for the fall, as we at NetElixir describe in our new e-book on trend research, and updated your stock and content accordingly, consumers may have already moved on to a cozier look for the winter holidays. 

If you’ve previously tracked trends in-house, this may be your cue that it’s time to work with external researchers who are focused on understanding and predicting trends. Outsourcing this analysis to the experts will leave you with more resources to focus on how to create a trend-proof digital strategy for your business, one that is flexible enough to keep up with developments but also sturdy enough to carry your business through as trends come and go. 

Keeping Your Business on Trend

Having up-to-date knowledge of trends will allow your business to react and adjust your strategy to meet the needs of your customers. The trends may change, but your response should focus on key actions to take advantage of them. 

Stock products and offer services that match trends.

Does a new trend fit well with your existing brand? Will it be easy to add new offerings or adapt existing ones? Start ordering stock and developing services as soon as possible to maximize returns on the interest and avoid supply chain issues. Make sure to refresh your content and SEO so customers know to turn to your brand for relevant trends.

Stay on top of emerging platforms and how customers engage with them.

Has your target customer base adopted a new platform recently (hello, growing TikTok user base!) or shifted to buying products straight through their favorite social media app? Don’t miss out on reaching potential customers or converting their interest into sales. 

Develop content and strategy curated to perform well on new platforms and channels.

Not every piece of content you create as part of your digital marketing strategy will be appropriate for all channels. Tailor your content so it fits the parameters and tone of the channel you’re sharing it on—and monitor algorithm shifts to make sure you’re reaching your audience.

Focus on trends that appeal to YOUR current high-value customers or have the opportunity to grow your customer base.

Some trends are meant to pass your business by because they don’t fit with your brand or they don’t appeal to your customers. Don’t advertise through a new channel if your products or services won’t be interesting to the channel’s audience, and don’t offer a product or service just because it’s trending—stay authentic to your brand.

How NetElixir Can Help

You’re the expert when it comes to your business, and NetElixir’s team of expert trend researchers is here to help you decide which trends are suitable for your brand. Our industry and client trend research allows us to be nimble and help you capitalize on short-term trends while creating long-term SEO and brand impact.

We’ll help you spot significant trends while they’re developing and evaluate how to adapt your digital marketing strategy to capture the wave of interest. From content creation and SEO to analytics, NetElixir is here to help you develop or adapt your digital marketing strategy so your e-commerce business is ready to be a trendsetter and reap the rewards of staying current. 

Additional Trending Resources:

• NetElixir’s Complete Guide To The 2022 Holiday Season
• Tricks, Treats, and Trends: Getting in the Halloween Spirit
• How to Optimize Your Website With The Latest Digital Marketing Trends

The post What’s Trending? The Importance of Trend Research in Your Marketing Strategy appeared first on NetElixir.

Google’s most recent update, dubbed the Helpful Content Update, significantly impacts search engine results and how marketers approach website content. 

This update, which officially rolled out mid-September, aligns with Google’s pursuit to help “people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results.” In short, they are seeking to reduce or fix content that seems to be unsatisfying or unhelpful. Google is clearly deprioritizing content that it is written for search engines first and not to serve the end user. 

Five Tips To Ensure You’re Creating People-First Content

1. The Author Should Have First-Hand Expertise And In-Depth Knowledge. 

Google doesn’t want you to create content on something that authority to talk about. The author should strive to contribute something authentic and valuable, rather than purely summarizing what others have already discussed.

2. Ensure Your Site Is Focused. 

You don’t want to confuse users (and, by extension, search engines) by writing on every topic to reach as many people as possible. Don’t write about trending topics only to get visibility; consider how each trend fits with your specific brand values, products, and voice. 

3. Visitors Should Learn Something.

Are you writing to a particular word count because you heard that Google has a particular word count preference? (No, it doesn’t.) Your content should instead resolve questions that brought the user to your site or help your visitor accomplish a task. Ask yourself why your user landed on your website in the first place. Sharing helpful content (and strategically plugging products or services where relevant) will help users decide if they want to engage with your brand, purchase products and more.

4. Make Sure To Follow Google’s Guidelines For Major Updates. 

If you are already following Google’s advice for core updates and product review pages, then chances are that you already benefit from the helpful content update! Staying up-to-date with Google’s updates will ensure you are already following best practices to help your website rank well.

5. Don’t Use AI Auto-Generated Content.

Auto-generated content created using AI content creation tools is unhelpful because most of the content is rephrased versions of text that are already present on the web. Plus, it can often read like a robot wrote it. Users connect better with content that is authentic, transparent, leverages the author’s own style, and reflects the brand voice.

How Long Does It Take A Site To Recover?

If the algorithm update hit your site, it may take some time to earn back the trust of Google. The best way to reclaim your ranking is to stay committed to creating content for people first, rather than search engines.

This algorithm update specifically aims to target pages that adds very little value or is helpful to the user at all. This update should create a better experience for people on the web, as well as content creators. Google’s results will reward high-quality content that was written by humans with a motive to solve a problem or help people. 

Key Takeaways:

When implementing a content or SEO strategy for your website, remember to:

• Write content for people, not search engines
• Deliver satisfying experiences
• Remove unhelpful content
• Focus on your audience
• Answer your users’ questions

If you have been following the best practices when it comes to writing people-first content, then keep up the great work! 

If you need help rethinking your content strategy, NetElixir’s award-winning content department uses empathy, technology, and a little magic to help brands connect with both new audiences and loyal shoppers. 

Further Reading

• Recent Changes In Google Search Console
• How To Optimize Your Website With The Latest Digital Marketing Trends
• The Power Of Short-Form Content On TikTok

The post Google’s Helpful Content Update: A Recap for Content Creators appeared first on NetElixir.

The advent and unprecedented success of TikTok has forced leading social media companies to adapt their ways of doing business. Facebook launched its competing product called Instagram Reels a few years later in 2020 and shifted its focus away from image- and text-based posts toward videos. And YouTube, the previous powerhouse of traditional long-form videos, launched its own competing product called YouTube shorts. The full release of YouTube Shorts was in 2021. With more major platforms releasing their own short content, it is safe to say that the future is in short-from content. Brands and advertisers need to make it a part of their strategy. 

Short-Form Content In Advertising

With the advent of new social media platforms such as TikTok and Reels, there are many more options to promote content and advertise a brand. On both platforms, brands can partner with individual creators to advertise their products directly. On TikTok, there is also an option for brands to use that specific video as an advertisement and showcase it to people. There are also options for brands to create different hashtags and the ability for them to boost videos with that hashtag on the TikTok platform directly. On Instagram Reels, there is also an option for advertisers to link their products within the video so that users can click on it and purchase the product directly from the Instagram store. For example, if I like what shoes someone is wearing in a reel, I can click on them and buy them instantly within the app. This convenience draws users to online shopping and enhances social commerce as a viable e-commerce option.

How Brands Can Leverage Short-Form Content

In 2021, Apple’s iOS 14 updates made it harder for social media companies to track its users across other apps and websites, affecting paid social performance. Short-form content created a new opportunity for brands to leverage more organic promotions to better connect with their audiences. 

Brands can now create corporate accounts on TikTok, which operate on a much smaller and more personal scale to create a better-curated experience. A great example of this would be Duolingo on TikTok: they have a limited advertising budget and strategy, preferring instead to use their mascot to create outlandish and personal content. The mascot is an owl who frequently “simps” for Dua Lipa and has maniacal tendencies that helped the account gain millions of followers, hundreds of millions of views, and a brand that these new data restrictions won’t negatively impact. Our Gen Z experts dove deeper into the power of Duolingo and other TikTok stars in our Marketer’s Guide To Gen Z webinar.

On platforms with short-form content, data is mostly retrieved by a user’s watching habits and the content they react with, diminishing the demand for data from outside the app. This helps brands to garner natural attention and organic interactions with their audience and connect with them on an individual, personal basis.

How does one get started? Well, it’s really easy. You just pull out your phone, download TikTok from the App Store or Google Play store, create an account for your business, press the create button, use a popular audio or filter, and share! The key to TikTok is remaining authentic and showing off your human side. Don’t be afraid to use humor and personality to help people get to know you.

Short-form content exemplified by TikTok is a great way to share your brand story, your company culture, new products, and more in a relatable, authentic, and transparent way. Brands have a tremendous opportunity to build deeper relationships with their customers by engaging with them in the forms of content shoppers use most often. 

Further Reading

• Your Social Strategy For The Cookieless Future
• How To Be Authentic In Your Social Media Strategy
• Forget ‘Content Is King’ — Content Is Actually Queen

The post The Power of Short-Form Content On TikTok appeared first on NetElixir.

Today, shoppers want brands that help make the world a better place, not just improve their consumers’ lives. According to Edelman’s Brand Trust survey in 2020, 85% of respondents want brands to solve their problems, while a comparable 80% want brands to solve society’s problems.

As a result, brand trust has gotten more important. Edelman’s 2021 Trust Barometer Special Report found that brand trust is even more important than brand love when it comes to deciding which brand to use.

Brands can no longer rest on the laurels of being long-beloved or well-regarded. 

Consumers are asking for more: honesty and trustworthiness.

In 2021, trust is what drives growth. Per the same Edelman special report, shoppers who fully trust brands are more likely to advocate for and purchase from them. In fact, highly-trusted brands are seven times more likely to be purchased.

Brand trust is key for building a strong base of loyal customers. But how do brands build trust? By being authentic, transparent, and leading with their values.

Being Authentic As a Brand

The most important element to building trust is being authentic. “More than just large donations or empty platitudes, consumers want to see that brands actually care … And what’s more — consumers and prospective employees will hold them accountable like never before,” says Jason Mander, Chief Research Officer at GWI.

This is especially true during major social happenings, like the Black Lives Matter movement, or dedicated months, like Pride Month. Brands flock to show their support, but many don’t do anything to promote lasting change.

During the Black Lives Matter marches, brands showed their support for the movement with social media posts and advertising, but they were urged to do more. Sharon Chuter called out Nike in an Instagram post, saying, “We need to see those receipts. We love your campaigns but we need to know how many Black people you employ at a corporate level and executive level. Our culture has fed your brand. Show us how you feed us.”

Sharon, the founder of Uomo Beauty, also challenged fellow beauty brands to share the number of Black employees in corporate roles. A haircare brand, amika, not only shared their numbers but also announced a commitment to change with concrete go-forward actions. Consumers recognized the value of amika’s statement combined with action, as shown in this Instagram comment from @theblendedbeauty: “What I like here is that you were transparent but most importantly you’re willing to do the internal work. Which is more important than [sic] posting a black square.”

Leading With Brand Values

Being authentic and transparent naturally leads to being committed to positive causes and showcasing your brand values. 2021 is the year of “we,” and consumers want brands to use their power to bring results.

Shoppers will support brands that commit to change and give them the opportunity to believe in what they buy. According to Edelman, 86% of people expect brands to take one or more actions beyond their product and business, including giving money to good causes, addressing societal challenges, supporting local communities, and displaying representative images.

The CMO of Chipotle, Chris Brandt, has taken to emphasizing the brand’s purpose and values. Under his leadership, the brand launched its first tagline, “For Real,” to showcase its real ingredients that are farmed sustainably.

Brands should show that they not only understand social responsibility but also lead by example. Shoppers trust brands that live their values, from sustainability and fair trade to supporting relevant causes.

Building Brand Trust Through Content

Since authenticity and brand values are key to building trust, use branded content to showcase what you’re doing as a brand. Write blogs and thought pieces sharing your brand values. Make statements during world events — and be sure to stand by what you say. In advertising, highlight cornerstones of your brand, like “100% recyclable” or “cruelty-free” or “made in the USA,” that show consumers how you live your values.

As Katie Thomas at the Kearney Consumer Institute says, “Showcase core trust elements with thoughtful messaging. Build the foundation with consumers by identifying the right message, messenger, and platform. Invest in messaging and campaigns focused on honesty and consistency.”

By representing your brand and its values transparently in all messaging, you make yourself trustworthy. By acting responsibly within today’s world, you build this trust. “Trust grows from the foundation of honesty and credibility,” says Katie Thomas — so start there. Trust sells.

Further Reading

Contact NetElixir to see how we can help you structure your content strategy to authentically tell your brand’s story.

• Using Data to Guide Your Content
• Repeat Customer Prediction
• Insights Into the DTC E-Commerce Explosion

The post The Importance Of Authenticity & Values For Brand Trust appeared first on NetElixir.

Recent research shows that consumers want brands to help solve their problems. Additionally, long-term customers tend to describe their favorite brands with words like love, happiness, and adore. Brands are leveraging this push for an emotional connection — and successful ones are doing it without pandering. Many of the ads from this Super Bowl™ included hopeful and uplifting messages, while others showed off their brand’s helpful side.

Super Bowl™ Ads That Connected To The Right Customers Using Emotions

Both Chipotle and Toyota shared messages of hope for the future and the strength in all of us. Michelob Ultra highlighted the joy that comes from everyday living, and that happiness drives success. Even funny ads, like the one for Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade, were able to make viewers feel like the brand understood how its consumers felt in 2020 and make light of the situation — while still recognizing the hard times. Bud Light even connected this ad to internet conversations by bringing the ‘Dude with Sign’ to the game to further promote the ad and connect with their audience.

Other brands chose to illustrate how they help their customers. Hellman’s gave out recipe ideas for leftovers, TurboTax showed off their expertise for your personal tax situation, and Carmax guarantees you’ll love your new car with a 24-hour test drive and 30 day return policy. All three of these brands showed that they understand their customers’ problems and can personally solve them.

Super Bowl™ Ads Which Missed The Mark

On the flip side, many Super Bowl ads fell a little short of a clear emotional connection or discussion of values without controversy. M&Ms proposed that mansplaining, gender reveals gone wrong, and more could all be apologized for with a pack of their candy. In 2020, 8,600 acres of land were burned during a massive wildfire started in California from a gender reveal party which went very wrong — sadly one of only many tragic outcomes from similar events. Cure Auto Insurance went with an extended “Whip It Out” ‘joke,’ an at best tone-deaf and at worst offensive ad given ongoing #MeToo conversations. 

On the less offensive, but also not-quite-effective, side of Super Bowl™ ads were spots from Stella Artois and E*TRADE. Stella partnered with Lenny Kravitz to suggest that we are all billionaires due to the number of heartbeats we have. While emotional, for many who have lost loved ones this year or who are struggling with unemployment/financial hardship, the emotions provoked were surely not positive ones. The marketers at E*TRADE seemed aware that many folks have fallen ‘out of shape’ recently, and decided to remind everyone that physical health aside, you can at least have financial health. While frankly a somewhat cute ad, their team missed a chance to create strong positive and value-driven emotions for their brand.

Super Bowl™ Ads That Focused On Conversations 

Oatly oat milk deserves a hat tip for a well-executed plan. Their team was prepared with a successful ad, albeit a strange one. While we are not sure their jingle was all that impactful, we appreciate that they sparked so much conversation so fast. Love this ad or hate it, everyone is still talking about it!

Tide’s ad featured a Jason Alexander hoodie. While nostalgic, the ad seemed to resonate with one target demographic only. For a certain set of people, this sparked instant nostalgia-driven conversations. Millennial and younger audiences may know who Alexander is, but would not feel any positive connection to this spot. Given the cost and reach of a Super Bowl™ ad, Tide could have chosen a spot with a more mass-audience appeal. 

Strong Advertising Provokes Positive Emotions

As we have seen in this year’s Super Bowl™ ads, emotion is particularly critical to successful ads. Brands need to consider their intended audience, how they want to be addressed, and their values. Additionally, brands need to clearly communicate their own values. Advertisers should show empathy, focus on driving positive conversation, and connect with shoppers when it counts. 

About NetElixir

NetElixir is a digital marketing agency that empowers e-commerce growth through empathy, insights, and innovation. We offer complete growth solutions tailored to the needs of e-commerce businesses of all sizes. Our cutting-edge customer journey mapping technology gives brands the power to reach the right shoppers in the moments that matter. We approach content marketing following a proprietary process that considers brand voice/values, intended audience, how to best tell your story, and ongoing testing.

The post Emotions in Super Bowl Ads appeared first on NetElixir.

1. Strong, well-developed, and differentiated content is a key component of any digital marketing strategy — Content Is Queen. Content should follow NetElixir’s V.A.S.T. approach: consider brand voice, target your intended audience, tell a story, and test!
2. Emotions and values are critical for brands. However, don’t pander. Need a recap? Check out our last Content Is Queen newsletter. 
3. E-commerce is more important than ever. There are estimates of about five years of e-commerce growth in one year!

2021 content should build on the lessons learned last year:

1. Speak directly to consumers. Content should be a conversation and used in multiple places. For example, your business should have a blog — each blog should be shared on social media and via email as part of a conversation. 
2. Think beyond the keyword for content. Don’t just write for SEO; use that content creatively across other channels. Can it be made into a quick TikTok? Shared on social? 
3. Brands should continue to highlight and express their values. Listen to what matters to your audience. As customers deal with uncertainty in their daily lives, it becomes even more necessary to focus on values like integrity and transparency. Shoppers in 2021 also will shop based on environmentalism, social justice, and more. 
4. Ask how your brand can help. Beyond expressing brand values, remember that shoppers had a tough year too! In your content, highlight offers like free shipping, free trials, easy returns, BOPIS, and large discounts and sales, which are all sure to be well received this year. 

As e-commerce continues to grow, content will keep playing an important role across all channels. Please reach out to our team at info@netelixir.com if you would like a quick meeting to discuss your 2021 content strategy.

The post Content Remains Queen As E-Commerce Grows For 2021 appeared first on NetElixir.

Develop Your Brand’s Personality

A blog gives you the chance to show off your brand’s personality in ways you might not otherwise be able to. The Content Marketing Institute says that the best way to hone your voice is to define it in three words. Whether your tone is “friendly, casual, and helpful,” or “business-like, succinct, and straightforward,” find three words that best describe your brand and use them as you create content. Developing and using a specific tone will make your brand feel more personable and approachable. 

Build Trust And Expertise

Blogs demonstrate expertise and build trust with customers — both key to driving online sales. By advising shoppers about ways to use your products and producing thoughtful and reputable content, both of these needs are met. Studies have shown that the majority of US shoppers have purchased a product based on a blog recommendation. Use your blog to make those recommendations and capitalize on this trend.

Highlight Key Products

According to Think With Google 2019, 49% of users say they use Google to discover or find a new item or product. By highlighting your products in a blog, they will be more easily searchable for these users. Blogs show off products in an easily digestible format, as opposed to simply browsing product listings. Product highlight blogs are a great way to feature your best-sellers, spotlight high-margin products, and get users to notice products you need to move. 

Capitalize On Trends

Blogging regularly gives your business a way to capitalize on current trends. You must be nimble and react quickly, but the result will be a hyper-relevant blog that can drive traffic. You can also take advantage of monthly or annual trends with timely blogs. For example, if your company sells bathing suits, you know interest grows as summer approaches. You can plan a blog post for Memorial Day Weekend with your top swimsuit picks for that year. 

Build SEO Organically

Blogging leads to more text on your website, which means more chance of matching searchers’ keywords and leading more users to your site. Blogging about a product effectively doubles your search value. According to research by HubSpot, blogging leads to 55% more visitors than companies without blogs.

In addition, blogs help you capitalize on informational queries on search engines, such as “best high heels” or “what to wear with skinny jeans.” They also help build internal and external links, which are key for SEO. If you create strong content with your blog, others are likely to share it and link to it, generating organic and valuable backlinks.

Develop Long-Tail Content Whose Value Lasts For Years

Search engine ranking takes a long time to develop. In fact, most top-ranked pages are over two years old. Creating evergreen blogging content that will remain relevant for years to come gives your page more time to build backlinks and develop authority. A blog created now will only generate more value as it ages!

It is, however, important to keep your blogs up to date. If your blog includes statistics, prices, or other variables, verify and update them regularly. Updated and optimized blogs also boost your SEO. Hubspot studied the return on their optimized versions of older blog posts and saw organic traffic to these posts more than double.

Need Blogging Services?

Looking to add a blog but don’t have the time or expertise? Most businesses outsource their blogging services. As a leading online content provider, NetElixir can help you create blogs that will work for your business and drive visitors to your site. Reach out to content@netelixir.com to learn more.

The post 6 Reasons To Have A Blog For Your Business appeared first on NetElixir.

Queens Are The Key To Any Strategy

In chess, queens are the key to any strategy. They are often described as the most powerful piece with the ability to move in any direction. Players must use their queens smartly and nimbly to achieve a winning strategy.

In digital marketing, content is queen. Content is a key component of any channel’s paid or organic strategy. The digital marketing team must react smartly and nimbly to create the best content for brands that will stand out among all the other media out there. Without content, as without a queen in chess, your game is sunk!

Creating a good chess strategy requires intelligent use of your queen. You shouldn’t just move the piece around without forethought and study of the board. In digital marketing, before implementing a plan, we have to fully understand the client’s brand and determine the best ways to use content.

Studying The Board With The VAST Methodology

In order to “study the board,” the NetElixir Content Team uses the VAST methodology to determine the best path forward. V stands for voice and brand knowledge. We analyze each client’s voice and tone used on their website and social media. If they don’t have any content yet, we work with the client to understand their brand and how they want to represent themselves. Are they casual and fun, like a close friend, or are they business-like and serious, providing no-nonsense facts and information?

A stands for audience understanding and development. We have to understand who we’re speaking to in each brand’s voice. We analyze all the potential groups this brand could reach, including those that the client themselves might have missed. Who could possibly benefit from this product and how? These are the people we want to connect with.

S stands for storytelling. This is where we put voice and audience together and share content that expresses what the client wants to say and how they want to say it. Here, we also consider trending topics and tangential keywords to find new avenues for sharing the brand’s story.

Finally, T stands for testing. Any strategy needs to be tested in order to determine its success. Testing leads to insights about what methods work best for each client’s brand and what resonates with their audience. With these insights, we make revisions and adjustments to optimize results — and then we test again.

Once we’ve analyzed all of these factors, the content team is ready to make a move and create differentiated copy.

One Team With One Key Element

Ultimately, a digital marketing strategy is built of many different parts with different functions. Like on a chessboard, these disparate parts make up one team, and they all must be used together to succeed. Regardless of whether your strategy includes paid search, paid social media, or SEO, you need strong, well-developed content to implement it successfully. In chess, whether your strategy begins with a knight defense or sacrificing a pawn, your queen is likely to be the crux of your game. If you don’t use your queen enough or you take too many risks, your strategy is likely to fail. Similarly, if you don’t create and utilize your content strategically, you won’t be able to pull off a successful marketing strategy.

Content is queen.

The post Forget ‘Content Is King’ — Content Is Actually Queen appeared first on NetElixir.