Content marketing involves the creation of relevant, valuable, impactful content which creates a connection with your target audience, establishing the foundation of interest in your brand in order to facilitate sales of your product or services.

Online content comes in a variety of formats and categories as follows:

• Written content is created as eBooks to blogs through to social media platforms and articles
• Visual content is in the form of videos, vlogs, images and visual stories such as on Snapchat and Instagram.
• Audio content is in the form of a podcast or a webinar (without visuals).

Create impactful content

We take a look at 7 key elements which are needed to create impactful content:

1 – Entertaining

Entertainment is a great way of conveying a message or providing information while adding a light-hearted, fun element to the experience.  Entertaining content can be created using stories, incorporating topical information, using an upbeat tone or even telling a joke.

Best of all entertaining content makes your audience engage further with your brand and platform and also promotes sharing which in turn means more exposure for your content and your brand.

3 – Current

Content needs to be topical, either in keeping with current trends or (one step better), setting the current trend.  This can be achieved by providing information from a brand perspective which provides further insights on a particular topic.

3 – Unique

Originality is key.  As search engines list all topics relating to a particular search subject, your content needs to stand out.  One way to do that is to present information in a unique or different way.  This may be by including interesting visuals, using design elements to enhance the presentation of the content or perhaps introducing new ideas or facts about your subject.

4 – Meaningful

Think about for whom you are writing – that is the first step in creating content which is meaningful.  What you create needs to resonate with your audience in terms of what really matters to them.  This means that you must be authentic and sincere, providing content which impacts on your audience’s lives, making them experience emotion in relation to your content.  Your audience’s response may be happy, sad, angry…. Or anything else.  The idea here is to make meaning by making your audience feel and in return they will respond to your brand and take action.

5 – Valuable

Valuable content adds to your audience’s current body of knowledge or has the potential to enhance their lives in some way.  This content may be in the form of a solution to their particular challenges or it may add to their quality of life in some way.

Either way, this sets up your brand as an authority, providing content which is treasured because of its positive impact.

6 – Relatable

In a way, the word ‘relatable’ draws on many of the qualities already listed above.  You want your content to resonate with your audience.  This means that it must have meaning and be valuable to your audience.

Your brand needs to be relevant to your audience, making sense in terms of their needs and their lifestyle.  Relatable content is in sync with your audience’s psyche, understanding your audience from many different perspectives – physically, emotionally and intellectually.

7 – Format

There are many choices in the way in which content can be presented.  While your choice of format depends on your brand, it is important to consider the needs and preferences of your audience.  Factors such as age, education, interests and more, all impact on the medium used for your content.

Combining all or some of these points will help you create content which encourages audience interaction and sets in motion the sales of your product or services.  At the end of the day content is a powerful tool.  Used appropriately, you can make a difference in your audience’s’ lives, providing solutions to their challenges or enhancing their life experiences.  In return, your audience begins to trust your brand so that a win-win relationship is established where valuable content is exchanged for brand loyalty.