Modern Marketing University: Freshening up your content is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
Grab your notebook!
For millions of children, teens, and twenty-somethings across the country, a new school year is fast approaching. New classes, new books, new teachers, and new possibilities beckon. It’s also a fresh start, a chance to reinvigorate their minds, reevaluate their old routines, and establish new goals for the year ahead.
At EMM, we’re taking that as an inspiration in both our internal marketing and in the way we approach client projects:
What’s a new way to look at this campaign?
How can we freshen up this month’s social calendar?
Is there a different way we can show a prospect or client value in this asset?
A big part of effective marketing strategy is always being willing to reevaluate things. Even when campaigns are performing adequately, emails are getting opened, and social ads are getting clicked, there’s never a wrong time to take stock of your current strategy and brainstorm ways to liven things up. And a bonus? It’s easier than you think.
So, in the Back-to-School spirit, we’re here to help freshen up your marketing routine with a concise, simple marketing lesson plan. Class is now in session. 🧑🏫
Fresh Marketing 101: Looking at things in new ways
It’s no secret to my coworkers (or literally anyone who has spent more than 10 minutes talking with me) that I am a movie buff. I am constantly on the lookout for new cinematic experiences, both new and old. To me, the best movies are the ones that make me look at things in a new way, or see the world differently.
I take this approach with me in my everyday life and in my work as a copywriter. In our team’s current engagement with The Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, for example, we are working with their team to look at current marketing content from a new vantage point.
That means looking at things the way their target audiences would:
“Parents know we offer athletic activities, but do they know we have over 50 unique programs for things like painting, photography, and 3D printing?”
“Our youth football program is great, but how should we talk about its value to Club alumni vs volunteers?”
Sometimes, a simple tweak in your perspective, or putting yourself in the shoes of a different target audience, is exactly what you need to revive your content approach.
(And as a quick Back-to-School side note: if you’re a horror or thriller fan, I definitely recommend the new film Weapons).
Social Media 202: Showing the why
We do frequent re-evaluations of our internal marketing efforts. Our logic: As trends and projects change, so too should our approach to our own content.
This is probably most prominent in our social media posts. We recently held a team-wide brainstorm to come up with new ways to approach social. The goal? Showcase the specific client value a project or marketing asset has to our clients and prospects. Don’t just recap our latest Thought Leadership campaign or email series for Microsoft, show why it was valuable.
This strategic shift gives us a new perspective on every post, and a fresh way to approach our social calendars each month.
So, when it comes to your social media posts, why not give it a try? Go to your LinkedIn page right now and look at one of your most recent posts. Now, ask yourself:
What was the goal of this post?
How are people expected to interact with it?
What value is our audience getting from it?
Now, rewrite this post from a new perspective, with the goal of providing unique value to a different segment of your audience. Voila! Once that’s written, you have a post for next month’s social calendar.
Content Marketing 304: Infusing value across assets
Speaking of adding value to client projects, let’s go beyond social channels. While we’re looking at your content from new angles, let’s explore other assets: Your videos, eBooks, blogs, infographics, etc.
While this is a more extensive undertaking than reconfiguring a social post, it’s still a simple matter of looking at something in a fresh way.
Since I’m writing one, let’s look at blogs as an example. The next time you or your team is going to write a blog, take a step back before you start typing. Think about who you want to read it, and what interests them. In other words, what does your target audience want to read? How can you add value to their life by creating this content?
Doing this work ahead of time, before kicking off a project, can pay off in dividends. Ask these simple questions to elevate your content from the get-go:
“Is this content merely informing someone about a product or service that I offer?”
“Will this content spark my target audience’s interest?”
“What tangible benefit am I providing to my audience?”
Let’s start a group project!
Are you ready to rethink your content strategy, or simply looking for a fresh perspective before kicking off your next campaign? Let’s hop on a quick call and talk things through! Contact matt@emminc.com to get started.
Matt Erspamer
Senior Copywriter