![\"withapologiestodilbert\"](\"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/withapologiestodilbert.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe inconvenient truths of content marketing<\/h3>\n
There are some inconvenient truths that marketers need to face. We\u2019re in a war for relevance and attention. There is a growing content tsunami<\/strong> out there. Our main rivals in this war are not<\/strong> other companies. Our rivals \u2013 if we ignore them - are every interest<\/strong> and concern<\/strong> in people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n As marketers, we cannot hope to win that war, because we are outnumbered. The content tsunami will continue to rise forever. Our only hope to avoid getting drowned out is to tap into people\u2019s interests<\/strong> and concerns<\/strong> and to generate content that floats to the top because it has immediate relevance and value.<\/p>\n To help us maintain this focus, we have a simple model to help keep our content team aligned, and a rigorous process to put it into effect.<\/p>\n Get started today using a tried and tested step-by-step process to optimize your marketing.<\/p>Start Now<\/a><\/div> If the following model seems a bit simplistic, that\u2019s because it was intended to be simple. It\u2019s designed to help remedy a simple mistake that we often see even very smart marketers make \u2013 falling into the trap of selfie marketing. Sometimes, we also see the opposite problem, where marketers are creating (or curating) interesting content that doesn't drive any kind of commercial outcome.<\/p>\n This simple content marketing prioritization model helps content teams avoid both extremes, and create a balanced content mix:<\/p>\n What action would you like to drive that brings people closer to your brand? What is the series of actions you\u2019ll want to lead your user through?<\/p>\n What do you want people to know, think and feel about your brand? This is especially important for new brands, or for a brand refresh.<\/p>\n What are your target communities<\/strong> of interest communicating<\/strong> about? This is what people are talking about that is relevant to your brand, but which they\u2019d be talking about even if your brand didn\u2019t exist<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The ABC acronym helps our content teams to remember the priorities they need to balance, and we start our strategic planning<\/strong> with the action we want to help drive. (When it comes to content marketing prioritization<\/strong>, it sometimes helps to think in the order CBA [Comms, Brand, Action], to ensure that you tap into what your target communities are talking about).<\/p>\n Weighting for your content marketing prioritization<\/strong> We like to encourage client-side teams to decide what proportion of their content and engagement will be aimed at each priority. Of course, this percentage will vary at times, e.g. when we need to promote a special campaign or event that is aimed at driving a specific response.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s still important that project owners commit to a percentage weighting for each priority. Why? Because it helps to ensure that the content produced delivers comms value.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Remember to think well beyond your established brand community, because the Comms<\/strong> priority isn\u2019t a question of what you\u2019d most like to communicate \u2013 it\u2019s about tapping into what your target communities of interest are talking about. Take a step back and listen. What do people care about and talk about? What value could you provide them right away, without talking about your brand?<\/p>\n Example weighting:<\/p>\n How would this 40:40:20 weighting affect Facebook posting frequency if you were running an always-on content program that included 5 Facebook posts per week? (The visual below focuses on frequency \u2013 the actual timing and sequencing of posts is a separate question).<\/p>\n Showing how your content weighting affects your posting frequency is important if you want to achieve full team alignment. When you take this additional clarification step, you may find that project teams want to rethink the prioritization. It\u2019s important to have a full discussion and work it out thoroughly, otherwise you may find that your content mix, however inspired, isn\u2019t generating the results you hoped for.<\/p>\n Get started today using a tried and tested step-by-step process to optimize your marketing.<\/p>Start Now<\/a><\/div> What happens if you don't do content marketing prioritization? <\/strong><\/p>\n Actually, successful content marketers are probably intuitively doing some version of this already. But if you\u2019re not yet convinced of the need to smartly prioritize your content across ABC priorities, it may help to consider what happens if you put too much or too little emphasis on each of the priority areas:<\/p>\n That really depends. Finding the ideal weighting between the ABC priority pillars will depend on a range of factors, including whether your brand is new or well-established. If you\u2019re running a discount e-commerce business that is already well-known, you may put relatively more priority on Action<\/strong>, and put less priority on Brand<\/strong> and Comms<\/strong>. That may make sense for a company that issues regular offers that are well-received. But it would make less sense for a brand that isn\u2019t yet well-known.<\/p>\n How the ABC of content marketing plays out across platforms<\/strong><\/p>\n Certain platforms lend themselves more to Comms content, while others are more suited to building an understanding of your Brand proposition, and others may be best suited to driving Action.\u00a0 However, the first step is to decide on the ABC priority ratio for your overall content mix.<\/p>\n ABC planning is not a once-off exercise<\/strong><\/p>\n Experience has taught us that the above is fairly simple to understand, and that it\u2019s a worthwhile exercise to do the above, because it gets teams really thinking about their content priorities. However, it\u2019s important not to treat it as a once-off exercise. We actually do ABC planning as part of every content planning cycle \u2013 the first thing we do is map out our ABC mix over the planning period. We then decide on the topics for individual content pieces. This helps us ensure that we have a suitable mix of content that engages our target audiences while supporting business priorities<\/p>\n Get started today using a tried and tested step-by-step process to optimize your marketing.<\/p>Start Now<\/a><\/div>Need a plan to create a winning marketing strategy?<\/h3>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/1718x600.png\")
<\/div><\/p>\nThe ABC of getting your content priorities right<\/h4>\n
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Deciding on a weighting<\/h3>\n
\n\u00a0![\"content](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/contentpriorities.png\")
<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"content](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/contentweighting.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"contentweightingfrequency\"](\"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/contentweightingfrequency.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNeed a plan to create a winning marketing strategy?<\/h3>
<\/div><\/p>\n![\"content](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/prioiritisationcontent.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSo, what is the right ABC weighting for you?<\/h3>\n
Need a plan to create a winning marketing strategy?<\/h3>
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