Is your content strategy more than just words on a page? Digital Content Executive Regan Foy tells us why studio content should be part of your strategy.

Content Strategies Need More Than Words

Those working in marketing will have heard the phrase ‘Content is King’ several times, but often consider that to just be words on a page encompassed by an overarching strategy. According to the Content Marketing Institute, “content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience”. Where does that statement limit content to writing? It doesn’t – and your business shouldn’t either.

Why Does Content Need To Be Multi-Faceted?

Consumers are bombarded with messaging trying to get them to convert wherever they roam online. From social media to blog posts, there’s always something, somewhere, that’s feeding the user information and informing them about why this product is the one they should be buying or using.

Even if the user is actively looking for a certain product or solution to meet their requirements, there’s only so much information one person can retain, and only so much information that can be read before it’s met with tired eyes – we’ve all been there, trying to make an informed decision and researching ourselves into oblivion.

There are so many ways that users digest content in the modern day, but the biggest is social media. As of September 2021, TikTok currently has over 1 billion monthly active users, while Facebook, YouTube and Instagram lead the way with 2.9B, 2.2B and 1.4B respectively. Many small to medium businesses are utilising TikTok to their advantage, creating content that consumers feel is entertaining, represents them or piques their interests.

Content writing is important, and with the right strategy, can help your brand be seen by masses of people you’re trying to sell to. But when so much of a user’s modern routine involves watching and listening, how can you ensure you’re being not only seen, but heard too?

Content Types to Consider

Business owners, marketeers, consumers. All three have something in common – they like to be informed, and when they’re consuming content, they like to be entertained. It’s possible to entertain with written content, and many blog posts and campaigns can truly light up and inspire. While that stands, it’s a harder medium for whoever is consuming to get the most out of in an on-the-go, always active lifestyle.

So, how can businesses get their message across effectively? Is it a case of utilising every type of content for a singular goal, or focusing solely on one?

Podcasts

Podcasts aren’t just something to listen to while you’re exercising or commuting. They can be an affable way of sharing stories, knowledge and insight surrounding your industry. Whether you’re using podcasts to establish your business as a thought leader, or to try and inspire consumers to connect with your products or company, they’re becoming an important medium of sharing stories. Research from Statista has shown that there were 15 million podcast listeners in the United Kingdom last year, and this is expected to grow to just shy of 20 million in 2024.

Brands succeed when they showcase their personalities to the world. Many choose to do this through social media, some through blogs, but what better way is there than sitting in front of a microphone for a while and chatting to other experts and giving consumers reasoning to connect with you or your business?

Video

Video and content go hand-in-hand, as do video and podcasts. Video gives everything more life, more visibility and, in some cases, is the easiest form of content to consume. But it shouldn’t need to be a ‘be-all and end-all’ in content creation. There’s not always a need for a person in front of a camera either – it can take the form of animation or transcribed soundbites.

 Utilising video effectively can leverage a content strategy to completely new levels, and while it can provide a visual backdrop for other forms of content, it’s there to support a strategy at every step of the way. Long-form works incredibly well, when relevant, but as we’ve seen with TikTok and YouTube Shorts, snappy content can perform where other mediums may not be. According to Clicktale, consumers are 39% more likely to share video content too – meaning your video may receive a wider reach.

Graphics

Graphic design, illustration, infographics, and other forms of imagery can all be of great use. Not only can they perform as standalone pieces, especially on social media platforms, but they can add seasoning to other forms of content too.

Graphics, as an umbrella term for all the above, can be placed within video. They can accompany blog and service page content to make the page more appeasable to a consumer’s eye, or even as a call to action. They are, to return to the seasoning metaphor, the five-spice of content marketing – and are able to be used in a number of ways.

Photography

In some instances, a brilliant piece of content, PR campaign or eBook can be let down by using stock imagery. To the general eye, many won’t bat an eyelid at the image of someone working at a desk that you’ve picked up from Shutterstock – but a professionally taken, hyper-relevant image can truly take a piece of content to the next level.

Instead of opting for a picture that’s loosely related to the copy, making and taking a photo that suits the tone of voice and is easily attributable to the content it’s with is a sure-fire winner.

Live Streaming

Live streaming is the new television. According to eMarketer, more than half of 18- to 49-year-olds either don’t watch TV very much, or don’t watch it at all. And according to Statista, in 2020 over 232 million people watched live streamed content. With the right set-up, ideas and strategy, live streaming could be a useful tool to add to your content arsenal.

A great example of brands or businesses adopting live streaming well is Gymshark, who take to Twitch.tv weekly to offer live exercise classes, broadcast pre-made videos and offer behind-the-scenes insight into their company.

Webinars

Falling loosely under the live streaming bracket, webinars are almost like classes where experts teach an audience as an event. Pairing expert knowledge with a well-prepared deck and speaking points is a great way to not only establish your brand as a thought leader, but also gain relevant insights into your customers, competitors and more.

They are live streamed pieces of content, so if you’ve already undertaken webinars in the past, then live streaming may be your next move. Here at ClickThrough Marketing, we run our own webinars, where you can find all of the latest learnings from our expert team.

The Best Approach For Evolving Content

To answer the question posed earlier, it’s certainly not the case that one type of content should be focused on more than the other. They can be focused on as separate strands of a singular entity, the content strategy, and furthermore, can be utilised in a way that they all benefit each other almost habitually.

The base should always be written content – a strong content and SEO strategy should be the foundations of any good marketing plan. These can feed into any of the above, providing an excellent guideline for how you’re going to be creating content in the future. Written content can be upcycled into video, podcasts, graphics and more, and when there’s fresh, innovative content produced in those strands, they can be recycled into written content on a blog, for example.

The best approach for evolving your content is to opt for a studio-style approach, where the content produced offers a multi-faceted, omnichannel way of marketing your business or brand to current and new consumers. Content is considered ‘King’, but many don’t realise it’s more like a mythological Hydra - a beast with many heads.

If you’d like to find out how we can help you expand your content strategy, get in touch to speak to a member of our team today.