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About The Author
Kim Phillips is an independent marketing consultant specializing in branding, communication strategy, creative writing and design, online content, email marketing and social media.
Online, content is king.
Posted in Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Business Practices, business writing, Content management, Marketing, Online Marketing, Social Media, Writing - 2 Comments
As you put together your company’s communication plan for 2011, consider a content plan, too.
Your Website. You’ve probably heard the term “search engine optimization” more than you want to lately. No surprise, it’s on everybody’s mind and it’s not easy to gain a top spot on a natural (unpaid) Google search. This especially true for very general categories like “financial services” that aren’t everyday hot topics. Optimizing a website for search engines is part art, a lot science, and absolutely necessary. After you’ve made sure your website has well-researched keywords and tags hard-coded into it, and you’ve done all the off-site, online things you can to generate traffic to your site—incoming links, registering with directories, and getting seriously snuggly with Google—it’s time to think about what kind of experience your site is giving visitors…why they should visit, why they should stay, why they should do what you ask them to, and why they should return. The way people interact with your website will depend on its content.
Your Blog. Search engines love blogs for their fresh, original content (assuming that is the case) and reward them accordingly in the rankings. There are lots of other reasons to have a blog, and the best one is this: it’s a way to connect with people personally, immediately, and engage them. The internet has given you a publishing platform, a bully pulpit all your own. Use it to create brand loyalty, and reap the search engine benefits.
Your Social Media. You may not love Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or the myriad other social networks, but your audience probably does. This is a way to connect with people where they are and to engage them with things that interest them. Your presence in social media will enhance and humanize your other communications efforts; it takes a different sort of content.
Your Newsletters. Whether it goes out electronically or on paper, your newsletter is another chance to connect with relevant, engaging information. The method of delivery will affect the type and length of the content, but the end result should be the same: content that people want to read and look forward to.
You’re getting the idea by now that the business of getting and keeping in touch with prospective customers, donors and influencers chews up a lot of content and, therefore, energy. True. But there are two pieces of good news: 1) articulating in advance your strategy and goals for communicating will make creating the content much easier, and 2) almost every bit of your content can—and should—be repurposed across all the platforms available to you. Some people pay more attention to email, others fire up their blog feeds first thing, others live on Facebook.
What is your plan for managing your content in the coming year?
Tags: business blog, business writing, Content management, Get Lucid Marketing, lucid marketing, marketing blog, Online Marketing, Social Media, tips for bloggers, writing tips
2 Responses to Online, content is king.
Posted On 2010/12/10 at 2:43 pm by Yang :
Hey, Kim, thanks for the link and great article!
While content is definitely the king, linking building / friend making / reputation management is the queen.