How to cover your content marketing bases (Part 1)

One easy way to protect against this is with targeted, purposeful content that works hard for you, in the right place, at the right time.

Where should your content live?

There will always be multiple platform options. The key is to not get caught up in the hype that tends to be reinforced by steady streams of opinions and personal preference. Take a moment. Be discerning. Don't blindly follow the pack.

Consider all options in terms of relevancy and value to both your product/service and what you're trying to achieve with your content. Make educated decisions but also don't be afraid to experiment. Audiences can surprise you with what they want to see, but you won't know this unless you try.

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If you're everywhere, you may benefit from taking stock, streamlining and targeting by only choosing platforms that prove highly relevant to your offering. If you're only visible on one platform, it's worth your while seeing where else your offering fits in. Make decisions and start shipping.

How much content is enough?

There's no one-size-fits-all answer for this.

The amount of content you should be shipping is dependent on the channel you're using. There's an ever-appealing sweet spot between the extremes of radio silence and spamming your audience. It changes all the time and can be rather elusive, but if you pay attention, you can get it just right.

When should you clean things up?

A dormant YouTube channel that houses one outdated, grainy company video from the 1990s is a good example of not covering your bases. You have two options here. Either you decide that the channel is a relevant way for you to communicate and put a team in charge of creating and moderating content for it. Or, you put it to rest.

Dormant channels do damage. They make it seem like your company doesn't exist anymore, has nothing new and relevant to offer, or functions like it's the Dark Ages.

Why you should cover your bases

• Visibility: Consider how often the people you know are online. There's endless opportunity to connect. If you aren't regularly shipping content across your bases, no one is seeing you. Chances are, they're probably seeing your competitors.

• Lead generation: Optimised content marketing on the correct platforms drives lead generation because it ensures you're telling the right people the right things, at the right time.

• Sales: Well-written, purposeful content can be used as a subtle sales tool while still fulfilling the role of being informative or entertaining. That way people don't feel bombarded.

In short

Try new things. Research, test, learn. Chances are, you're covering your bases purposefully if you're on more than one platform but not on all of them.

Whatever you do, keep shipping content out into the digital world. People will quickly forget that they want or need your products or services if you don't keep reminding them.

View Part 2 of this article here: Choosing the right content marketing channels.