Does Your Content Stand the Test of Time?
Standing in the entrance hallway of my home is a grandfather clock. But it's not just any grandfather clock. It has passed down through three generations of family on my father's side. My grandparents purchased it in Germany sometime around 1930, and had it shipped back to the United States. It is a beautiful old round-face clock with a walnut cabinet. It no longer chimes, but when it did, the mellow Westminster chimes sound doleful, a deep baritone singing the hours against the heartbeat of the tock-tock of the pendulum.
This clock has withstood the test of time. Its mechanical mechanism continues to mark the minutes and hours with only a minor resetting each week. Its classic design is pleasing, the dial easy to read, the carvings beautiful but not over-the-top.
I thought of the clock today as I was musing about whether or not the myriad of blog posts, articles and content generated every day will pass the test of time. A year from now, will anyone read my blog posts? Will anyone care about Google Hummingbird, or will we be onto the next Google update, the next latest and greatest thing?
Whenever you think about quality content, ask yourself whether it will pass the test of time. Quality content, like my grandfather clock, is timeless.
Reuse Existing Content
You can reuse existing content.
Creating killer content - shareable, sticky, viral, groovy stuff - takes time. And effort. Lots of effort. By the time you've finished brainstorming your wonderful blog idea, researching it, writing it, proofreading it, finding an image and publishing it, hours can whiz by. Yet the public's appetite for expertly written content is insatiable. So what's a content queen to do?
Use the mantra my Depression-era parents taught me: Reuse, Re-purpose, Recycle.
In other words: Mine your gems for a new diamond to share.
Reuse Existing Content
Content doesn't just mean the written word. It can mean info graphics, shareable images for Pinterest and other social media, a slideshow, a video or a podcast. What content do you have that was popular with your readers? Can you recreate the same concept in another media to share it?
Re-purposing an Idea
You don't need to reinvent the wheel every time you sit down to write. If you have a great idea and a lot of research on a topic, you can spin it into multiple articles, blog posts or pieces.
I've done a lot of research on honey bees and Colony Collapse disease, as well as on native plants for gardens. I've been able to write at least a dozen fresh, original articles based on that research by choosing a different slant or viewpoint on the topic each time.
What research do you have that you can re-purpose into a new idea? Perhaps research on choosing the best printer can be used to write articles about printer maintenance, saving money on ink and toner, and using recycled ink cartridges. Think about the ways in which you can reuse existing content.
Recycle
You can recycle your original content, but do so cautiously. Make sure that you own all the rights to the content you wish to recycle, and avoid recycling similar phrasing online (it can hurt your search engine optimization efforts). I've successfully recycled articles I retained the rights to be combining them into an eBook I share with my clients. I've also used blog posts to springboard into longer content pieces, recycling the original post but adding to it for a fresh, long form essay. You can do the same with original content.
Content Curation
Lastly, content curation offers a new way to share information with your readers when you want to add to their experience without creating your own content. Content curation means finding and sharing links to the original source material that enhances your brand or shares useful information with your readers. Don't upload anyone else's original content to your website, but instead share a link back to the source of the material. Content curation is popular on social media websites and blogs, but you can use it on a number of different platforms, too. Just be sure to read the entire piece (or watch/listen to the entire media) before sharing it. You must make sure that the entire piece is on topic and on brand, and won't reflect negatively on your company or on you if you share it.
Content Marketing Defined
Content marketing is the art and science of using original, creative, branded content - blog posts, writing, images, articles, stories, case studies and more - to acquire, retain and create loyal customers.
That's what we do here at Seven Oaks Consulting - content marketing, and all that goes with it, like SEO web page writing, website writing, copywriting, and teaching on this and related topics. But what the heck is it?
The Content Marketing Institute has a great definition here: What Is Content Marketing? (Come back here when you're done, okay?)
The Importance of Content Marketing
A recent survey reports that interest by digital marketing managers in content marketing is soaring. And do you know why? Because consumers are sick and tired of ads. They're tuning them out, scanning past them, ignoring and blocking them. Brafton, a fellow content marketing firm, claims that 75% of all consumers prefer informative articles to ads. I'd actually put that number higher. People want information, not advertising, in today's ad-saturated world.
People are hungry for facts. Information. And that's where content marketing comes in.
Content marketing:
- Helps brand your company as THE expert in your area, whether it's dog grooming or nuclear medicine.
- Informs, entertains and engages readers, which encourages them to stick around longer on your website.
- Gets SHARED virally on social media sites, thus increasing its reach.
- Sells as it tells an engaging story.
If you'd like to begin your content marketing strategy, schedule a free 30 minute telephone call with us today.
What You Can Learn About Marketing from a Blue Lobster
Deacon Blue is one lucky lobster. A fisherman snagged him off the cost of Prince Edward Island, thinking he had accidentally caught a beer can in his trap. Imagine his surprise when old Deacon Blue waved a claw at him. Blue lobsters are rare, and this pretty boy is heading for an aquarium instead of a restaurant near you.
Reading the story today, I couldn't help but be struck by how people value the different, the unique, to the point that they wish to save it, preserve it and display it. Think about. This guy was a hefty, juicy lobster. I haven't eaten lobster in ages, but I remember it as being quite expensive. Surely the fisherman could have used the money.
Instead, Deacon Blue's life is spared because he is unique.
Here's what Professor Deacon Blue has to teach us about marketing: make sure you stand out from the crowd. Be unique, be different. Don't be afraid to be a blue lobster. Instead of ending up in the stew pot along with every other person trying to sell the same thing, hopefully you'll get the positive attention you need to attract customers and turn them into buyers and loyal fans.