Introduction – Content provides a medium for companies to converse with businesses and consumers in an engaging manner. Content takes many forms, such as text, images, audio, video, interactive elements and even scent. Each of these forms, applied appropriately, create the essence of a brand and its messages. Furthermore, it provides access to the varying learning preferences and memory activators that enable people to create an impression of a brand and foster decisions.
A Composition of Communication – Ultimately content is for communicating information to an audience. The function of marketing may utilize content to design an experience, create a perception, activate memory and convey or even provoke thought. When used in combination, multiple types of content formulate a composition for the purposes of engaging a person or team and influencing them in a favorable direction. Companies should choose their content building blocks to deliver and reinforce the messages that engage their audience with their brand, providing relevant and informative content for the person when needed.
Each Medium has a Purpose – Does one use the picture of a mobile phone to convey the occurrence of a face to face discussion? Similarly, should an image or a video be chosen as the primary vehicle to introduce a multi-faceted and complex topic? Answering these types of questions for your marketing objectives will provide guidance regarding which content medium will be most effective for any given goal at hand.
A Marketer’s Perspective – It is imperative to understand the audience and what type of message and content may attract their attention. Marketers must execute well when it comes to identifying the needs of a market and bridging the gap between those needs and the products and services they sell. This requires creativity in messaging and positioning, supported by content. If the appropriate mixture is found, it will be apparent in the results of the overall content marketing efforts.
Measurement & Analytics – There are two primary techniques for measuring the success of content. If a piece of content is fully contained, such as an ebook, infographic or blog post, it is usually straightforward to measure the results based on standard marketing metrics. However, if certain pieces of content are designed to act in aggregate, then measurement may need to take into account both individual and group performance depending on the granularity required to evaluate results. The latter scenario becomes more necessary when you have dynamic content based on market variables such as with certain online display ads. This level of sophistication may go beyond the capabilities of an A/B test and require a more rigorous statistical approach. Finally, metrics may need to be captured at the content component, piece or composition level in addition to the campaign depending on the need to analyze results at each of these levels.