02 May A Simple Approach to Effective Content Marketing
Most marketers now recognize the term ‘content marketing,’ but few companies in the industries served by Meister Media have committed real resources to incorporating this concept into their marketing program. More companies are going in this direction, however, as I was reminded this morning upon receiving the new Grow in Media enewsletter from peat moss supplier Premier Tech Horticulture (web version available here).
Of particular note to me was the educational nature taken by a company that has historically focused its marketing around product messaging. The first two stories carried informative production tips for growers, while the third story talked about handling the company’s bulk product efficiently. The fourth story was a striaght-forward product push, which i imagine interested much of the audience as well.
Our experience producing enewsletters for clients tells us that this is a recipe for success. And this view is backed up by the recommendations of Patricia Traveline, vice president at content marketing firm Skyword. Their philosophy regarding content market focuses on what they term the Three S Model for Content Success: Searchable, Snackable and Sharable. The Three S Model is Skyword’s formula for creating content that is easy to find and consume and compelling enough for the consumer to share with a larger audience.
- Searchable content captures the passion and pain points of the consumer and is optimized with trending keywords, boosting the content’s search ranking.
- Snackable content is made for the on-the-go consumer who needs answers to questions in a moment’s notice. When done right, snackable content leaves the consumer hungry and eager to come back for more.
- Shareable content serves as the root of discussion across social channels. This content is compelling enough for readers to share with their network of friends and followers.
The Premier enewsletter meets each of these criteria. The content speaks to the audience’s needs (not the company’s!), the stories are relatively brief, and social media options abound.
Other models can certainly work well, too. Each company must find what works for them, but I wanted to share an effective example from our markets that can serve as a template for any company looking to get started.
Click here to read the rest of Travaline’s articles with additional tips on following the Three S Model.
The author is the Director of Interactive Sales for Meister Media. To continue this discussion on content marketing and how your company can put these ideas to work, contact him at 440-602-9129 or bwest@meistermedia.com.