Shopping at my local supermarket is always an exercise in self-control. The shelves of potato chips, chocolates and soda promise instant gratification. Sadly, they aren't the most nutritious fare. In contrast, the fruit and vegetable section at the far corner is wholesome, but it does require a concerted effort on my part to stick to a healthy diet. More often than I care to admit, the lure of ready-to-eat goodness trumps my better instincts.
In some ways, as marketers, we face the same dilemma.
The Junk content dilemma
If you think that the link between marketing and food is tenuous, let me explain. As a marketer the biggest challenge today is rising above the noise to get your message across. The growth in marketing tools over the past few years has made it easy to create and distribute content. But the same tools have also unleashed a content deluge. What is a marketer to do?
One way to ride the content wave is to produce copious amount of your own content - prioritize quantity over quality. It’s tempting, even logical, but this approach results in junk content - like junk food, junk content looks appetizing and is filling for a while, but in the long-run it clogs your marketing machine.
How do you spot junk content?
That’s easy. Junk content is any content that is written mainly as filler and has very little business value: a “top ten" list that's merely a slideshow with catchy captions; web pages written specifically with an eye towards search engine algorithms; blog posts with bait-and-switch titles. You get the idea.
Creating and distributing sub-par content can hurt your organization in a few ways. For one, you risk alienating your customers by sharing irrelevant information. Poor quality content also tarnishes your brand identity by association. Finally, a relentless focus on quantity can lead you to target the wrong metrics. Your latest blog post may be getting retweeted, shared or liked in the social sphere, but is the right audience engaged? Your company has a hundred thousand followers on Twitter, but are they your target demographic?
Fortunately creating quality content is a lot easier than eating leafy greens three times a week. Just follow three simple steps.
1. Define your content marketing objective
A clear understanding of the message you want to convey through your content is critical. If your goal is to raise awareness about your brand, the content you generate should include original insights about the industry, building your thought leadership credentials. If you view content as a tool to increase sales conversions, you should write pieces that helpfully guide prospects towards your solution. Your objective should drive your content strategy.
2. Focus on quality not quantity
For every collateral that you create, ask yourself, “Is this be interest to my customers (current or prospects)?” Asking this question forces you to evaluate the quality of the content. Rather than posting 2 blog pieces a day, post 2 a week, which are customer relevant.
3. Engage with your customers
Enjoy the content creation process. Don’t look at it as a chore or something that must get done. Think of it as a way to engage with your customers and have a real dialogue with them. We have prospects reach out to us specifically based on some article they have read on our blog and while they didn’t necessarily agree with everything, they wanted to start a dialogue.
In recent times there has been a discussion around
content shock and it’s implication on marketing. There is one school of thought, which feels that over time, readers will be
overwhelmed with information and it’ll be harder and harder to get noticed. But I believe that quality content will always have an audience. Even as content fatigue forces users to tune out irrelevant sources, writing a good copy increases your chances of being on their short-list.
Isn't that reason enough to switch to a healthier content diet?
About the Author
Shailesh Chitnis is the VP of Marketing at Compile (www.compile.com), a lead generation service that uses text analytics to identify prospects early. He is interested in data-driven techniques that help sales and marketing teams perform better. Follow him on @shaileshchitnis and at compile.com/blog.
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Shopping at my local supermarket is always an exercise in self-control. The shelves of potato chips, chocolates and soda promise instant gratification. Sadly, they aren't the most nutritious fare. In contrast, the fruit and vegetable section at the far corner is wholesome, but it does require a concerted effort on my part to stick to a healthy diet. More often than I care to admit, the lure of ready-to-eat goodness trumps my better instincts. 
Shailesh Chitnis is the VP of Marketing at Compile (www.compile.com), a lead generation service that uses text analytics to identify prospects early. He is interested in data-driven techniques that help sales and marketing teams perform better. Follow him on @shaileshchitnis and at compile.com/blog.
