Let’s call them the content triumvirate. Not just because it
sounds good (which it does) but also because — if you include all three of
these things — I believe you will almost always be creating great content.
If you make sure your content is relevant, connects
emotionally with a targeted audience and is within your brand’s authority,
you’re well on your way to content greatness.
Let’s
take a quick look at what each of these mean:
Make it relevant
Seems obvious. But the important part here is relevant to
whom? When creating a message of any kind, whether it’s a TV spot or a
postcard, you must make sure it’s relevant to your target audience…otherwise,
why should they care? But here’s the thing: this means you must have a target
audience in the first place.
Ensure that it connects emotionally
Truly good content must make an emotional connection with
your aforementioned audience. Anything else is just content, not Content Marketing.
Stay within your brand’s authority
This is the least intuitive of the three but, perhaps, the
most important. Your audience will listen to you if your message is relevant
and connects with them emotionally. But the message also has to be on a topic
in which you have some authority. For example, if you make shoes (like
Converse) anything shoe related will make sense coming from you. But what if you send
a message about how to fix a leaky sink (Converse Liquid Drain Opener)? Not
so much.
As you may have noticed in the graphic version of this
concept, the spot where all three things converge is quite small…and that’s by
design. Make no mistake, this is not an easy task.
But, if you’re able to do these
three things simultaneously — creating relevant content that connects with a
targeted audience emotionally while staying within the space of your brand’s authority
— you’ll be creating great content indeed.
Good luck!
