What do start-ups, small businesses, and enterprises all have in common? The need for a consistent (and results-driven) content marketing strategy. Unfortunately, this is being misconstrued by businesses of all sizes and backgrounds. Rather than taking a deep and strategic approach to content creation, they’re pumping out content left and right with the hopes of capturing and converting leads.
But this just doesn’t work. And how can it? Content marketing is like any other marketing initiative—it requires an understanding of the target audience and how to appeal to them. The best way to do this is to deliver value each and every time.
This isn’t possible to do when you’re running a content mill just for the sake of driving out content. So let’s take a look at how you can keep your B2B podcast, blog, and other channels from getting clogged with low-value content.
Most content marketers can likely agree that they don’t have the time to create more and more content. Yet, this is what some end up being pushed towards because of a lack of understanding from the higher-ups. Management controls the budget, so it’s up to them to decide which direction you take with your content marketing.
Many bosses believe that if results aren’t seen quickly, then it means you’re not doing enough. Of course, this is far from the truth. This is why it’s critical to set expectations at the get-go to prevent false expectations from clouding the boss’s judgment.
They need to know at the gate that content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Here’s a look at what Holly, the Director of Marketing here at Casted, has to say about the marketer’s plight:
“There’s an expectation of quality AND quantity. We’ve gotten into a place where everyone thinks we need more and more and more content to stand out, and that content has to be of the highest quality. And if you’re not performing/producing enough, the reason content marketing ‘isn’t working’ becomes your fault. When in reality, content marketing is a long game. Organic reach, traffic, conversion, understanding doesn’t come overnight. It’s not a quick fix. It’s a long-term play.
Removing the concept of more is better is the start of improving your content marketing strategy. The goal is to take the time to create fewer but more comprehensive pieces of content. So rather than hashing out a few surface pieces of content, you can focus on deep-diving into a problem.
For example, you can bring in experts on your podcast to discuss various issues, solutions, and scenarios. This alone can turn a basic topic into a lesson for your audience. And what we find that works well for B2B podcasts (and any content, really) is excellent storytelling.
“Understanding what your audience wants and bringing that content to them is crucial. Guest and topic selection is so important. At Casted, yes, we have a podcast about podcasts, but our audience is B2B marketers, so we don’t just talk about the ins and outs of podcasting. Our content and guests focus on the amazing way they are using this medium/content/channel to drive their marketing forward. Storytelling … and letting your guests tell their story is an easy way to capture high-quality content that is engaging and interesting for your audience,” Holly explained.
It’s critical every topic and content you create does two things:
1) appeals to your audience
2) takes you a step closer to reaching marketing goals.
“I’ve spent a lot of my marketing career in content, and it’s so easy to get into the swing of things and just continue on because it’s what you’ve always done. I’ve also been at places where you take more things on just because someone asks. But the difference now is that with every content initiative, podcast episode, narrative episode, ebook, etc., we think about, I ask who is it for and why are we doing it? If we can’t answer those questions, we need to stop, rethink our strategy, and consider that maybe not every idea we have or everything that is asked for is necessary,” said Holly.
So what can you do to turn your content mill into a content oasis?
You want to improve your content so that you can attract the right audience, build your brand’s authority, and drive results to your company. But how do you do this? Well, there are several things you need to be doing.
Taking the guesswork out of what content works and what doesn’t is the first step. You can try to identify the best topics to cover and channels to use, but if you miss the mark, then all your efforts go down the toilet. To avoid this, you need to look at performance metrics for every content produced.
“One of the biggest challenges most marketers face is in proving that the content they are creating is producing the intended results. If the goal is to drive conversions off of blog content, you need to be able to show that your content is doing that. If it’s traffic, you need to prove that your content is increasing organic reach. But being able to prove that your content is “performing” is likely the biggest challenge many marketers are facing today,” said Holly.
But how do you measure the performance of a B2B podcast and all the content you’re creating around it? One option is to use a marketing platform designed for this purpose (ahem ... us… just sayin’).
After finding your golden nuggets, it’s time to see why they’re so great. The idea is to take your top-performing content and learn from it. See if there’s a pattern—for instance, maybe your audience enjoys interviews more than the Q&A sessions you have.
Over time, you’ll be able to identify what topics, channels, and formats work the best. Then you can begin planning how to offer more of what your audience loves.
You did it—you truly know what your audience desires and how to deliver it to them. But does it end there? A big fat NOPE! Don’t fall into the trap of creating content, publishing it, and leaving it to rot. No, you want to take this opportunity to make your content shine.
The best way to do this is to find ways to wring it out. For example, you can take your B2B podcast episodes and turn them into clips and audiograms you share on different social channels. You can take the interview from the podcast and turn key points into a blog, and include clips on there as well.
The idea of wringing it out is to get as much additional content as you can from your podcast episodes, and amplify it all. Social posts, blog posts, video podcasts, video clips, audiograms, newsletters, etc.
“With Casted, marketers are able to wring out their most valuable content (expert-driven, insight-rich interviews) into high-quality content that can be used across all of your marketing channels and across every team in your business. The goal of us talking about wringing out your podcast isn’t to get content marketers to create more content for content’s sake—and let’s be real, content marketers don’t have more time to create more content. It’s to get the most value and extend the shelf life of your most valuable content.
“What’s more valuable than an interview with a customer on how they strategically use your product to solve a common pain point? Or an interview with an industry expert that discusses exactly how your target audience can alleviate a major pain point? This type of content should be at the center of our content strategy. Casted enables marketers to easily take their podcast, internal interviews, meetings, and video series and make them available to use across other channels, other teams, and in other content,” Holly shared.
In the end, you’re extending the reach and shelf life of every piece of content you create. Your audience is consuming content on topics they enjoy and on the channels they prefer. In turn, your episodes receive more listens, downloads, and possibly even more conversions.
Content is a valuable resource on both sides. It helps brands stand out from all the noise on the web, and it offers guidance, tips, solutions, and other benefits to your audience.
But to get here, you need to take a step back, reassess your content, and find what’s working and what’s not. Then hone in on recreating these pieces to continue meeting the expectations of your audience (and your boss).
This is a lot easier to do with the right tools. Casted is a platform designed to help B2B podcasts excel. It does this by tracking all the right metrics, creating analytics reports, and enabling users to share and amplify content across channels. If you’d like to see how it works, then schedule a demo with us today!