What works, is EPIC content. Content marketing facts and figures Still need some convincing on the importance of epic content marketing. In order to prepare for the ideation process, you must ask your team to have a handle on the pulse of your target audience and niche at all times. Draft ideas On the basis of your preparation, make a list of ideas that are perfect for coming up with exhaustive content relevant to your niche. Finalize ideas Once you are done with ideas curation, you’ll be left with 3-4 ideas that have epic content written all over them. Research Buffer’s come up with a seminal post on content marketing research for a blog post. Also, choose the format keeping audience preferences in mind and whether the format will allow you to do full justice to your idea. While creating the structure of your content, keep your research in mind and make key data a part of this wireframe. The structure of your content depends on the format you pick. Refine The final step in the process is to just look away from the content piece for some time.
The success of your content marketing strategy depends on the nature of your content. If your content is good and by good I mean straight out of the top drawer, it will bolster your content marketing efforts.1 On the other hand, if it is fairly ordinary, your inbound marketing campaign will fall apart faster than you realize.
If you are a part of the 77% B2C or 86% B2B organizations using content marketing to boost brand growth, you must make a concerted attempt to come up with high quality content that not only disseminates useful information but also does so in a manner that is engaging and arresting.
EPIC content marketing
A NewsCred study reveals that a mammoth 62% of millennials say their online loyalty towards a brand is driven by online content. While the figure is great news for content marketers, what you must realize is you can’t push any content to the target audience and expect it to deliver returns in the form of brand loyalty, reputation building, lead generation and brand awareness.
What works, is EPIC content. I am pretty sure you must have heard of the phrase EPIC content before. Saying this is the sort of content that strengthens content marketing is an understatement. It does much more than just shore up your campaign; it essentially reinforces your brand image.
Characteristics of Epic Content:
- It earns a lot of shares.
- It offers actionable information.
- It is exhaustive.
- It has a long shelf life.
- It delivers sustainable results for the long term.
- It differentiates the brand as a thought leader in the niche.
- It develops trust and credibility for your business.
While there is no doubt, EPIC content works every single time, the problem is many businesses are finding it difficult to consistently produce the kind of content that has marketing merit. So how do you produce EPIC content that delivers on your branding expectations?
While it is difficult to come up with such content all the time, you could break down your content production process into a series of steps, for smoothing your journey towards epic content.
Content marketing facts and figures
Still need some convincing on the importance of epic content marketing. Here are some content marketing facts and figures from Visual.ly to highlight the role of content on a social web.1
- $135 billion was spent on digital marketing content in 2014
- 78% of CMO’s think custom content is the future of marketing
- 65% of your audience are “visual learners”
1. Brainstorming a.k.a Ideation
The first step is to gather ideas for your content. While this step might sound like a no-brainer, it is imperative you follow a structured ideation process to get your hands on the right ideas.
Preparation
The groundwork for an epic post needs to be laid over the course of many days, even weeks. In order to prepare for the ideation process, you must ask your team to have a handle on the pulse of your target audience and niche at all times. This can only happen if you and your content team keep abreast of the latest happenings in the niche. Follow thought leaders, keep track of the latest news, trawl through discussion forums, and hunt on social media; basically make every attempt to know all developments in your domain and the kind of information your target audience is looking for.
Draft ideas
On the basis of your preparation, make a list of ideas that are perfect for coming up with exhaustive content relevant to your niche. They’re plenty of tools you can use to zero in on ideas you think will work for your audience.
Curate ideas
Say you have come up with a list of ten ideas that you feel worthy of follow up. Excellent! Now you need to curate these, to focus on only those ideas you are pretty sure will translate into a fantastic piece of content.
Finalize ideas
Once you are done with ideas curation, you’ll be left with 3-4 ideas that have epic content written all over them. Pick one and save all others in your ideas bank for future reference and use.
2. Research
Buffer’s come up with a seminal post on content marketing research for a blog post. It is also a perfect example of an epic post that offers comprehensive information on the subject of research. It is a…
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