The Mixology of Content Marketing [Infographic]

The Mixology of Content Marketing

Marketers understand that content is an effective way of reaching out to their audience. The trick lies in creating engaging content and profiling your audience. What persona do they have? What story do you intend to tell? To deliver the right message to the right person, you need the perfect medium.

Here are 8 content cocktails that matter today.

Industry News: Bloody Mary

When writing industry news, accuracy and timeliness is of the utmost importance. You want to make sure that you deliver bite-sized servings of news through newsletters, blog articles and social media.

Make sure to include the latest news and do your fact checks. Don’t forget to compare and contrast with a trending topic and cite an example if you can. Hubspot is a good example of an industry news master. They gather the latest trends that matter and deliver them to their audience who expect nothing less.

User-Generated Content: Pina Colada

Feel free to be creative and play around with ideas on this one. The focus is on engaging your readers. Suggest a theme or include a hashtag to get the conversation going. Branding takes a backseat here as users are generally more keen on hearing what their friends have to say.

Research shows that millennials spend 5.4 hours each day on peer-created content. Use this to your advantage.

Social Video: Margarita

Social video is about connecting with your audience in an edgy and fun way. In this example, the medium is the message. Instead of delivering facts as they are, try spicing up your content with entertaining quotes or life hacks.

Video makes it easy to state a point, and there’s a reason why Vine and Snapchat are immensely popular. Not convinced? According to research, 79% of all web traffic will be video content by 2018.

Blogs: Daiquiri

A daiquiri makes a statement by balancing elegance with attitude. Likewise, your blog should serve your audience without sounding like a newsfeed.

Establish yourself as an authority on your subject matter and use your blog as a funnel. You can afford to get technical with your content but make sure that the message remains coherent at all times.

Viral Content: Tom Collins

Viral content is great for gaining traction for your brand off the ground quickly. However, be cautious of how you package your message. Make sure you tell a compelling story and toe the line between what is considered acceptable or not.

With viral content, you’ll want to balance the sour twist of your story with a sweet finish at the end.

Infographics: Singapore Sling

This content cocktail is all about presentation. Why do people love infographics? Simple: it makes content easy to digest by breaking it down into smaller chunks. The ‘flowchart’ nature coupled with quality data and hard-hitting facts lets you tell a story in minutes.

41% of marketers find infographics an effective content format. Just make sure that you have a compelling story to tell. A striking design can only get you so far. At the end of the day, it’s still the content that matters.

White Papers: Old-Fashioned

Ever ordered an old-fashion at the bar? Notice the amount of preparation it takes to make one? With white papers, the process is similar. The bulk of your time will be spent on doing rich and in-depth research. Get your facts right and then present your findings in a clear and concise manner.

By delivering informative guides to your audience, you’ll establish a credible reputation which will help in generating leads.

Long Form Journalism: Mint Julep

Like the old-fashioned, a mint julep takes time to prepare. Content still needs to be researched, but you have to deliver it with a perspective. Which angle you decide to take will depend on what story you want to tell.

With long-form content, you need to keep your audience engaged. You cannot afford to repeat facts over and over. Take Buzzfeed or Quartz for example. Many of their stories are over 1,600 words long and take 7 minutes to read.

In the world of content marketing, 7 minutes is a long time. To keep your audience hooked, you have to engage them with a story worth their time. Do this right and you will reap the rewards of long-form content.

 

The Mixology of Content Marketing

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