vaughansales

 

Remember the Oreo real-time marketing tweet of 2013? 

I bet you do.

You probably also remember some other bit of content that was supremely clever, or catchy, or memorable (I’m particularly old school and a fan of the Old Spice guy).

Then there’s the cheeky listicle, or the Instagram hashtag campaign. Clever content is *everywhere* these days, vying for the momentary glance of someone’s eyeballs in between their Buzzfeed video viewing and clicking onto the pile in their inbox.

The challenge is that, in the din that is today’s “content marketing”, everyone is racing to be more clever than the next guy.

Is that really working, or is it just creating more noise?

When I’m evaluating my own content strategy, I’m always building based on the good ol’ marketing funnel. It’s more complex than it used to be, sure, thanks to the infusion of information channels available to us, all of which inform our awareness and eventual purchase decision in some way, for better or for worse.

But complex or not, the ideal is to balance the buyer’s journey (the one that’s unique to your customers) with your content.

Some stuff should garner eyeballs. Some should capture interest. Some should help someone make a decision to buy. And then some should help engage them after purchase.

Clever can help with the first. Maybe a little of the second if it’s really good, and brand relevant. But after that, it’s not super useful.

Most content marketers stop right after the first step.

They got clicks, eyeballs, shares. Maybe a brief uptick in form completes or leads or coupon downloads because hey, that was a damn clever cat on a Roomba video that brand posted. Maybe Mashable shared it or that guy with the Tumblr.

And then it stops.

Conversions? Meh, okay, but “that’s not what we were going for. Our goal was engagement.”

 

And if you dig beyond the awareness stage and look for content that’s actually simple, informative, and utterly and boringly useful, the arsenal is sparse.

Because it’s not as fun to brainstorm, not particularly fun to create, and certainly doesn’t get shared all over Facebook. And all the social media rockstars of the moment said that “engagement” was the ultimate metric (for the record: I didn’t, but then again I’ve actually been a successful, practicing marketer for about 20+ years. Ahem.).

Here’s the reality, though. Again.

The fun content isn’t where the money is.

It isn’t where the “viral” is, either. If your goal is to have a million people share your video, it isn’t going to be the demo for your software. It’s not going to be the whitepaper on your unique consulting methodology. It’s not going to be the interactive slide deck that walks through the specs of your new scooter or server.

But those are the things that ultimately help people make the buying decision.

I know you don’t like it. But the numbers don’t lie. Do your own analytics if you don’t believe me.

It’s cool, do clever stuff. Swing for the fences of likes and shares and laughs and have some fun giving your brand personality and edge, because that does matter a bit.

But don’t neglect the stuff that isn’t so fun to create, but that your buyers really want to reference. Or that your salesforce can share and leverage. It’s the meat of your content strategy, but the one that gets less press than anything else.

Then again, when the revenue line goes up and to the right thanks to the smart library of stuff you provide, I promise you that’s all the C-suite will care about.