With the start of a new year many businesses will be looking to refresh their content, launch new products and generally have their messages cut through to their audience. Coming off a year where many businesses have leaned on the online space even more, this has become increasingly difficult to stand out. The below goes through some simple steps to ensure your content is relevant and suits the current landscape.
Message Variation
It may seem obvious but you need to plan out what your writing your content for and who will read it. A webpage, landing page, blog, offer or advertising collateral are not the same thing. We have seen too many businesses fall into the trap, whether it be out of laziness or they are over doing the idea of consistency, just push the exact same piece of content in every channel and on every platform.
Consistency and a theme are a fantastic starting point and something that needs to be considered but you need to customise content to each channel and device type . This is where you develop a plan to cover onsite and offsite and social message variation. For example, you may have a new product and want to have the following:
- Product Page;
- Landing Page;
- Blog;
- Social media Ads;
- Google Ads.
A customer that reads an advertisement wants a cut down summary while a landing page will cut through to the core benefits and costs etc. A blog or product page can go into much more granular detail where needed. Any complexity to your content needs to be reserved for when the customer is engaged; although you may feel it is a core selling point, if it’s not easy to comprehend and needs explanation it really needs to be brought onto your website, while basic dot points are used in your offsite (advertising) to draw your audience in.
Content Calendars
Developing a content calendar can not only give you a great guide as to when and where to post your content but also keep you on track to regularly develop content and stay connected to your audience. A basic Excel spreadsheet listing months/dates and content would suffice. An example:
Keeping a calendar will ensure you post regularly and can be shared among team members to make contributions also. Remember the more people within a business that contributes to your content the easier it is to produce.
| Month | Content | Topic | Platform |
| Jan | Article | Content in 2021 | Website Blog |
| Jan | Article | Content in 2021 | FB/Linked In |
Cut Down the Message
As we mentioned earlier there would not be a business sector that is becoming easier to compete in and for this reason it has never been more important to deliver messages that are:
- Concise;
- Direct;
- Simple to understand (keep jargon internal);
- And deliver a call to action (CTA).
If your message is easy to understand and remember then chances are it will be easy for someone to pass it onto to someone else and refer your product/service or business.
SEO & Copywriting
Finally and often forgotten, make sure your copy is edited and approved. If your business needs any approvals or legal advice on what you are writing, ensure you do due diligence then proceed with editing and finally SEO. Any blog or onsite content piece, in particular, should be fully optimised to ensure your content has the best chance of being seen and read by your audience.
If your business needs help in this area or any area of developing digital content please contact Suits Digital today to discuss, when are here ready to help.