Great Content Was King, But Now There’s So Much More To Do

We’ve all heard the phrase “content is king.” Nearly always, Internet marketing webinars and gurus preach that “great content” is the  golden ticket to building a successful online marketing strategy. And there’s no denying that a brand’s content needs to be engaging.

But great content – whether it’s a well-written piece, an exceptionally intriguing video, or an awesome photo — isn’t enough anymore. Continually producing great content will likely keep those who have developed an affinity for your brand returning. But content alone is rarely the initial bait that brings new consumers into your online world.

New (and even great) content can end up as just a place holder or an intriguing read for a faithful few. Sure, new content helps SEO. But,  webinar providers and gurus need to fess up that great content is just a starting point. Because, unlike in the movie Field of Dreams, if you build it, your desired audience won’t necessarily come.

It takes a lot more to build a “tribe” that will connect to your business and (hopefully) help it grow in today’s online world.

Beyond tactics like integrating social media and utilizing more photos and video, an overall strategy that clearly lays out goals is needed. What’s the objective of your content strategy? What are its defined components? What audience(s) are you trying to reach? What other online and offline tactics will be employed to attract consumers to your website content and social media? How will the success of all your efforts be measured?

Content marketing is evolving. What will your content strategy look like in 2015? Is it time to step back, evaluate and reconstruct?

The first step in that process is to get a handle on the changing content marketing landscape. We think a good place to start is with these 10 big predictions for 2015.