There are a lot of ways that marketing and writing intersect. Your website is based on writing, your social media messages are based on writing and content posting is one of the most successful methods of inbound marketing in existence.American Express got the wise idea to create OPEN Forum, a platform that launched American Express into a new era. The success of OPEN Forum can be dedicated to the professional writers AmEx hired to focus on quality content provided on OPEN Forum. With the content published, consumers flocked to the site and it is now a huge source for lead generation for American Express.In short, writing works.But in order to fully reap the benefits of writing, it’s important to think like a publisher, and this is true of other forms of marketing as well. When you pick up a magazine, what do you notice? Most publications try extra hard to get you, the reader, interested in what they have to offer. Thus they tailor their content to your points of interest.Most brands outside of the publishing realm have a very inward focus when it comes to marketing. They have a certain angle they want to push, and push they do. You might be guilty of this if you’re trying desperately to focus on sales numbers. Being too self-absorbed as a brand can actually harm you because being too involved in what you want can push customers away.Remember this simple statement: pushy brands push away customers.Traditional media is very concerned with loyalty, however. Publications want your interest and then they monetize later. This is why they push out quality content they know you’ll like and find ways to keep your interest – THAT’S how they get their money.<
Marketing professional Joe Pulizzi refers to the unique spin that content as as the “content tilt.” All content has to have something that gives it that edge, which is part of why publications stand out. Think back to magazines again. Both Cosmopolitan and Vanity Fair both contain tons of articles, but each article fits in with each magazine AND you can definitely tell them both apart.Your own brand’s tilt will depend on both your brand values and your audience. Looking back on those magazines, you can easily tell the sort of audience they’re going for. While both target women, and both target a specific age of women, both publications market towards a different subcategory of the same gender. The reason that both magazines retain subscriptions is because they individually understand who they’re marketing to and publish content that that marketing is interested in.There’s different aspects of content you should concern yourself with: quality, uniqueness, consistency and competitive advantage.
The following pieces of advice can be used more specifically to spark interest in your content team and get you on track to succeeding just like publications do.
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