The pandemic that is currently raging and the protests surrounding it have brought to light what’s important for people and companies we work with.
Marketers are seeking innovative ways to keep in touch with customers as companies adapt their strategies and shift from immediate viability to a recovery that continues.
Businesses are redesigning communications based on what they have learned about the needs of their customers and moving away from a selling culture to one that is more focused on serving.
As they do so, many organizations are missing out on an opportunity to create content that goes beyond COVID-19 and the societal call for greater diversity and equity.
Messaging that Matters
It is more important than ever that you communicate with your clients in a way that builds relationships and offers them useful information relevant to their businesses right now.
Media is already overflowing with COVID-19 content, but people still look to businesses and media for actual useful advice.
Even though the effects of the recession have varied from industry to industry – some are thriving, others are focusing on cost-cutting until the business starts to pick up again – you still want to be prepared to jump back into action when your customers and economy are ready.
The Right Content is Needed Now
It takes time to develop good content. There will be a delay between the time you begin creating content and its release to the public. You’ll be behind if you wait for business to pick up again before you start.
The current business environment is well-suited for three types of content: blog posts and contributed articles.
How they can help your business achieve its goals
Blog Posts
It is important to keep your business running as usual as possible. This includes communicating to customers that you are still available to help them with their most critical business challenges.
Enter blog posts:
- These are an easy way to update your website and reach out to customers and prospects.
- They can be used to educate, inspire, or provide quick tips that make your customers’ lives simpler.
- The words are usually shorter (500-1,000), so they require less investment.
- These are useful early on in the sales cycle when potential customers evaluate your product and service. They’re usually housed with blog posts that anyone can read.
- It’s easy to change blog posts when circumstances change, and they will.
Contributed articles
Subject matter experts write contributed articles and offer a unique perspective. Contributed articles are usually between 800 and 1,500 words long and published by a media outlet.
Contributed articles are non-self-promotional, and they infer a level of authority on the writer (and, by extension, on their employer) based on the reputation of the outlet they’re published in.
You can reach a wide audience in a general business magazine or a narrower one by publishing a vertical or industry-specific publication.
We are seeing a growing appetite for articles on timeless topics, even though many writers have been focusing their efforts in the past few months almost exclusively on the pandemic.
Whitepapers and POVs
Here is where your thought leadership can really shine. These longer-format articles give you the chance to dive deeper into your perspective or how your expertise can help your customers.
The research that you use to support your POVs or whitepapers can be from third-party sources, such as Harvard Business Review, Forrester, and other industry experts …).
These are educational, logical, and authoritative. They may conclude with a recommendation that points back to your business, but they don’t feel salesy.
Due to their depth, whitepapers, as well as POVs, are used early in the cycle of sales, when people research a particular problem, or later, when they are making decisions.