Content marketing allows you to attract, entertain and engage your audience via blogs, infographics and other forms of curated content. Unlike traditional ad buys, content marketing focuses on delighting your audience with new and interesting pieces you produce internally.
As a cultural organization you face a unique set of opportunities and challenges when it comes to content marketing. One of the great advantages of this type of marketing, is its ability to level the playing field. For example, content marketing is all about storytelling and heart - something that most cultural organizations know a lot about!
Below you will find four ways to get a jump start on content marketing for your organization:
1. Explore your organization’s history: One of the best places to start when organizing a content strategy is your orgs history. To start, consider these questions:
Do you have great foundation story?
Are the founders still alive?
Do you have an archive or collections space?
Considering the above questions will help jumpstart a list of ideas that could eventually turn into wonderful content pieces. For example, if your organization’s founders are still alive, consider conducting an interview and publishing it on your website.
2) Consider current events: Incorporating current events into your content strategy will help you increase relevancy while contributing to the conversation. One of the best ways to do this is to set up Google Alerts for items relevant to organization. You can also use social listening tools to better understand the larger global conversations happening around a particular topic. Once you’ve narrowed down relevant events, consider adding these into your overall strategy.
3) Create a content calendar: While time intensive, creating a content calendar will help you utilize your content in a meaningful way. After exploring your organization’s history and considering current events, take all of the ideas you’ve written down and filter them into a calendar that covers the next three months. Incorporate upcoming holidays and events, this will provide an extra layer of relevance to your calendar.
After you’ve gotten your primary content pieces on your calendar, consider how other mediums like social media and email might augment your content.
4) Start writing: Once you and your team have approved the content calendar, start writing! Having a calendar in place, while fluid, will help you and your team stay on top of your content marketing. One of the most important elements of a successful content marketing strategy is consistency. Set goals and increase those goals once they become easy to reach. For example, start with one piece of published content per week and increase that to two, then three and so forth.
The above strategies will help you and your organization get a jump start on incorporating content marketing into your overall digital strategy. And remember, don’t be afraid to think outside the box and try new things!