If you’re familiar with content marketing, you know it’s a valuable way both to serve your community and to reach potential customers. But how does a content marketer actually disseminate marketing content? What venues and formats are most effective?
To answer that question, I called my mother. Here’s her top 5 list.
- E-newsletters. “I love e-newsletters. They can hold lots of info, and I can save them without cluttering my coffee table. Click, click, click, and I’ve filed it on my computer.”
- In-Person Events. “We seniors like to get out, you know. Speaking of which, you should do a presentation at my senior center. I could recommend you. Or you could try the Rotary Club, the ‘Y,’ religious groups, the public library, and such. Be sure they have coffee and donuts, honey. I don’t learn well when I’m hungry.”
- Photos and Illustrations. “That ol’ adage, ‘a picture’s worth a thousand words,’ is still true, though I hear they’re calling them ‘memes’ now. A good illustration will catch my attention every time!”
- Social media. “Some of us seniors are pretty tech savvy, you know. We use Twitter, Facebook, Google, Instagram! And Pinterest! I heard that the biggest growth segment among Pinterest users is senior women! And there’s LinkedIn’s SlideShare. Of course, that’s mostly for your business types, but I’ve picked up some great info there, too.”
- Infographics. “I love infographics! They get so much across in such an easy-to-understand format.”
OK, I didn’t really contact my mother. This list is based on research by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs. They asked active content marketers what their most effective B2C content marketing formats were, and came up with the above ranking. (See B2C Content Marketing 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America).
The results were different for B2B marketers, with In-Person Events ranked first, followed by Webinars, Case Studies, White Papers, and Videos. (See B2B Content Marketing 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America.)
Other formats mentioned in the two surveys included blogs, direct mail, mobile aps, and website articles. Formats not mentioned include newspaper articles and radio and TV appearances.
And, of course, word of mouth! As my grandmother said, “Call me anytime, honey. I’m a great networker. I’ll spread the word. But I’ve got to hang up now. I’m meeting my friend Mitzy to go to the Swinging Seniors Dance down at the ‘Y.’”
Please contact me at dhart@movecommunications.com with your questions about leveraging your Brand to achieve your sales and marketing goals.
