
When it comes to content creation, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more straight-talking guide than Barry Feldman. A veteran content marketing strategist, prolific writer, and founder of Feldman Creative, Barry has advised roughly 1,000 companies to better navigate what he calls “the twisted path that is online marketing.”
So naturally, we turned to Barry for a discussion about the pitfalls within the content creation process, and how marketers can set themselves on the right path.
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What is the opportunity cost of poorly-created content?
Barry Feldman: Let’s first look at what might be the results of great content. Of course, there are all different types of content made to satisfy the needs of prospects and customers in different phases of the buying cycle, but generally speaking, the idea for content marketing is to draw the customer closer to your brand.
You become a resource to help them understand and achieve things. A trust is built and with the trust, hopefully comes purchases and advocacy, that is, word of mouth marketing. The customer essentially helps sell your brand.
“The idea for content marketing is to draw the customer closer to your brand”
So, if you’re creating poor content—which might lack relevancy, or usefulness, or it’s just shallow or boring—you lose out on these opportunities. You are forgotten right after you were discovered. No trust is built. The prospect goes elsewhere.
I see this most often with content that is (1) overly salesy or (2) entirely driven by SEO.
Many brands struggle to do away with the pitch they grew used to using with traditional forms of marketing. Many more believe content marketing is the new SEO and base all their efforts on getting high rankings and traffic.
They often succeed in getting the visibility and traffic, but the relationship ends there. The customer has a negative experience, so the content actually backfires.
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Creating content requires a major up-front investment of time and resources. What are the steps you subscribe to (and prescribe to your clients) to ensure that content drives results?
Barry Feldman: First, you forge a plan, which must be based on identifying objectives that serve your company and the needs of the customer. This alone is a multi-step process.
I’ve created two resources for the planning phase. “The Plan to Grow Your Business with Effective Online Marketing” is an eBook that examines how all the pieces of a content marketing effort fit together. The second is “The Planner for Growing Your Business with Effective Online Marketing,” which is a strategic workbook for getting a plan together.
Next, you create content.
Then you promote the content.
Finally, you track and analyze the effectiveness of your content. This also means you perpetually refine your content to improve your results, so there really is no final step.
All of what I’ve said here is a simplification. I break it down into 7 steps that plot the path a bit more tactically in a webinar and presentation I give called “Magnetic Content: Strategies to Transform Your Website Into a Customer Attraction Force Field.”
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Which step in the content creation process is the most common culprit of poorly-executed content?
Barry Feldman: Planning. It’s been studied repeatedly and the research always reveals those that are confident they are getting the results they aim for are the companies that have a content marketing plan.
Newcomers to content marketing often fire before they aim. They become seduced by the platforms such as blogging and social media, so they jump in before they’ve done the upfront work, which is less sexy.
“Newcomers to content marketing often fire before the aim”
You could also make a case the creation step is where the breakdowns occur. Content marketing isn’t magic in and of itself and it’s not likely you’ll be the only one in your market doing it. So given the immense competition, the only companies that realize the benefits are the ones who hire the very best writers, designers and producers capable of making outstanding content.
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As a content creator, what do you think is the ultimate goal of content creation? What ultimate purpose can and should it serve?
Barry Feldman: From the brand’s point of view, the ultimate purpose is to win business. It’s the same as any type of marketing, though it’s practiced differently because the customer’s in the driver seat.
“You have to remain forever mindful of the customer’s point of view”
To serve the purpose, you have to remain forever mindful of the customer’s point of view. You have to deliver content that’s useful. So, though I started by talking about the marketer’s purpose, smart marketers put the customer first.
If you liked this post, you might like THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF POORLY-PERFORMING CONTENT or 10 INFLUENCERS ON THE FUTURE OF CONTENT MARKETING.
Want more content marketing tips? Download The Colossal Content Marketing Report for insights into headline optimization, publishing frequency, social distribution, and more.