A top trick for great content marketing

Content marketing is a powerful tool – with sponsored articles and reviews the most trusted form of advertising among South Africa professionals and executives.

Creating new content consistently for a sustained marketing campaign is often viewed as difficult, however, and can put companies off the idea.

Fortunately, there is a simple trick which makes a content marketing campaign quick and easy to implement: repurposing.

“Many clients we speak to are intimidated by taking up a content marketing campaign, as they think they do not have the skills required to write or approve articles on a regular basis,” said BusinessTech’s Kevin Lancaster.

Lancaster said he suggests the following two steps to companies who are interested in content marketing.

Use existing content

Many companies have content on their website or blog, or in their press release archives.

“This content is often a perfect fit for a marketing campaign, and with a few tweaks a press release can be repurposed as an online article,” said Lancaster.

“The added benefit of using existing content is that it has been approved by the powers that be, which is important for large corporates and listed companies.”

Create a base article, and repurpose it for multiple uses

Companies also often feel they have to use a new article every week or month as part of their marketing campaign.

“If you have the capacity to create or approve new content every week, that is great,” said Lancaster.

“For companies which cannot do this, it is perfectly fine to use one article multiple times, and just tweak it where necessary.”

“For example: If an ISP launches new fibre packages, creating a single article highlighting their features and pricing and then publishing this article regularly over the duration of their campaign can work well.”

Lancaster said companies must not forget that content marketing is still an advertising activity – and articles can be used in a similar way to a display banner or YouTube advert.

“If you launch a new product, it would not be strange to create a single YouTube advert and serve it repeatedly to your target audience.”

“An article can work in a similar way – with a headline change and a few tweaks to the body the only things required to see one article lasting you the duration of your campaign.”

The result speak for themselves

When it comes to repurposing content, Lancaster said it is a good option for companies who want to get into the content marketing game.

“It is unlikely that every person in your target audience will see your sponsored article the first time it is published.”

“This means it makes sense to repeat the message over a period, allowing it to be seen by as many people as possible.”

“We have several clients who have approved a single piece of content, which we then repurpose and publish on a monthly basis.”

“The great results these campaigns deliver speak for themselves,” he concluded.

This article was published in partnership with BusinessTech.