Relevance in being Relevant
This article was co-authored by Amrutha Joseph and Monisha Arumugham
Rethink, Refresh, Repeat.
Making your mind adaptable to the gazillion updates that pop up from every nook and cranny can prove fastidious but is never rendered useless. Such was the notion behind attending the Digital Marketing Conference conducted by Success Gyan in Chennai.
Keeping up with changing communication strategies of the ever-evolving media space is key to any professional who would want to make their voice heard amid the daily cacophony of general messaging and umbrella pitching. Though heard and forgotten more often than remembered, the phrase ‘content is king’ will never exhaust itself of its value. Similar is the conclusion that you will reach if you have given yourself the leeway to break free from the monotonous routines of agency life. But what makes it relevant is the medium you choose to deliver it.
Digital is the way of life. It has been for the last one decade. But can you break the clutter with your words? The maestros of digital marketing prove that you can.
Digital content marketing is a hot topic now. Knowing your messaging helps, but what matters more is knowing your audience. Content is what your audience turns to for solutions, building a rapport through it to earn their trust will invariably result in reciprocation. By taking care of extremes from your TG and building up the user persona you understand the needs and wants of your target group. Supplement it with competitive research, your content is strong but is it enough?
No messaging is complete without knowing what the audience wants. Weaving the story, narrating the tale brings forth the key messaging in your content. Visualize, segregate and transform it from informational to transactional, says the speaker.
A story is important to take your brand to people. The most successful and memorable campaigns are the ones that told the uniqueness of their brands through stories. The same goes for digital marketing. Amidst plethora of posts and updates on social media, only stories which are genuine catch attention.
Find where people are going and be there first. To be able to identify the interests and needs of consumers, it’s essential that we keep a tab on where the traffic is. Once we spot where the demand is, positioning our brand to fill the gap through content is crucial.
Always plan ahead. Fine-tuning your messaging calendar to reflect your goals will create consistency thereby intensifying your message.
Use tools to amplify your reach. The greatest boon to marketing is the mushrooming of online tools that can help serve your audience better. It makes your messaging easy and target oriented not to mention readworthy.
Identifying your niche. To further bifurcate it into micro niche is a strategy that is embodied to funnel down your messaging. In other words, being a jack of all trades will not really get you places! Clarity matters, so does focus.
Measure your outcome. You cannot improve what you cannot measure. It can only happen if you track your amplification and conversations. When channeled correctly, this will lead to revenue generation.
Steps and processes make it easy to create, but is your delivery as effective as your messaging? Tried and tested methods of content marketing has, to a point become archaic. Catching the eye of the reader/audience amidst the clutter of generic content shipped as ‘creatively unique’ is the biggest challenge that any marketeer faces today. To break the clutter, you need to break the norms!
Send a four-minute video, barge into you prospects’ smartphone screens with a smile wide enough to make them wonder — “what on earth?” You wanted to grab their attention? Mission accomplished! Being creative needs grit n guts. It needs commitment and perseverance to try and explore the unknown, the unusual and the unheard. Moreover, it needs a heck load of courage to break free of what is considered acceptable.
Outlasting your yesterday should be your goal. Investing in yourself to think differently and seek better platforms can bring about the change that you want to make in the world.
To quote Michael Jackson, ‘I’m starting with the wo(man) in the mirror. I’m asking her to change her ways’. It is an open-ended invitation to change, to upgrade, to become relevant. Educate yourself to educate your audience.
