There is too much content. Or, rather there is too much content being produced without a reason, or purpose. Smartphones and social media have exploded the amount of digital content being produced (not created) and shared. According to a Statista report on Youtube video uploads, in 2022 “more than 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute. This equates to approximately 30,000 hours of newly uploaded content per hour.” It would take you three and a half years to watch 30,000 hours of video. I am not suggesting that anyone would try to watch every minute of video uploaded to Youtube, I'm just trying to put the issue into perspective. Although, my weekly iPhone screen usage report would have you believe I am attempting to consume all content on social media. The report goes on to say that the volume of content being uploaded has grown by 40% since 2014.
For brands and marketers this poses a major problem. With all of this content being uploaded, how do you break through the noise and reach and engage with people? The answer is to create content with purpose. If your content does not have a clear purpose, then you're just shouting into the void. As human attention becomes more scarce we see many companies attempt strange or ridiculous tactics in an effort to disrupt or “stop the scroll”, treating people and prospective customers more like cats whom they jingle car keys at to momentarily grab their attention. But, if the content is not created with a clear purpose then you risk losing their attention, as well as their trust.
So, let’s talk about creating content with purpose in order to effectively communicate with an audience. But, first let’s discuss what content is and why we create it.
Why do we create content?
The exact reason we create content can be difficult to summarize in a few short sentences. The word “Content” itself has a very broad definition. Merriam-Webster defines (web) content as:
“the principal substance (such as written matter, illustrations, or music) offered by a website.”
Rough translation: Content can be anything that is seen and or heard.
To improve our content planning and creation, when we think about why we create content, whether for large media buying campaigns or for a single social media post, it is important that we focus on the following questions:
What is the Brand challenge or problem we are trying to solve?
What value will the customer or audience get out of seeing or hearing this?
Answering these simple questions will ensure we know why the content is being created - or the objective of the campaign. Too often brands and companies produce content simply because they “need content”. But, if the content has no clear purpose it is a missed opportunity to connect and engage with a prospective customer.
Good content does not have to be expensive, or highly produced.
Let me repeat that: good content does not have to be expensive, or highly produced. It simply needs to have a clearly defined purpose. All content campaigns should start with these high-level questions, and you should revisit and if needed refine the answers for every campaign so that your content continues to evolve and mature along with your brand and products.
How do we define “Purposeful content”?
Knowing the problem we are trying to solve or the brand challenge, and the anticipated value for the people who see this content is the foundation for any successful campaign. Next we identify who the content is for (target audience), what action we want them to take (goals), and what success looks like (measurable outcomes). This gives our content purpose, and informs what content we should produce.
Who is the audience?
All content should have a clearly defined audience. This is critical for all marketing communications, and any communication, really. Anyone who has heard or told a joke that didn’t seem to land, is aware of the phrase “know your audience”. Instinctively you might think that phrase is letting the joker know that they told a bad joke, but it is actually sound advice regarding who the joke was intended for (or not intended for). The joke could be hilarious, for the proper audience. In order to make the content as relevant as possible, we need to know who you are trying to communicate with and where you are trying to reach them.
So, make sure you know who the intended audience is. Do you know their demographics, like age and gender? Have you considered or identified any stress factors they may face when purchasing your product, or when shopping for your service? These are important questions, because you likely don’t want to make a joke or use slang terms that would be completely unfamiliar to a particular generation. Regarding slang: the use of any pop culture references is often discouraged in marketing, as you risk the message not being understood by the viewer. This often comes from a desire to reach as many people as possible, rather than reaching the most appropriate audience. If you have thought about who the content is for (or at least the people you are trying to reach), and have done the research to know if this intended audience would be familiar with the joke or reference then it could be a great choice.
Another important audience consideration is what channel you are trying to reach them on (and which channels they are active on). By knowing their media consumption habits and channel preferences you can make more definitive choices around the subject, style, and type of content to produce. For example, you wouldn’t produce a static or single image social media post for video-first platforms like TikTok because that is not why people use TikTok.
What do you want your audience to do?
Now that you know who the content is for, and where it will be published, let’s determine the value the person watching or listening will get out of it. Why are we creating this piece or series of content? What problem does it help solve? Do you want the viewer to learn something about your product, or do you want them to take a particular action? Knowing what you want the audience to do will inform the substance and the message. For instance, if you want to generate a click to your website that is done more effectively through an image banner with a clear CTA (“call to action”), rather than a longfrom non-clickable video. When deciding what you want your audience to do, it is also important to think about which stage of the purchase journey they are likely in. Any product or sales campaign needs to consider the full customer journey, from awareness to consideration to purchase/conversion and what content is needed throughout the journey to educate and engage prospective customers. This is known as “Customer Journey Mapping”, which is a way to document and visualize all the various points of potential content engagement with your audience or customer, and what actions they can take. Customer Journey Mapping deserves its own post, but for this article it is simply a reminder that the purpose of a single piece of content might change based on who the audience is, where they are, and what action you want them to take after receiving your message.
How do you define or measure success?
Finally, let’s talk about measuring the success of the content. However, let me preface this by stating you should not let predictive performance indicators affect the creative process, too much. If you are trying to do something bold or unique, setting specific performance goals might be a deterrent for a great idea simply because there is no legacy reporting, or the data is unclear.
If you are trying to do something bold or unique, you should not let predictive performance indicators affect the creative process (too much).
Documenting what will make the content or campaign successful, and how you will measure this success is just a way to ensure you are creating the content with a clear purpose, you are learning and finding ways to get better, or you are looking for ways to test and optimize your content based on the predetermined goals of the campaign. And, if you’re ever told that a concept or campaign is too risky or leadership doesn’t “get it” you can point to your measurement plan to assure them you are mitigating risks, or at least learning from them. But, defining success is a critical step in creating content with purpose because it solidifies the Goal. Even if you cannot measure the outcome with 100 percent certainty, defining success further confirms that you are creating content for the right audience, in the correct moment, on the proper channel, with the best message.
To define the success of your content, be sure you know what the intended outcome is. Will this content drive sales? Will this content increase awareness, or build loyalty? How long will this content be relevant (evergreen vs seasonal or limited period of time)?
Next, determine what data, insights, or reporting will be available based on the placement or publishing channel. What consumer data can be captured through engagement? For example, can you see if the viewer watched the entirety of a video or can you only see an impression? Do we have any relevant learnings or data from previous campaigns? Where will the data come from and how frequently is the data updated?
The success measurement plan should be documented and then built into your reporting, and you should revisit the reports next time you create similar content. Did the content work as expected? Where do you see the highest engagement or clicks versus the lowest? For campaigns with flights longer than three weeks you can also use the measurement plan to modify and optimize the content based on engagement through multivariate performance test plans.
Knowing the purpose of a single piece of content makes the creation process more efficient, and effective and helps to more accurately measure its success and optimize its performance.
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Creating Content with Purpose is the best way to reach and engage with prospective customers, and to build loyalty with current customers.
At Long Story, Short, we are a bold and ambitious, creative content experience agency. Everything we create is grounded in purpose. We are looking for bold and ambitious companies who want to build content with purpose and reach the most relevant and qualified audiences. We build unique brand identities and value propositions, custom content strategies, and produce content that performs for you. We would love to help you answer all of the questions above so you can increase awareness, generate leads, drive sales, and nurture customers to become loyalists. Send us an email and let’s do incredible work together.
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