As a sign that content marketing has come of age, you’ll find that there are now awards—handed out by any number of entities—for the best marketing content. And if you look at the winning entries in any of these competitions, you’ll find that they all have one common denominator: the hard work it took to create them. In content marketing as in life, it seems, one of the core principles is “no pain, no gain.”
What it Takes to Come Out on Top
Even within the category of “high quality content” there are some distinct differences between pieces that are very good and pieces that are great. And the great pieces are the ones that can really help your organization make a name for itself.
If you want to create award-worthy content, you’ve got to:
Truly focus on the client
All content marketers say they are creating customer-centric material. You probably say that too. But if you really want your content to make it into the upper echelon, you have to be brutally honest with yourself and ask, “Is this piece really going to help meet the prospect’s needs, or is it going to hint at helping while really just being an advertisement in disguise?” Until you can honestly say that your material is 100% designed to serve the consumer, you won’t be winning any awards or winning over the hearts and minds of your audience.
Go deep
With the pressure to continually churn out great content, it’s easy to start simply skimming the surface of the topics you’re addressing in order to save time and effort. A few buzzwords, some boilerplate statements about wanting to “engage and inform” the prospect, and that’s a wrap. To produce truly exceptional content, you’ve got to get to the heart of an issue, ideally unearthing some intel that’s never been covered before.
Be original
It’s easy to recycle tired old product descriptions and stale stock images. But easy doesn’t get you noticed. Novel, new prose, fresh photography, and other unique elements can help elevate a piece of content from boring to bravo!
Take some risks
The most important aspect of your marketing content is what it tells your audience. But a close second is how it tells it. In order to really grab the attention of your target market, you’ve got to be willing to experiment with new ways of sharing your story. A good indicator that you’re onto something that may become award-winning content is that you’re a little uncomfortable with it.
In It to Win It
Not every piece of content you create will be, or should be, an award winner. However, it ought to be your goal that an ever-increasing percentage of your material is not just good but great. Admittedly, it’s tough to gauge the “wow factor” of your own content. That’s where an inbound marketing agency like 30dps comes in. We have both extensive skill in creating content and decades of experience in understanding what will move an audience to action. We’d be happy to learn about your objectives and to share our insights on how to achieve them.
