Good content creation considers who the client is. Are they a tech disruptor or a business that supplies to leading clothing designers? The answer to that question forms the basis for approach in creating content and developing thought leadership pieces.
Arguably, content needs to initially engage its audience. If an article is interesting to read or talks about a typical subject in a novel way, it will likely keep the audience’s attention. Content also needs to educate. A reader should walk away from reading a piece having learned something new or interesting. It should also be relevant and pertain to something important to your client or address a topic import to the client’s target audience.
Content attributed to your brand can be witty or irreverent, but at the end of the day, it also must be true. The temptation may be there to say a product is further along in R&D than it is, but honesty is always the best policy. A brands word is its bond to its target audiences and current and potential customers.
We always advise our clients to be consistent, too. Both in content as well as the sharing of it. If you have a social media campaign that includes daily shares, ensure you are popping up in the social media feed of your prospects every day. Inconsistency breeds questions – “are they ok?” “do they have enough staff to share on social?”
There are a variety of means of quantifying the impact of content creation and placement. Inherent in thought leadership and content creation is the time spent researching and writing. This is in addition to the more typical ways of results measurement that include benchmarking ‘share of voice’ versus the competition, website traffic and conversion rates, and backlinks from online publications.
I work with my clients to find the most effective way to measure success for them. We offer several forms of reporting that provide insight into coverage, sentiment and ad equivalency, in some cases. The meaning of success is different for everyone, and I work to provide the most meaningful measure of increased visibility.
The focus is on getting the job done – not on how long it took us to get there, or how much time we need to bill you. We don’t believe in billing hourly rates. It’s a counter-productive process and prevents us from doing what you hired us to do: increase your company’s visibility, position your brand against competitors, and present your executives as thought leaders. I can create content for clients on a retainer, as part of bigger PR campaign or on a project basis.