Content Marketing Needs a R-E-S-T, No Seriously

Content Marketing Needs REST

Captivating your audience isn’t as easy as it once was.

The days of meaningless content are over, and the era of trusted resources, honest brands, and value-based content is in.

And because creating a human-centered, value-based brand is in, businesses need to rethink their marketing strategies and come back to what means the most:

The customer … and valuable content.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is a customer-centric approach that is all about creating and sharing valuable content that cultivates a brand community by attracting and engaging a specific audience. Content Marketing goes beyond collateral and really focuses on a value-driven offering that builds trust, strong relationships, and long-term loyalty with your customers.

You’re not pushing products or services … you’re building a relationship driven by trust and value.

A strong content marketing strategy can help establish credibility with your target audience, drive traffic to your website, move customers through a brand journey, boost your SEO ranking, help identify your audience, and ultimately close the loop on long-term conversions.

Content Marketing can take on lots of different looks and might be built on a strategy that includes:

  • blog posts
  • social media
  • videos
  • podcasts
  • infographics

What is the REST Strategy?

Knowing that your business needs to capture a content marketing strategy is the first step … next up, what content should you create to really offer value to your customers?

This is where developing a R.E.S.T based strategy can help you step up to the plate.

The REST strategy creates a solid framework for your content and builds from four pillars of integrity that work together synergistically:

Resources: 

Resources refer to any tools or materials that you use to communicate your brand to your brand audience, including your website, social media, email campaigns, and any other marketing funnels in place. Your resources should be succinct, well-written, and completely on brand with your visual identity to help create long-term brand recognition and recall.

Expertise:

Expertise is how you level up in the industry by showcasing expert knowledge and skills in your industry. Having a deep understanding of your target audience, their needs, and wants, and how your product or service can solve their problems will be the crux of the knowledge and content you share. Expert information and education should be applied to the most up-to-date content trends and platforms that best reach your audience.

Supremacy:

This is your brand position as a leader in your industry. Becoming an industry leader is a holistic system of providing consistently high-quality services or products and positioning yourself as an authority in your field. You need to show your customers that you are the go-to source for all their questions, answers, and solutions when it comes to your industry.

Trust:

Trust is the foundation of any successful marketing campaign and is the goal of content marketing. Brands need to cultivate trust to build strong relationships and need strong relationships to create long-term loyalty. Brands build trust by being transparent, honest, and ultimately following through with their brand promises. Your customers need to feel that you genuinely have their best interests at heart.

Why Being Consistent with Your Content Strategy is Key

Consistency is key when it comes to marketing, and the REST system provides consistency in your content, messaging, and overall strategy. When your brand consistently shows up, customers learn to trust you, your message, and your brand integrity.

By consistently focusing on the four pillars of the REST system, brands can quickly become known as a leader and experts to be trusted and will create clear, targeted B2C messaging.

Five Ways to Build Your Marketing Around REST

  1. Brainstorm: Develop a marketing plan that is aligned with REST and includes specific, targeted goals for each of the categories – brainstorm here and get creative. Once you have clear goals in mind, carve out each of the tactics you’ll use to get to the goal. Create clear timelines for each and track your progress. Remember, what gets measured gets done.
  2. Be Consistent: Ensure that all your marketing materials are consistent with your brand message and visual identity, and go back to who your brand is – always. Align your website, socials, campaigns, and collaborations with your goals and brand messaging across all channels.
  3. Stay Current: Stay up-to-date with the latest marketing trends to stay current and relevant with the ways you share your consistent messaging. Network with your community, and keep your finger on the pulse of trending information and social media tactics to stay up-to-date on how to meet your customers where they are and how to meet their needs.
  4. Speak with Confidence: Know your industry and your customer on a deep level in order to speak with confidence. Know what you’re saying, why, and what value you’re bringing to your audience. Act as a trusted authority with strong evidence to back up what you say. Confidence comes from living out what you say, so make sure you do that too.
  5. Be Honest: Build trust with your audience by being transparent, honest, and delivering on your promises. Don’t make claims or grande statements that you can’t back up.

Ultimately creating a strong REST strategy comes back to having a strong Marketing Strategy … which is what we do best.

Ready to carve out your own strong, independent, trustworthy strategy?

Give StellaPop a call!

 

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