Too Much of a Good Thing? Content Marketing is at a Tipping Point
By Simon Erskine Locke, Founder & CEO, CommunicationsMatchTM 
Can too much of a good thing, be a bad thing?With almost every company pursuing content marketing as a strategy to build awareness and engagement it is becoming harder and harder to be differentiated.Today, the challenge is to be heard over the noise. Spend time on Twitter, LinkedIn or your favorite social platform – the cacophony of the clamor for attention is overwhelming.Content continues to be a powerful tool to build audiences – but strategies will have to become smarter and more focused if they are to achieve desired goals.In an increasingly competitive landscape, there are a few simple rules to follow:
- Content must be compelling for target audiences – Articles, blogs or white papers have to be written or created with the interests of readers/viewers as a starting point – not what you want to tell them.
- Quality is far more important than quantity. Yes, content helps drive SEO and the authority of your website, but the benefits are greater when people read it.
- Content should not be created with a “mass” perspective. It needs to be targeted for specific audiences. Eventually, content will have to be for a target of one – the specific client you want to take action.
- Content delivery is as important as what you write. Building email or social media channels to your audience takes work and ongoing investment. The engagement of your audiences has to be earned.
- Think like your audience. Only produce articles or material you would want to read.
With tools being developed to automatically generate content, you may want to want to turn up the volume to 11. The opposite is true. Content needs to be curated. Pared down to what is good and relevant.This is no easy task. The writing and story-telling skills of journalists, PR agencies and content companies with expert writers, such as ndash.co, are increasingly important, especially when combined with detailed industry knowledge. In a world in which people are shouting for attention, saying something meaningful in a soft voice, may actually be the best way to get your audiences to listen to what you have to say.[author] CommunicationsMatch is a world-leading communications-focused search site. It is the go-to resource for businesses seeking communications services providers with more than 4,500 U.S. and International agencies and professionals listed. Search for and connect with agencies and professionals with expertise in areas including: public relations, internal communications, government affairs, investor relations, content marketing, social media, SEO, website development, photography and video.Find experts by name, industry sector, communications expertise, location, size, keywords and clients.Listed companies can create comprehensive profiles by adding keywords, biographies, client rosters, ownership information, capabilities presentations, videos and thought leadership articles.See more communications Insights at https://www.communicationsmatch.com/papers.Follow us on Twitter at @CommMatch or LinkedIn at CommunicationsMatch or Facebook. [/author]
