Mel Hennigar
Content marketing. It seems like I can’t sit through a single meeting these days without those two words being mentioned at least once. And with good reason—it’s a strategy that works. We’ve seen it in action both with our own clients and through observing industry trends for the past few years.
But while we know it works, that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. A challenge we’re often faced with is how to keep things interesting. Creating content simply for the sake of making things is missing the point. A successful content strategy relies on creating content that is interesting and relevant. In other words, quality over quantity, always.
Not every industry or specialization clearly translates into Instagram-worthy pictures, or effortlessly captivating blog posts. Some industries are a little—shall we say—dull. And that’s ok, because dull doesn’t necessarily have to translate to boring. Dull just means you might have to think about things a little differently.
When it comes to content, there is no such thing as a boring industry. There are only boring writers.
Don’t believe me? Here are three examples that prove the theory.
Containers
When you think of the shipping industry there’s nothing duller than stacks and stacks of plain containers sitting on a pier somewhere waiting to be loaded onto a train to be taken somewhere else. Snore. But what if I told you the shipping industry is responsible for shaping the architecture of modern cities? Or that your morning cup of joe wouldn’t be possible without container ships? Containers is an eight-part podcast about the global influence of the shipping industry and it’s anything but dull. By using a podcast as a story telling medium, listeners get to hear first-hand accounts from the people who actually facilitate the industry itself. Those stories help to root the shipping industry in something that is interesting and relatable by creating a human connection. And that’s what makes for binge-worthy content.
Listen: https://soundcloud.com/containersfmg
Wealthsimple
What could possibly be interesting about automated investing? An algorithm moving fractions of cents around—who cares! But Wealthsimple’s approach isn’t to focus on what they do so much as the benefit it brings. The insight here is simple: Everybody likes money. It’s just that not everybody has a lot of it, or knows what to do with the money they do have. By providing interesting and engaging content from a variety of sources—hello Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon!—as well as practical how-to information, Wealthsimple is able to shift the conversation away from 1s and 0s to the impact that money can have on your life. The result is entertaining and thoughtful financial advice presented in an easy-to-digest way.
Read: https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/magazine
Mailchimp
At first glance, Mailchimp is a company that provides technology that allows other companies and organizations to send mass emails. What could possibly be interesting about that? Lots, it turns out. As a brand, Mailchimp isn’t afraid to show a little bit of personality—this is evident on their social channels as well as in their mass-marketing campaigns. By creating timely, relevant, and interesting content, Mailchimp engages with current and potential customers in a way that keeps the company part of the conversation.
Follow Mailchimp:
https://www.instagram.com/mailchimp/
https://twitter.com/MailChimp
https://www.facebook.com/mailchimp/
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Visit our Content Marketing Expertise page to learn more about how we can help you.
——— Mel Hennigar is a former Senior Creative Strategist at NATIONAL Public Relations
