Marketing

Your Content Marketing Needs a Point. Here’s How To Make it.

by Nikki Volpicelli Posted On July 18th, 2017 | 10:00am EST

When you have a destination in mind, you don’t just get in your car and drive. And when you have a story to tell, you don’t just put your fingers on the keys and start typing.

As easy as that sentiment is to understand, a lot of businesses and brands still get it wrong. Content marketing is not about throwing a lot on the wall and hoping some of it sticks. It’s about knowing your customer, your space, and structuring your words with both in mind. It’s about having a roadmap.

Down to every post, your content should have a point. Start by putting together an outline so that you’re structuring a message that’s well-rounded, consistent and above all, easy for your customer to understand. Influence&Co calls this approach the “editorial mindset,” we call it the bread and butter of content strategy.

Title

A title should be “grabby.” It should pull the reader—your customer—in. But once they’re in, it’s what’s underneath that counts. While your title might change as you process your thoughts, it’s good to have a placeholder from the beginning to keep you on track.

Summary

Writing a blog piece shouldn’t be as daunting as a high school book report. The summary should be short and to the point. Often, it’s easiest to build a list of statements and questions you want to make and answer, and flesh those out in the final feature.

Conclusion

Or, in other words: why you are writing this in the first place. We talked last week about the most important thing to remember when building a content marketing plan—that you’re effectively answering your customer’s most burning questions. This is where you’ll do that. Your title and summary should ask the question, tease suggestions, and hint at the finale. But here it is—your literal and figurative period—the final point.

City/Studio always takes an editorial approach to your content. Read our Case Studies to learn more about how we tell our client’s stories.