If you’re reading this right now, you’re not just a small business owner. You’re a savvy, hip, up-to-trend small business owner. (Flattery gets me everywhere. Or at least lower bounce rates!)
So you know that marketing in 2015 means content marketing. As Seth Godin famously said, “Content Marketing is the Only Marketing Left.” Now, content marketing might not be the only kind of marketing you do. You might still be dabbling in traditional print, radio or even TV marketing techniques.
But by and large, to succeed in today’s digital atmosphere, content marketing should become the lion’s share of your marketing plan.
(By the way, I hope you have a marketing plan by now. Savvy, smart, trendy business owner like you surely has a marketing plan by now, right? No? Then get thee to reading this article right away.)
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A Step-by-Step Approach to Creating a Lovable Marketing Plan You Will Use
The Why of Content Marketing Mission Statements
So you have a marketing plan, or are about to create one. And you know you must incorporate content marketing into that plan. But what about your Content Marketing Mission Statement? Yes, I do mean a mission statement just for your content marketing.
Are you rolling your eyes right now, thinking this is just another reason to slow you down and make you complete more paperwork? When all you’d rather do is get out there and start playing with your video editing software, or begin writing fun blog posts about your products.
Well, don’t. Resist that urge, people. Because scattershot content that has no continuity, no framework that holds it together, no cohesive mission…is doomed to fail. It’s doomed to confuse, turn off and turn away the very consumer base you are looking to attract and engage.
Your content really does need a mission. Every blog post, tweet, video and photo needs to be marching in the same direction to be truly effective. Because let’s face it, folks, content marketing is a long haul. Meaning, it’s not going to take one or two Facebook funny updates to convert a prospect into a loyal customer.
It might take weeks. It might take months. You have to think slow, steady…and strategic.
So what the heck IS a content marketing mission statement? And how do you even begin to create one?
The What of Content Marketing Mission Statements
Before you can even hope to create a compelling, effective content marketing mission statement, you need to first understand what a plain old mission statement is.
A mission statement is generally considered a reason for being. A company’s general mission statement tells who the company is, who they want to help, how they plan to help them, and what the outcome of that ‘help’ will be.
In fact, you can boil mission statements down to a formula. A Harvard Business Review article quoted Kevin Starr of the Mulago foundation saying “…that companies he funds can express their mission statement in under eight words.” They also must follow this format: “Verb, target, outcome.” Some examples: “Save endangered species from extinction” and “Improve African children’s health.”
Here are two examples of fabulous company mission statements. (Again, these are not content marketing mission statements, nor are they even marketing mission statements. But they are great examples of the basics of mission statements.)
IKEA
Our vision and business idea
At IKEA our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.
Though they rename this to be their “vision and business idea”, it’s essentially their mission statement. Verb – offering wide range of products. Target – “the many people”. (That’s not a typo, they speak about the many people versus just serving ‘the few people’ elsewhere on their site.) Outcome – creating a better everyday life.
Simple, lofty, inspiring. And if you are a diehard IKEA fan like myself, you’ll agree they seem to really live up to that mission!
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
This is one of my favorites, mainly due to its simplicity. Verb – organize. Target – the world (!) Outcome – universally accessible and useful.
The How Of Content Marketing Mission Statements
Okay, time to write your own content marketing mission statement. It’s very simple — easier than you think. A little pre-planning on your content marketing goals will make your content more effective and your ideas flow more freely.
So let’s start with what makes a content marketing mission statement (CMMS) different than the mission statements I posted above. Simple: a mission statement is a company’s reason for being. A CMMS is a reason for creating content. It’s a cohesive framework on which all content works together.
(By the way, there’s a side benefit to creating a CMMS. Not only will it be an elegant way to sum up your content marketing efforts, it will keep you on the straight and narrow when it comes to content creation. If a proposed piece of content doesn’t pass muster with the CMMS, don’t bother creating it. Or tweak it until it does fit!)
I’ll end this article with practical steps on creating your CMMS, but here are some concepts to keep in mind as you run through them:
First, The Why And Whom
Why are you creating content? For whom? One of the most revolutionary aspects of content marketing (vs. traditional marketing) is that it truly is all about your customer base. It’s not what you and your company wants to talk about, write about, make videos or Vines about. It’s about who is going to consume this content and why they might find it useful.
Niche Is Nice
Do not, I repeat, do not try to be everything to everyone. If you’re a retailer who sells farming goods and equipment, decide now if you’re going to gear your content to the small time organic farmer, or the managers and decision-makers in a larger industrialized farming company.
By trying to appeal to both of these (often opposing) markets, you risk nullifying your content’s credibility. Choose who you want to ‘help’ and whose outcome you want to improve. Then create content for them and only them.
Keep It Short
Richard Branson, the brilliant big brain behind the Virgin brand, thinks all mission statements should take a page out of Twitter’s playbook. As in, try using the 140 characters or less to sum up your CMMS. Alternatively, try reading it out loud. If it runs over 30 seconds, trim it down.
No Jabberwocky
Kill the jargon dragon. You want it to be in simple, clear language. In other words, don’t write “utilize”, write “use.” Not only will it be easier for consumers and internal staff to understand, it will be harder to be vague. And vague mission statements allow for too much unrelated content to sneak through, thus rendering it useless.
The Recipe
Finally, how do you actually put together a CMMS? It’s literally as easy as 1-2-3. I touched upon it earlier with Verb-Target-Outcome but let’s flesh that out a bit.
1. Who is this content for? Get laser-specific. Unless you truly think you can create enough content to divide into two specific, discrete mission statements, strive to keep your core audience to one kind of consumer. If it helps, paint a profile of one person. Give him or her a name, a job, a location. The best content is the content that feels extremely personal to the reader or consumer.
2. How will this content help them? Great content doesn’t just entertain or educate (though it can do those things as well!) It should exist to solve problems. The problems and concerns of your audience. I can’t repeat this enough – content should be about them, them, them. Not you, you, you. So dive deep into what problems your audience faces…and then create content to help them solve those problems.
3. What’s your goal? Once someone consumes your content, what impact should that have on them? How will their life or business be different and – one would hope – infinitely better? By getting clear on what effect you intend your content to have upon your consumers, you will inevitably write more actionable and less fluffy content.
Okay, folks. Your turn. Using the concepts and steps listed above, I want you to create your own CMMS. If you hit a snag or have any questions, email me right away at info@marketingforowners.com.
I truly believe that content marketing is the best way to grown your business in 2015 and that setting out a great content mission marketing statement is the best way to go about it.
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