Content marketing is one of the most effective tools for promoting events. Here’s how to create content your audience actually wants to read.
For many event marketers, content marketing has become a crucial part of their strategies. A recent Forbes article revealed that effective B2B content marketers allocate up to 42% of their total marketing budget toward content compared to 28% of less-effective marketers (source), and 76% of marketers plan to create more content over the next year (source). These stats show the growing importance of event content marketing, but some marketers are are still failing to see the dial move.
If you’ve ever felt like your own content is falling on deaf ears, it’s probably one of two reasons:
1) No one wants to read it.
How often have you lost interest in a friend’s “hilarious story” because he took too long to set up the punchline? Or cut off a friend who changed the subject five times before coming back to the point? These storytelling mistakes are as common in writing as they are in conversation. If you find yourself sheepishly admitting to them, content quality may be your issue.
2) The right audience can’t find it.
This is often where even good content marketers get stuck. Beyond publishing content on your site and amplifying on social media, how to you get the word out? Knowing when, where and to whom to publish is crucial to a successful content marketing campaign, but it’s a process that takes time. We’re always happy to help, but tweaking a few behaviors can make a big difference over time.
Here are five easy-to-follow, actionable steps to improve your content strategy:
1. Cut to the chase.
This is the equivalent of axing your big build-up to the punchline. Statistics show that viewers read just 28% of words on a page, making placement crucial. Get your message across in the first sentence. What value are you offering? What problem are you solving? Busy readers appreciate a time-saving format, and they’ll reward you with their attention.
2. Paint a picture.
Events are experiences. Attendees need to get excited before they get interested. Give your attendees something to look forward to and information about the speakers, people, and information they will come across. It’s crucial to use content and paid social media campaigns to ensure attendees achieve true ROI from attending.
3. Break it up.
Break up your message into bite-sized, easily digestible pieces. Choose bullet points over paragraphs, or better yet — photo captions. (Consider this: readers are 80% more likely to finish your content if you include visuals.) Think about what keeps your own attention when you’re browsing online. Are you drawn to shapeless blocks of text? Neither are we…
4. Don’t forget your CTA.
Ultimately, you want your readers to take an action: Download your guide. Register. Make a deposit on the “Early Bird Special.” Surprisingly, many marketers miss this step. Although your first goal should be to inspire, educate and engage your readers, you also want to pull them into your funnel. Make it easy. Keep your registration fields to a minimum and make your first goal to simply capture your must-gather info.
5. Rethink your timing.
Good content marketing isn’t just about catching the right people, it’s also about catching them at the right time. Most industries are cyclical. Knowing when managers plan their budgets, make decisions, take vacations, and have some downtime can be extremely helpful in knowing when to time different kinds of content.
The bottom line: Keep your audience in mind. Create content that excites your attendees, and write with a specific goal.