Like any young business, Emily Writes has evolved over the last two years. What started out as a 1-woman social media management organization has evolved into a boutique content marketing company, catering to entrepreneurs and small businesses that need a strategic writing partner who can intimately understand their voice and authoritatively convey it across all online platforms.
Yup, that’s a mouthful. Suffice it to say that I have a lot to say on this topic, which is why there will be multiple parts to this series!
Today, let’s talk about how a cohesive content marketing strategy saves you TIME.
But First… What is Content Marketing?
I love the Content Marketing Institute’s definition:
“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
Now that sounds pretty lofty! In the context of Emily Writes, we simply promise that we can help with anything involving the written word online. This includes blogging, email marketing, video scripting, website copywriting, and – of course – social media.
Cohesive Content Marketing Saves You SO MUCH Time
If I’ve learned one thing as an entrepreneur, it’s that there are never enough hours in the day. Marketing is just one of the many plates you’re trying to keep spinning. And if each arm of your marketing strategy is run in a silo – or worse, missing! – you’re wasting valuable time.
For example, let’s say you post a weekly livestream on your company’s Facebook page. Way to go!
But you’re not quite sure how to get that video on your Instagram account. You’d like to get the video out to all your customers, but what’s the best way to do that? And let’s not even think about the website blog you haven’t updated since 2016…
That one video can easily be repurposed into 7+ pieces of marketing content for your other marketing channels.
Yes, you heard me right! By simply taking a broader look at your marketing efforts, you can create ONE piece of content that can serve SEVEN valuable purposes.
That one Facebook Live can become…
(1) A written blog that gets posted on your website (use Rev.com for fast transcription services!) to enhance your searchability online.
(2) A scroll-stopping IGTV video for Instagram. Simply download the video through Facebook Creator Studio and upload it to Instagram using (you guessed it) Creator Studio. Email me if you need a tutorial!
This helpful guide walks you through a few ways you can make your Instagram posts stand out from your Facebook posts.
(3)-(4)-(5) Three standalone social media posts for all of your social media channels – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. You can post these over the course of 1-2 weeks!
- One post is a headshot of you. The caption includes a quote of something great you said in the video and an encouragement to read the full blog on your website.
- A second post is a graphic (I like Canva!) showing three things you taught in the video, enticing viewers to read or watch more.
- And the third post is a still image from the video with a caption that describes what they can learn by watching the video, plus directions on how to find the video.
(6) A YouTube video that can be embedded on your website and linked in your email signature. Again, download the Live video from Creator Studio and upload it to YouTube. As the #2 search engine in the world, this YouTube presence will also enhance your searchability.
(7) An email to your customers using your favorite email marketing software, with a brief blurb describing what you taught in the video and a link to watch it in full. I use Flodesk because it’s simple to use and has beautiful templates – but I also recommend looking into Mailchimp, if you’re a beginner!
You’re probably thinking one of two things right now:
- Emily. This sounds like a TON of work. How is this saving me time?!
- Ummm won’t my audience catch on to that fact that I’m saying the same things in multiple places!?
First of all – yes. This does take work. But I want to challenge you to look at that time as an investment. Instead of taking 15 minutes to shoot off a quick video, take one hour to make that video really work for you. Trust me, you’re getting so much more bang for your buck by repurposing.
That leads me to your second objection – won’t your audience see the same content in every place?
I hate to break it to you, but other than your most die-hard customer (and maybe your mom), no one is going to see all seven pieces of content. Social media algorithms and messy inboxes mean that most of your followers, customers, and fans are lucky to see even ONE iteration of your content.
But think of it this way: By repurposing your Facebook Live into seven more pieces of content, you just increased the likelihood sevenfold that your ideal audience will see what you have to say.
Further Resources
Read more about repurposing content in this article, which provides my biggest takeaways from the Social Media Marketing World conference in San Diego. In lieu of this year’s conference, Social Media Examiner is offering digital workshops – click here if you want to check them out!
–
Come back soon to learn how a cohesive content marketing strategy enables you to build more trust with your audience! Subscribe to my bi-weekly newsletter so you can be the first to read part two.
This article includes affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission from any purchases made through these links.