Content in Marketing: Do You Need to Be Telepathic to Get It Right?

This might seem like a straightforward question, but it’s surprising how few people really understand what marketing content is and what is needed to create it. For many marketers, working with teams – whether clients or colleagues is the hardest part of the job.

Content has to be originated, and this comes from information provided by the team – be that information on new products or initiatives, a major client win, an accreditation, or an award. All of this can be used for marketing across multiple channels, but unless the marketing team is properly briefed, they will not be able to create powerful content. Marketers are, on the whole, good at their jobs, but sadly, one thing we are not is telepathic.

The onus of identifying the right information lies with the marketing team, which is why building strong relationships within the business is essential. However, it also helps if all members of the business and team are encouraged to share anything they think might be newsworthy to the marketing team.

Your marketing team will have a content strategy for the year, which will identify key areas and topics to promote at different points in the year. This can be dependent on seasons – especially in industries like retail and sports – or key annual dates if you are accountants. The marketing team then needs the rest of the team to provide key information to allow them to create the right marketing and sales messaging.

The origination of any content is always the hardest part. In the modern world, AI can help with this with careful use, but this content will then need refining to align with your business. The amending and editing are the easier parts.

One thing that must be understood: content ideas come from a collaboration between your marketing team and the rest of the business. If you are not prepared to dedicate some time to marketing, their job will become very challenging, and often the results will suffer accordingly.

As a consultant of over twenty years, I have worked with a large number of businesses and have experienced those who are fully engaged and eager for marketing to succeed, as well as those who expect marketing team to come up with all the ideas. When this doesn’t happen, the question is often, “What do you mean you didn’t know about…?” And so, it comes back to telepathy.

The most successful businesses are those that work as a team. Business is like a sports team – if it operates as a group of individuals, it will not be successful. But if everyone in the business works together as a team, the results will be what you need.

If you want to find out how to ensure you have the right content strategy and how the best content can be developed, contact us at owen@ewo.co.uk.