Content marketing: comparing the sharing

As a content marketing specialist there are a few things you need to learn before approaching clients, justifying your work over both long and short term goals. One of the hardest things to explain to clients about content marketing – not all content is equal.

Many clients will see a great piece of content online, perhaps covering the latest sporting event or fashion show, and want to duplicate the interaction it has received. While this may seem simple enough, it gets a bit tricky when the client is something like a funeral home. While the client sees the product as plain and simple content, it is the job of the content marketer to realise and communicate that not all content can reach the same heights. A piece covering the football for example will draw a lot more attention than a better piece written about the cost of a coffin, not because of quality or skill, but simply because of wide spread interest and engagement slighted towards the more popular topic. Football fans treat the game like a religion, while most don’t feel too strongly about funerals.

Popularity of content types, and comparison of average social shares

The separation of content drives the need for research and planning within digital marketing, while sometimes a lower interaction topic can be aligned with a trend and be the source of strong traffic, it also has a ceiling of sorts that it is unlikely to go above. Other topics, much like health and fitness or travel, will have a much higher ceiling and a much higher base expectation. As this is a popular, trending and general topic, there will always be high interaction when compared to something like finance or business. These are the ins and outs of content marketing that must be understood.

While clients will chase the idea of the “viral sensation” hoping to achieve widespread exposure from every content piece, not every post can reach this level. Relying heavily on subject matter as well as optimisation, many companies have to stay within their market, and as such are limited as to the types of content they can produce. As a content marketer you must understand how to align this content as to reach the peak amounts of engagement, however it is also part of the job to manage expectations- ensuring the client understands the possible limitations of their market. Even without taking the subject matter into account, it is estimated that only one out of ten content pieces will reach its maximum possible engagement, and even at this point the high ranking content with a science base will not reach the same levels as the average health and fitness based content.

An interesting insight into the art of content marketing, this illustrates just how tricky it can be and why there is such a need for professionals in this field. Understanding the dynamics of the content, as well as its possible position in the market, the writer must be able to adapt tone and style to best create an engaging and interest generating piece of writing.