Content marketing isn’t the future; it is the present. Its importance is not likely to wane anytime soon, but if you aren’t already committed to social media and content-based marketing, then you are behind. Even if you are trying to stay on top of the ever-changing trends of modern marketing, there are ways to make it much easier to remain ahead. One of the best tools your business can utilize is a content marketing platform (CMP). This is a software solution that can automate some of the more tedious aspects of content marketing, and it can help you improve your holistic approach to the whole ordeal. If you want to seriously consider adopting a CMP, there are three core principles to consider.
Analytics
The biggest reason to overhaul your process and software is for analytics. You probably already have tools that let you make the content you want. While software packages can offer additional tools to that end, it won’t really change the creative process. Analytics are a different animal. The right software package will put detailed analytics at your fingertips, and they will inform the impact of your content marketing. You can track whole campaigns or individual pieces of content. You can measure how it resonates with your core audience and what it does to expand your outreach. Ultimately, this allows a bottom-line perspective to help guide the direction of your marketing campaign, and it is essential to successful competition in the digital age.
Shaping the Experience
Modern marketing content is about more than a visual presentation. The eye-catching ads and memorable slogans of decades past just don’t cut it anymore. Modern marketing has to cater to the user experience. This is a difficult concept for many content creators, but a good software platform can help. Built-in tools can provide interactive ways to interest and retain potential customers. More importantly, well-developed software can provide a consistent check to ensure that the user experience is smooth and reliable. No matter how impressive your product or content might be, a software-level inability to make a purchase will hurt business. Good software supplements the skills of your creative team and helps them produce content that is accessible and user friendly.
Cost
Ultimately, businesses have to make money. What is important here is to avoid a simple mistake: the final cost of software is not represented in the price tag. While purchasing cost is important, it usually pales compared to distribution and implementation. How many hours of training will be necessary to use the new platform? Will it initially disrupt workflow? Why are you confident that it will ultimately improve performance and/or efficiency? Real distribution experts can help you estimate these cost values, so you should have a good idea of the real investment and potential returns before you commit.
