What's IN (and What's OUT) in Organic Content Marketing in 2024
Whew! Marketing has been quite the roller coaster ride the past two years - and some of us are feeling sick.
We’ve been peddled marketing gimmicks that promise enormous revenue pouring in as we drink fruity drinks in exotic locations. Despite what the ads will tell you, there is no magic formula for selling your products and services to everyone under the sun, without spending any effort or money (or both).
Gimmicks are done. I’m not sure they ever worked well in the first place, but guess what? By now, your audience has seen them all over the past few years and can spot them a mile away. Going viral doesn’t mean you’ll make money. It’s time to get back to basics.
What’s in:
#1. Tight Messaging
If we’re being honest, selling our products and services was a whole lot easier 1-2 years ago. Yes, we had a global health crisis, but fortunately there was a massive focus on investing in ourselves and in our businesses. In addition, loans and access to cash were more plentiful, and prices were lower.
The result? We didn’t have to be crystal clear with our messaging. It was easier to sign clients and sell products with vague taglines and loose messaging.
In the past year, there was a shift in buyer behavior, according to the many entrepreneurs I spoke with across multiple industries. Yes, people ARE still buying, but the buying cycles are longer and customers are examining our offers more closely.
Tight messaging has never been more critical. Starting now, take a good hard look at your overall messaging (the foundation that you use everywhere):
Get clear on exactly what you do (and how you do it)
Why you are different and unique
How you make your client’s life better in some way
Generalities in your messaging can reduce you to a commodity. If you appear the same as everyone else, then you compete on price and convenience. But maybe you offer something of unique value worth paying more for. It’s time to dust off your overall messaging and re-examine if you are being crystal clear.
#2. Being “Real” in your marketing - even if it means less
With the explosion of generative AI tools available to the general public, things went exactly as the experts predicted.
Fueled by the glee of creating 20 pieces of content in 5 minutes, brands all across the globe flooded the internet with re-generated (aka recycled) content.
I completely understand the appeal. 5x more content must mean 5x more sales…right? Except that for many brands, that was not the result.
Computer-created content is a dime a dozen… more like a penny a dozen. Or even - I’ll pay YOU to make it go away. Everyone (including our audience) is exhausted from it.
REAL CONNECTIONS and CONVERSATIONS are in.
So for your marketing in 2024, try to get as real as possible (while staying on brand) in your marketing.
Showing up as you are… And I mean YOU (not ChatGPT)
Stand out among the robots, scripts & templates - even if that means producing less content
Invite them in to a conversation with your brand
This doesn’t mean that you have to get more “real” or personal than you feel comfortable with. For some brands, sharing their personal stories and photos of their family is completely on brand, For others, that’s outside of what feels right.
You have complete agency over how personal or how deep you choose to go with your brand.
#3. Being REALISTIC about the your marketing and sales strategies
By now, you already know that you shouldn’t market to everyone. But you also don’t need to market everywhere, all of the time. Again, back to the basics: quality connections with your audience over quantity.
“Spray and pray” is exhausting…let’s focus our efforts
Less is more if it’s the REAL YOU and not a robot
Create a marketing plan that you can actually execute (and feels good to you)
Of course, the success of your marketing depends on many other factors - some of which we cannot control. There are 3 things that our customers should have before buying from us: the right budget, the right timing, and a legitimate want/need for our products or services. Like it or not, we can’t control any of those things.
But our messaging, our strategy, and our marketing plan ARE in our control. Using tight messaging and real content, you can be there if and when the “right fit” customer has the budget, the timing, and the want/need for what we offer. We want to be the first person that they contact when they’re ready for what we provide.
And that’s what I’m here to help you do, if you need it! Your brand is your money maker - it’s what makes people buy from YOU. I'm a messaging expert and content marketing strategist... so if you want some help with tight messaging and/or an organic content marketing strategy that actually feels aligned for you in 2024, email me at christine@christinemcshane.com or book a call at www.bit.ly/mcshaneconsult.