Educational Marketing Campaign
As consumers, everywhere we turn, we’re inundated with sales tactics. Emails, social media ads, organic search results, and now even text messages promising the best discounts or the lowest prices.
These marketing tactics all invade our senses no matter where we are in our day-to-day life, or, more specifically, our purchasing path.
While those tactics do hold a special place in our revenue earning arsenal, placing all of your metaphorical marketing eggs in one deeply discounted basket can be dangerous – for your bottom line and for your reputation.
Companies that want to stand apart from the crowd need to cultivate an image of expertise, credibility, and trustworthiness if they want to secure repeat, long-term business.
It’s no longer enough to sell products and services; today’s most successful brands place consumer education in high regard, realizing that being recognized as a resource is invaluable.
The rise of content marketing supports this very notion, making educational marketing campaigns, or campaigns built on providing industry or a product relevant information to potential customers, a must.
The concept may seem daunting – how do I become a valuable resource to my customers? Why should they turn to me? In short, your end goal is to consistently and thoughtfully engage users with quality content. How do you get there?
Each educational marketing campaign may be different, but regardless of where your campaign path takes you, you’ll need to make a few observations and decisions along the way.
1. Define the Purpose & Audience
Consider these two the peanut butter and jelly of your educational marketing campaign – without them, you just have two wayward slices of bread. Any successful educational marketing campaign must begin with a well-defined purpose and audience.
At this point, you may be thinking “the purpose is to educate the audience, obviously.” That’s absolutely true, but the definition must go much deeper than that. Do you want to increase overall brand awareness, in which case your purpose is to appeal to a wide, yet relevant audience? Are you trying to grow a specific niche or draw attention to a new line of products, a task that may require you to focus on a very specific sector of your general audience?
Begin your planning by identifying your end goal, or goals, at the case may be. From there, it’s time to identify your audience or the specific group of consumers you hope to attract. This information may come from your current marketing stats, or it may be driven by logical observations about the product or service, the solution it offers, and the audience that would find that most useful.
Not sure what you want to do or who you should target? Take some time to see where your brand has room to grow. What keywords are bringing consumers to your site? What are they looking at while they’re there? Another great place to hunt for inspiration is within your social network. What are your followers talking about? Is there a common concern or need that represents an opportunity to educate?
2. Content Format & Distribution
Once you’ve determined your audience and purpose, it’s time to move on to the proverbial meat of this campaign – the actual content and the distribution channels.
The content you choose to create depends heavily on your defined purpose and audience as well as your brand’s unique voice. For example, if you’re a B2B looking to expand your reach and create new business accounts, you’ll likely find that your audience expects well-researched articles, posts, and of course, white papers. Conversely, if you’re a B2C that provides solutions to busy parents, a fun-light hearted yet informative “we’ve been there” approach may be the most effective.
Similarly, the format and distribution channel will also play a huge role in the overall success of your marketing campaign. In the first example above, the B2B brand, LinkedIn may prove to be the best place to distribute content. In our B2C example, emails or less formal social networks, like Facebook, maybe the best route
Regardless of your distribution channel, you’ll also need to determine the best place for your content to live (blogs, resource centered, etc) as well as the topics that will be most useful to your readers. Keep in mind that an educational marketing campaign often draws on relevant topics that can set the stage for a sale but don’t overtly push a specific item.
For example, if you want to generate buzz about a new line of waterproof cell phone cases you now carry, an educational campaign may focus on how to protect your smartphone, offering only a quick nod to the product.
3. Content Creation
After setting some general contact format and distribution guidelines, it’s time to author or acquire the actual content. Educational marketing campaigns require a brand to leverage well written, quality content; anything else puts your brand at jeopardy. Inaccuracies, poorly organized posts, significant errors, and content that doesn’t take your brand’s voice into account can all backfire. Customers want to be reassured by your expertise, and they want to be able to trust what you’re saying, both of which are impossible if your content isn’t up to par.
For that reason, you will need to employ the efforts of trained writers or current employees that have a proven track record when it comes to their way with words. It’s also important to factor the time it will take to author the content as well as send it through a review and editing process.
This may require hiring a new employee(s), or, if taking on the responsibilities and financial burden of a new employee isn’t feasible, you may find that an agency that specializes in content marketing is your best bet.
Creating a solid educational marketing campaign may be time-consuming, but when done right, the rewards can redefine your brand, making it a leading voice in your industry or niche. Before you dive in, always take the time to brainstorm, analyze and plan.
Defining the key pieces to this informative puzzle – purpose and audience, format and distribution, content creation – will go a long way in creating an online presence that instills confidence and loyalty in all those consumers desperate for a reliable resource and products and service they can trust.
