{3:30 minutes to read} Is this blog and corresponding newsletter of high quality, or not worth the space in your inbox?
The question of content quality came up at recent marketing discussion group. The writers in the room tended toward defining quality in terms of writing style while the marketers had a broader perspective suggesting that content quality is measured by its impact on achieving objectives.
The difference is akin to comparing Hamlet to Harry Potter. Shakespeare was no doubt the better writer, but J.K. Rowling is now a billionaire. Since I’m more of a marketer than a writer, I hope my blogs are judged by whether you take away something of value.
The key to successful content marketing lies in the three RE’s – Reach, Relevance and Reliability.
Think of the RE’s (or Re:’s) as the subject line in an email – the most important piece of information.
Reach is what gets your content in front of the right audience. You certainly can’t benefit from my “pearls of wisdom” if you never receive my blog/newsletter.
Relevance answers the question: Why should I care? If you do not care, you won’t open the email or read the blog post.
Reliability is a measure of how much credence you place in the source of the content. If you don’t trust the writer or her motives, you aren’t likely to accept her message.
The three RE’s apply to every piece of marketing content but may be weighted differently by your audience depending on whether it’s owned, earned, or paid media.
Owned media: content that you write and distribute via your website, email list, etc. It may not have the broadest reach, so to be effective it must be both relevant and reliable – i.e., from a credible source, your company.
Earned media: what others write about your company and its products. It has the greatest impact when it hits the RE Trifecta — imagine a sports ticket provider with World Series tickets landing an article in the New York Times sports section about where to buy World Series tickets just after the Yankees (or Mets) win the pennant.
Paid media: i.e., advertising, tends to score low on reliability. As the sales-motivated vehicle, it must excel in terms of reach and relevance to be effective.
In my next blog post, we will explore how smart content marketers are using technology to squeeze the most out of the three RE’s.
How would you define content quality? What can you do to guarantee the success of your next marketing blog?
Michael Bendit
Managing Director
Software Development Resources Inc.
888-447-1591
1825 Madison Avenue, Suite 9E
New York, NY 10035
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