CONTENT MARKETING
Every piece of content has to have a job — serving business goals is what separates meaningful content from meaningless chatter.
Awareness. Conversion. Conversation.
Why Does Content Marketing Matter?
Content marketing is a chance to meet consumers where they are and stay top of mind even when you can’t be face to face.
Consider This:
And if that wasn’t enough reason to put an end to the theory that content marketing strategy is a “nice to have” and not a “must have.”
HEAR THIS:
As traditional sales and marketing techniques become less effective, there’s an opportunity for brands to provide relevant and useful content that educates, solves problems and clarifies next steps for prospects and customers alike.
When executed correctly, a robust content marketing strategy will not only help move prospects through the sales funnel, but also drive organic traffic, build brand awareness and eventually, cultivate brand champions.
Our Content Marketing Strategy Approach
It’s been said that stories are the human medium — they’re how we communicate meaning, convey importance and share emotion. If building a successful brand is all about connection, the content you create is how you spark that kinship. Communications Strategy Group (CSG®) approaches B2C and B2B content marketing from a holistic perspective that marries foundational sources of truth with replicable content creation systems to ensure what we call a Return on Content.
We believe that delivering Return on Content requires a combination of guiding principles to promote efficiency, relevancy and engagement.
Content with intent.
Modern content strategy demands more than content for the sake of content. CSG’s content strategists develop measured and sophisticated inbound marketing and content marketing programs informed by customer journey analysis and behavior design to ensure that every piece of content has a purpose and supports movement down the sales funnel.
Write once, use many times.
Sometimes more is more. We’re not enemies of brevity, but we’d rather deliver a whitepaper, a blog, emails, digital ads and social posts than a whitepaper without supporting materials. We plan content that translates across mediums to ensure we maximize every topic and effort in service of your business goals.
Right message, right audience, right time.
The best written piece of content in the world won’t count for a thing if the right people don’t see it. At CSG, we don’t write anything without first considering our audience. Our editorial calendars are customer journey-inspired and our CTAs are hyper-focused on the action we need customers to take next.
Customer lifecycle meets content lifecycle.
You wouldn’t propose on a first date and we won’t go for the hard sell in the discover phase of a customer’s lifecycle. We develop content to meet customers where they are and solve the problem of the moment. Need to educate your target audience? There’s an infographic for that. Need to grow your audience? Social content can win you new eyes. Need to get a warm lead to finally reach out to sales? Email nurture is on your side.
Interested in learning more about our content marketing services?
Clients Past & Present
Foundational Content Platform
CSG’s content marketing services stem from the storytelling tradition and aim to solve problems. We believe that successful storytelling requires knowledge not only of the intended audience, but also of the speaker. Organizations that lack a clearly defined and articulated voice and content personality often struggle to infuse authenticity and relevance into their content marketing. To that end, we’ve created a foundational content platform that sets the stage for strategic content creation for the here and now as well as for the future.
Some of the tactics we use in this effort include:
Brand
Archetypes
You can’t tell a story if you don’t first understand your role in the narrative. This immersive workshop identifies an archetypal persona for your brand that informs creative choices, from voice and tone to look and feel.
Manifesto
Consistency in branding is often as simple as getting everyone on the same page. This aspirational messaging serves as both a rallying cry and a touch point for the heart of your brand story.
Pillars
If a brand story is a house, pillars are the weight-bearing beams. Whatever the medium or ask, these topics demonstrate value and differentiators that matter to your key audiences. CSG develops thematic manifestos and exemplar messaging to establish the pillars for all future print and digital content marketing efforts.
Messaging
Matrices
Certain messages will need to be delivered time and time again to provide prospects the information they need to keep moving down the funnel. Messaging matrices streamline that process. Everything from pain point and solution messaging to employee value propositions can be distilled into clear, concise building blocks to be used to quickly create a variety of content.
Style Guide
After completing all foundational content work, CSG packages that information up into a single, easy-to-use reference document to quickly bring writers and designers up-to-speed.
Content Calendar
And Journey-Based
Editorial Planning
To ensure every piece of content supports the overall content strategy, CSG develops content calendars that capture editorial initiatives, SEO priorities and customer journey-informed needs — all in support of key business objectives.
SEO Analysis and
Content Optimization
CSG develops content aligned with SEO best practices and recommendations to ensure targeted keywords are prioritized to promote search engine discoverability.
Foundational content, like the company story it captures, lives and breathes and can be refined and expanded over time, but the initial effort streamlines all content marketing strategy and planning and ensures the process and results are replicable.
Customer Journey
There’s a time and a place for any piece of content. CSG taps into a deep understanding of the customer journey from both a tactical and emotional perspective to plan and develop content that meets needs, provides value and, ultimately, supports movement down the funnel.
Our Content Marketing Specialties
With foundational content in place, content marketing strategy and execution take on a rapid cadence that allows for a balance of proactive and reactionary content. Given the structure and guidance of the foundational content work, CSG can develop a content strategy to support any business initiative or medium.
We believe in a holistic approach that pairs long-term initiatives with near-term goals to ensure the content you create works for you on multiple fronts and supports the bottom line.
CSG has dedicated industry expertise and experience creating content for virtually every channel and platform, including:
- Nurture stream and email development
- eBooks
- Whitepapers
- Internal Communications
- Blog posts
- Infographics
- Videos
- Social Media
- Newsletters and eNewsletters
- Event collateral
- Sales enablement
Industry Expertise
There’s an old adage that says to write well, you have to write what you know. We believe that logic applies to work as well, and we’ve made it our business to understand the nuances and landscapes of the industries we serve.
Case Studies
Content Marketing and Public Relations Inspire Mothers to Seek College Degrees
Using Content Marketing to Inspire Behavior Change that Saves Lives
Branded Content Studio Generates Engagement at Leading Financial Services Conference
Do you have an agency that gives you a great idea or new perspective every call or meeting? We do — and it’s CSG. With a deep bench of big thinkers that scaffold a strong communications plan effortlessly, they mix traditional approaches with cutting-edge strategies and techniques that take your plan to the next level. Communications framework development and content marketing has been a powerful differentiator.
Brenda Andolina
Director of Global PR, Fisher-Price and Thomas & Friends
The CSG financial services team has a deep understanding of the financial planner community and professional. They’ve been a fantastic partner in helping us rethink our business model and content strategies.
Ron Zwerin
Former CMO, Financial Planning Association
We knew we were hiring a top PR firm, but CSG offers so much more. It is the McKinsey of communications firms. Their team helped us define and achieve our most audacious and important goals. Hiring CSG was one of the wisest business decisions I’ve ever made.
Chad Troutwine
CEO, Veritas Prep
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