How To Let Your ‘Why’ Shine in Your Content Marketing Strategy
By: Julie J. Novara
What is it that gets you up in the morning? How do you communicate about it? Staying successful in business—especially in today's market where consumers are more savvy than ever—depends on creating content that reflects the deep values you and your company hold.
In the early days of my writing business, the things I care about most seemed separate from the business. Making a living was (obviously!) extremely important, but I also have a faith that runs deep and gives me a concern for people and the planet.
I’m not sure if you can see my dilemma, but each end seemed far removed from the other. Only after some serious soul searching and input from mentors did I find where the two crossed, but when I did, my business gelled. Really gelled. In a sustainable, scalable way.
For the first time, I knew why I was doing what I was doing, which means I knew better who I could help. It also means my ideal client came into clear focus, narrowing my marketing efforts strategically.
What is it that gets you up in the morning? How do you communicate about it? Staying successful in business—especially in today's market where consumers are more savvy than ever—depends on creating content that reflects the deep values you and your company hold.
In the early days of my writing business, the things I care about most seemed separate from the business. Making a living was (obviously!) extremely important, but I also have a faith that runs deep and gives me a concern for people and the planet.
I’m not sure if you can see my dilemma, but each end seemed far removed from the other. Only after some serious soul searching and input from mentors did I find where the two crossed, but when I did, my business gelled. Really gelled. In a sustainable, scalable way.
For the first time, I knew why I was doing what I was doing, which means I knew better who I could help. It also means my ideal client came into clear focus, narrowing my marketing efforts strategically.
But what’s that got to do with you?
The questions you should be asking yourself right now are: Why are you doing what you’re doing? And does your content reflect that ‘why’?
If you don’t know the answer to question #1, by the way, you’ll probably want to figure that out first, but if you’re confident in your ‘why,’ read on…
Here are three practical ways to communicate your values in your content marketing strategy:
If you don’t know the answer to question #1, by the way, you’ll probably want to figure that out first, but if you’re confident in your ‘why,’ read on…
Here are three practical ways to communicate your values in your content marketing strategy:
1. Talk about what's most important to you.
When your business is something you love, it’s SO easy to talk about it. Your passion oozes from your smile and your words because you genuinely care about the topic.
Hint: If you don’t love what you’re doing, it’s going to be difficult to convince others they’ll love your products or services. You may want to stop and find your one true (business) love first.
Talking about what's most important to you doesn't mean making all the content you publish all about the company. Not at all!
Your content should still be aimed at your clients.
Answering their questions.
Meeting their needs.
But it should also flow out of your brand's identity and values…
Here’s a simple example. When I first started networking, my elevator speech was about writing… You know, how I could craft clever content and polish up the sloppiest copy. And those things are true.
But what I really care about is working with clients who are changing the world. For good. I like telling their stories, crafting their content, and polishing up their copy.
Only when my elevator speech reflected my deeper purpose did I start making the connections that boosted my business into growth mode.
Your company's content should reflect that deeper purpose, too, so don’t be afraid to let it.
Hint: If you don’t love what you’re doing, it’s going to be difficult to convince others they’ll love your products or services. You may want to stop and find your one true (business) love first.
Talking about what's most important to you doesn't mean making all the content you publish all about the company. Not at all!
Your content should still be aimed at your clients.
Answering their questions.
Meeting their needs.
But it should also flow out of your brand's identity and values…
Here’s a simple example. When I first started networking, my elevator speech was about writing… You know, how I could craft clever content and polish up the sloppiest copy. And those things are true.
But what I really care about is working with clients who are changing the world. For good. I like telling their stories, crafting their content, and polishing up their copy.
Only when my elevator speech reflected my deeper purpose did I start making the connections that boosted my business into growth mode.
Your company's content should reflect that deeper purpose, too, so don’t be afraid to let it.
2. Create a tagline that includes your ‘why’ and use it often.
Taglines are funny things. Sometimes they seem cheesy. They definitely should be memorable.
Coming up with your tagline requires spending some time with it. Get your creative team together and brainstorm.
Coming up with your tagline requires spending some time with it. Get your creative team together and brainstorm.
Don’t stop when you’ve got a simple jingle that rhymes and
seems easy enough to remember.
Stop when you’ve got one that uniquely communicates your values AND your business.
seems easy enough to remember.
Stop when you’ve got one that uniquely communicates your values AND your business.
If the two seem divergent—like mine did originally—don’t give up. Keep working on the tagline until you know it communicates both your purpose and your product or service.
Here’s my logo and the tagline I finally landed on:
Here’s my logo and the tagline I finally landed on:
3. Use hashtags that include your values.
Find popular hashtags by doing simple online searches for specific hashtags or search for hashtags within specific industries. For example, since I write a lot about environmental issues, I’ve searched phrases like “sustainability hashtags,” to come up with the ones that are most popular for green topics, and I’ve started incorporating #sustainabilitycopywriter in the content I share.
Creating your own hashtags is a great way to brand yourself, and it gives you the chance to communicate your purpose and your business in a short, memorable format you can share whenever you share content online.
Use these tips to communicate the purpose that fuels your business. Got questions? Email me.
Creating your own hashtags is a great way to brand yourself, and it gives you the chance to communicate your purpose and your business in a short, memorable format you can share whenever you share content online.
Use these tips to communicate the purpose that fuels your business. Got questions? Email me.
