5 Subtle But Effective Digital Marketing Strategies While 'content is king' most is creating noise and assaulting our senses. Here is a few tips that are influencing less-is-more digital marketing.
By Hank Ostholthoff Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The buzz phrase in digital marketing has been "content is king" over the past few years. As entrepreneurs, we all know the only constant in our world is change. And with that, content marketing is evolving. Most content is creating noise and assaulting our senses as consumers. It is time to maximize our efforts, simplify and build content that engages, acquires and converts.
Welcome to the age of the "sales trailer," the creative pieces of content that get you to go to the movie that took millions of dollars, teams of talented people and years to create. The same is happening to our businesses: We have the drive and ambition to build incredible products or services and we want to tell everyone everything about it. We need to realize that it's not about us but about entertaining them -- the customers that buy the tickets to our movies.
But it's no longer how much. Below are the trends I see influencing less-is-more in digital marketing.
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1. Precedent set: Apple's minimalism movement wins
The standard has been set in terms of design, product and messaging. The marriage of boldness and simplicity has changed the digital marketing game forever. The most successful and iconic brands of the day -- Apple, Uber, Nike, Google -- all market using bold strategies that say very little. Their success is due to creating massive channels of advocates. As well as their ability to brand an instantly recognizable image or slogan that instills particular values and warrants a calculable response.
2. No one really reads, they digitally skim
You are probably skimming this article. I was once told, paper is for the heart, the screen is for the head. The way people consume information has evolved - folks want information quick and easy; infographics, videos, pictures, you name it. Multimodality and omni-channel is the name of the game; people simply don't have the time (or the desire) to consume information that requires a hefty time investment. Quick bursts that effectively summarize a topic get a message across far more effectively than a lengthy document.
Related: 4 Ideas for Repurposing Your Brand's Content
3. Get to the info fast -- like right now!
We want our information fast: a picture is worth a thousand words, a video could very well be worth a thousand sales. When I look at new client's sites or marketing, 90 percent of what I see is endless noise. We fall into a habit of throwing so many words at the audience, very little of which make a genuine impact. Poorly marketed information nets minimal attention. Marketers must get to the point as soon as humanly possible through highly relevant and deliberate diction. Spread through the right channels, the right content is the difference maker and can create an astounding impact, even with just a few words.
4. Get advocates to spread your message.
In the current world of shares, follows and likes, build content I want to send to my friends, post to my followers and connect with emotionally.
Say it quickly and say it well. Content has to be exciting and it has to stand on its own legs so it can essentially market itself. Remarkable content speaks for itself and creates peer-to-peer endorsements.
Make your message something meaningful so people feel the urge to spread it. From there, sit back and watch as the digital marketing ecosystem works itself.
5. Sales trailers, no more books
So many tell their story around a product feature, advantage or benefit. The core of your digital brand is in your story. Craft a message that resonates, engages and impacts your audience emotionally. Take that story and whiteboard a piece of creative with your team only about that message and belief. Let everything else follow from there. Your team will start sharing it and then others will follow. Eventually, you will sell tickets to your movie and consumers will get the whole story, but start with the trailer.
Related: Is Your Content Confusing Your Customers?
