Part 1: The Essential Elements of a Creating Winning Content Strategy
Episode Summary:
Christoph Trappe, a leading live streamer and content strategist, joins Tejas Mehta to outline and discuss the fundamental elements of creating a winning content strategy that captures the audience’s attention and builds brand engagement.
Key Highlights:
- 03:20 – 05:05 – Fundamentals of a Content Strategy – At the broadest level, good content tells a story that pulls the audience in, keeps them engaged, and ranks on search engines. Hence, a content strategy will have three elements, a creative element that tells the story, a technical element that looks at the website’s layout, and an SEO element for ranking.
- 07:36 – 10:40 – Stay Connected with Your Audience – Christoph cites the example of Jason Wright, President of Washington Commanders, the NFL football team. Jason walks the stadium during the game and interacts with fans. The fans post the interactions on social media, and Jason responds to them there. Christoph calls this the ongoing hugfest. All written, audio, and video content should engage the audience to the point of creating a never-ending hugfest.
- 12:05 – 14:00 – Does Your Content Have an Organic Flow? – Align the flow of your content with how people consume content. Does the podcast sound and flow like a natural conversation between friends? Hint: Leave a couple of ..um’s in. Raise engagement levels of podcasts by adding teasers right at the start. Start your article by highlighting a problem and creating conflict. Draw the audience in from the word go.
- 16:38 – 18:20 – Content is not a Single Quarter Strategy – Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your content strategy will not deliver transformational gains by the next quarter. It is a long-term activity, and the catch is to consistently create and post quality content across media elements and platforms frequented by your audience. It takes time to cut through the noise and clutter, and establish your identity.
Part 2: Insights on Implementing Winning Content Strategies
Episode Summary:
Christoph Trappe, a leading live streamer and content strategist, joins Tejas Mehta to discuss implementing a winning content strategy and the tools used for it.
Key Highlights:
- 00:38 – 02:30 – Create Once Publish Everywhere – Once you create a piece of content, it is easy to repurpose it across media types and platforms. An article can become a Tweet or a post on LinkedIn; a vlog can become a YouTube Shorts or an Instagram reel. Marketing today is very different from ten years ago. Your content has to talk to people at different stages of the funnel. You’re building awareness for the leads at the top of the sales funnel. The audience in the middle of the funnel needs to understand why your solution is better while you’re providing a purchase trigger to convert those at the bottom of the funnel.
- 03:38 – 06:20 – The Nuts and Bolts of Content Creation – Start by putting a process in place for creating content. The story and storytelling are central pieces of every content element. Avoid chasing every idea and topic. Look at issues that align with your story, and it falls on the content leader to keep the team focused and pulling in the same direction.
- 06:26 – 09:25 – Using Content for Local Marketing – Local marketing is ideally suited for small businesses whose audience is confined to a small geo-fenced location. These businesses can add local links to their websites to improve their ranking on local searches. Real-world campaigns can be adapted as online content to attract local footfalls. However, the challenge lies in convincing these businesses to try something different in content marketing.
- 09:25 – 11:49 – In-House Team vs. Outsourcing Content Creation – Christoph leans towards an in-house team over outsourcing the content creation process. The in-house team has higher institutional knowledge regarding understanding the company and its needs. It is also easier for the internal team to pivot based on the company’s evolving needs.
- 12:19- 13:50 – Best Fit Media Types for Social Platforms – Videos are the rage across different social media platforms. However, to gain traction, the video needs to tell an engaging story and be well formatted. Audio is another key format with platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram supporting it. Text works well for articles and blogs.
- 13:55 – 15:35 – Content Creation Tools – Christoph shares his suite of content creation tools. He favors WordPress for writing content, Yoast and Ahrefs for SEO, and Restream as the platform for recording and live streaming. Grammarly is an invaluable tool for textual content and replaces the role of the first proofreader.
