Strong Content = Strong Strategy

I read a great article over at Remarkablogger, and Matt Hooper’s premises mirror what we tell our clients time and time again: Content is still king.

At EVG, that remains our unofficial motto, because we – from our Business Development folks to our strategists to our editors and writers – understand that in the world on online content marketing, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him, uh, buy, book, or subscribe.

There’s a whole lot of emphasis on architecturing a wicked-cool website, of building a smart PPC campaign, of catapulting your social media presence into the minds and hearts of consumers. And those are worthy goals. Those are great things. But (let’s use another horse metaphor), that’s also putting the horse before the cart. A website should be as good as a bricks-and-mortar store. It’s your storefront to the world. We believe that your online presence is anchored therein, in a compelling, engaging, useable website. That’s where good content comes in.

You’d not print marketing brochures, present a pitch or give a speech without knowing what you need to say. You’d not hop on a stage and wing it (we hope!). The same is true online, but I see it time and time again: Business X wants to be online. Business X builds a website, Business X jumps on Twitter, but Business X has no idea what to say.

Clients know there’s a need for a robust online presence, but it’s often the case that they don’t know how to get that online presence. EVG’s approach helps businesses find that strategy: Let’s figure out who you are, what you bring to market, what you need to say, and whom you want to reach.

It’s basic, no? But it’s that bird-by-bird approach that makes all the difference. If you can first answer the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, and why), you can approach content strategy with the big picture in mind, and once a solid content strategy is in place, you can jump into social channels and off-site campaigns with a clear vision for where you’re going and how to get there.

Sara Fraser
Director, Content Marketing