If you’ve explored marketing options available to businesses then you’ve likely come across content marketing.
Content marketing is a catch-all phrase for the use of content to market or promote a business.
We’ve discussed what content marketing entails in various blog posts, including this one.
Unfortunately, the world of content marketing can be overwhelming, especially when we have experts telling us that we need to do regular newsletters, blog posts, social media posts, and videos constantly to stay relevant.
What we’re here to tell you is that you don’t have to do it all. A pragmatic approach to content marketing may help to streamline your ideas and enable your efforts to be effective.
What is Pragmatic Content Marketing?
Pragmatic content marketing is an approach to content marketing that emphasizes practicality, relevance, and effectiveness. It is focused on delivering valuable, relevant content to the target audience to achieve specific business objectives.
The pragmatic approach to content marketing is related to the general pragmatism philosophy, which states that, among other things, ideas and concepts should be judged based on consequences in the real world. Pragmatism has a grounding effect which encourages us to look at the real happenings based on a line of thinking, rather than believing everything that is in our head.
Pragmatism is a type of philosophical science, which means that as marketers, we can use empirical approaches to judge the efficacy of our pragmatic marketing approach.
Core Principles of Pragmatic Marketing
Pragmatic content marketing is very similar to “regular” content marketing. Just like the other types of marketing, the strategy starts with a basic understanding of your target audience, goals, and content goals. However, pragmatic marketing takes these ideas one step further.
Defined Buyer Persona
When researching your content marketing strategy, we encourage you to look at those who are actually purchasing from your company. This is what is called your buyer persona and it is different than a target audience (or ideal audience).
Buyer personas aren’t ground-breaking, but how you use them should be pragmatic. Look at who you are actually selling your products to. If you wanted to sell to a high-end, elite crowd but your product is actually very very cheap, then you are likely getting a buyer who can afford your product. By identify your buyer persona, you can look at your marketing messaging and be more realistic about how you approach your marketing strategy.
A pragmatic approach to your buyer persona is better than the traditional marketing approach, which does not look at who is actually buyer your product but is still a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data.
Being Very Honest With Your Goals
One of the hardest things for small business owners to recognize is the importance of realistic goals. In marketing, we talk a lot of nonsense about setting goals and most often those don’t relate to real business owners. We’re not all enterprise businesses!
Realistic objectives for your marketing strategy should be something that makes sense for your business. For example, get one more long-term customer. That is a great, realistic goal. Increasing revenue by 20% biannually might not make sense to you.
Another important aspect of goal-setting is that it can be realistically applied to your marketing strategy. Most often small business owners have lofty goals and try to tackle too many of them at the same time. They think that they can when they could if they had unlimited resources. Multiple, complex goals on a restricted budget is not normal.
Choose one goal, like starting to build your online presence, growing your online presence, or leveling up your online presence so that you can stay consistent at your practice.
Choosing Your Content Creation Strategy
Now on to the strategy side of things. Any business owner might look at the list of guides saying that you should be doing X, Y, and Z all the time at perfect distribution.
No.
It is not realistic to write 4 blogs a week, keep those blogs posted for SEO with multiple images, videos, and shared on social 4x a week with perfect execution. That is especially not the case when your business is NOT content marketing. It’s not even realistic for us and we are a content marketing company!
Don’t think that you have to do it all right. Right now, as a content marketing agency, we are slowing down on our blog production to optimize old blogs because we have been needing to do this for 1 year and it can’t wait any longer.
Are we going to get knocked down in the SERPs for doing this?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
What might actually happen is that we will stay steady in our organic ranking and then grow once our old blogs have been updated.
If you go for a perfect content marketing approach, remember that you also have to maintain those pathways. This includes maintaining the social media platforms, websites, and so on, and engaging with those who react to your information. This can be a lot of work.
Think smarter about your content strategy, not harder.
Identify Your Current Online Presence and Reevaluate Based on Goals
Your online presence or digital doorway includes things like your website, your newsletter, social media platforms, and Google Business Profile. These things all need to be accurately representative of your business.
Do this first before your start launching content strategies left and right.
It doesn’t hurt to slow down and optimize, edit, or fix up any of your online presence.
Take the Slow Approach to Distribution and Analytics
When it comes to content marketing, the temptation to dive headfirst into every available distribution channel and analytics tool can be overwhelming. However, embracing a slower, more deliberate approach can yield significant benefits, ensuring that each pathway is optimized for success.
The slow approach ensures the following:
- Quality Over Quantity: You can emphasize optimizing what works. Instead of spreading yourself thin across numerous channels, concentrate on the ones that truly resonate with your audience. This allows for a deeper understanding and optimization of each channel.
- Refine Your Strategies: Taking the time to analyze and refine your strategies ensures that your content reaches the right audience in the most effective way possible.
- You Build a Stronger Foundation: A slower approach allows for sustainable growth, ensuring that your marketing efforts are not just a flash in the pan but continue to yield results over time. By focusing on key channels, you can build stronger relationships with your audience, establishing trust and credibility.
- In-Depth Analysis: Rather than skimming the surface of your analytics, take the time to dive deep and truly understand what the data is telling you. Use the insights gained from your analytics to continuously improve your content and distribution strategies, leading to better results over time.
- Avoiding Burnout: A slower approach is more balanced and helps prevent burnout, ensuring that your marketing team remains energized and focused. By maintaining a sustainable pace, you can ensure consistent results, avoiding the peaks and troughs that come with a more rushed approach.
Rushing into content distribution and analytics can lead to missed opportunities and suboptimal results. By taking a slower, more deliberate approach, marketers can optimize each distribution channel, build stronger relationships with their audience, and make data-driven decisions that lead to sustainable growth.
So, take a breath, slow down, and watch as your content marketing efforts thrive.
Realize That Businesses Who are “Doing it all” Are Actually Hiring an Agency for Support
When scrolling through your competitor’s impeccably curated social media feed or reading their blog filled with insightful articles, it’s easy to feel a twinge of envy and wonder, “How do they do it all?”
The secret is out: many businesses excelling in content marketing aren’t going it alone—they’re investing in professional help.
Yep. We’re pulling the curtain back. If you’ve seen companies or competitors out there doing really good content marketing, these businesses are investing thousands of dollars each month to access a pool of experts in strategy, content creation, SEO, social media, and more.
As a business owner or marketer, acknowledging that you have limitations in terms of time and expertise is the first step toward realistic goal-setting. There’s no shame in admitting that you might need external support to achieve the kind of content marketing success you aspire to.
Hiring an agency gives you access to a diverse team of experts who live and breathe content marketing. While hiring an agency is an investment, it’s important to weigh this against the potential return in terms of reach, engagement, and conversions. Outsourcing your content marketing allows you to focus on what you do best, running your business, while leaving the content to the experts.
Remain Future-thinking and Agile
In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, the ability to anticipate change and swiftly adapt is more crucial than ever. For businesses looking to succeed in content marketing, embracing a future-thinking and agile approach is key.
Foster an environment that encourages swift decision-making, allowing you to capitalize on emerging opportunities. Cultivate a culture that embraces change and is not afraid to pivot when necessary.
While it’s tempting to have a hand in every marketing channel, a more focused approach allows for greater agility. Concentrate on the channels and strategies that yield the best results, ensuring that your efforts are impactful and efficient.
Regularly assess the performance of your content marketing efforts, identifying areas for improvement. Be ready to adjust your strategies based on performance data and changing market conditions
Not only that, but it’s important to invest in training and development to ensure that your team has the necessary skills to adapt to new challenges.
Deciding if Pragmatic Content Marketing is For You
In pragmatic content marketing, the focus is on achieving tangible results and ROI from content marketing efforts. It requires a strategic approach, a deep understanding of the audience, and a commitment to delivering high-quality, relevant content consistently. By being data-driven and results-oriented, businesses can ensure that their content marketing efforts contribute to achieving their overall objectives.
Here are some major selling points for pragmatic marketing:
- If you’re a small business owner and you don’t have a lot of time, pragmatic marketing breaks things down a bit more so you can better understand the process. THis makes it a lot slower and easily digestible.
- Pragmatic marketing is not wrong; instead, it is looking at your data and strategy in a more fine-grain way and being realistic about it.
- Pragmatic marketing doesn’t expect you to do it all. And sometimes that’s nice. This does not mean that your marketing strategy won’t work.
Pragmatic content marketing stands out as a strategy centered on producing measurable outcomes and a strong return on investment. It goes beyond the surface, requiring a comprehensive and strategic approach to truly connect with your audience and deliver content that makes a difference. But how can you decide if this methodology aligns with your business goals and marketing initiatives? Let’s delve deeper.
Assessing Your Resources: Before embracing pragmatic content marketing, assess your resources. Do you have the necessary tools and expertise to take a data-driven, strategic approach?
Aligning with Your Business Goals: Ensure that this approach aligns with your broader business objectives. Pragmatic content marketing is an investment in long-term success and should support your overall mission and goals.
Embark on the Journey of Pragmatic Content Marketing
Transitioning to a pragmatic content marketing strategy is a viable option if you are already engaged in content marketing practices. Initially, this shift may feel unconventional; however, many find it to be a more intentional and contemplative approach in the long run.
Feel free to reach out to us for guidance and support—we’re here to assist you on your journey toward effective and strategic content marketing.
