How to Break Through in a Crowded Marketplace

With so much change going on in the marketplace, it has become essential to understand what you are doing—and why—before you start publishing your content. Any business of any size that has tried to write a strategic market plan in the last year knows that there is a force of mass information that needs to be dealt with. Hundreds of channels to choose from and millions of words published each day makes it essential to have a number one priority in mind before you publish.

To get started, here are a few suggestions of how to get on track and stay there:

Start with strategy. There is a saying I’m sure you’ve heard, “Content is king.” Although I mostly agree with this, I must say that content without a strategy is going to get lost at sea.

Consider which are the top brands you know the most about and I’m fairly certain they come to mind because you associate a specific value with these companies, products and services. That is what makes them memorable.

From a brand development perspective, this means far fewer debates about what’s singularly important. No endless copy meetings trying to find the big idea. That’s already been worked out by defining the core idea of the strategy for the company and its brand.

Be specific about what you are offering. An e-mail marketing blast that you can’t tell what is being offered is very annoying. This, combined with an inability to associate a value to a brand, creates negative equity and yet, companies constantly make this mistake.

By being specific about what you are offering, why it brings value to your customers, and what the next step is in the communication process, you will build trust that welcomes your message the next time.