{"id":125,"title":"Content marketing, from #fomo to #yolo","description":"Take a look around wherever you are and ask how many people are on their phone. Social media streams are where people increasingly spend their spare time, and smaller brands are perfectly placed to create content and catch the attention of people online.","content":"

Take a look up for a second and see how many people around you are on their phone. The internet is everywhere, and social media streams are where people spend their spare time. And what they're looking at is photos, video, stories - stuff we call content.<\/em><\/p>

Smaller brands are winning where big brands are struggling on social media because you can quickly post more content and attract like-minded customers from your phone, while big brands spend ages (and heaps of cash with agencies) creating promos that are fake. You are real. Content marketing is about creating \u2013 or even just reposting<\/em> \u2013 great content on your feed and building a following that you can turn into sales later.<\/p>

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Content marketing is about building engagement.

<\/strong>If you're reading this, you're probably looking at content marketing because you want to sell your stuff. The hardest part of content marketing is having the discipline not to hard-sell.<\/p>

If you're posting great quality content that people just love to scroll through, you will pick up followers because they want to see more. Posting great content leads to followers, followers leads to traffic, and traffic leads to sales.<\/p><\/blockquote>

So building a great feed that people love because it's high quality, interesting, funny, original, or all the above is a great way to build up a subscribed audience that you can sprinkle a little bit of quality targeted content to, but it's about 10:1. The content posts should be worth following alone.<\/p>

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A consistent style that fits with your brand is essential for successful content marketing.<\/strong><\/p>

Stick to a targeted demographic and just take great photos on everything to do with that space. It doesn't all need to be crazy or viral, and you don't need stunts on video. People appreciate a well taken photo that they can relate to.<\/p>

The best feeds are focused and consistent. Post about one thing.<\/p><\/blockquote>

When you post, you can experiment and use lots of different hashtags, but make them relevant because people that find you will probably be searching for a hashtag because that hashtag is one of their interests.<\/p>

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Increase engagement by making your content inspiring.<\/strong><\/p>

When we talk to stores that have built up a big audience first, they talk a lot about the difference between \"fear of missing out\" and inspiring content.<\/p>

If you post stuff of the same person doing amazing things it's a little bit show off. If you make your content almost faceless, or at least not looking at the camera, the viewer can almost imagine it is them - or what it would be like to be the person in the picture. It's about inspiration.<\/p><\/blockquote>

We call that the difference between FOMO and YOLO. Rather than creating a missing-out feeling, we create an inspiring feeling and that leads to more likes and follows.<\/p>

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Quite often the best way to do that is not to have a person in the post at all. This shot is the kind of stuff that any cool surf brand could post and get a massive reaction from ocean lovers. You can create a conversation too by asking your audience #wouldyousurfit?<\/em><\/p>

So what you actually do for content marketing is deceptively simple. You just post great photos of whatever your niche is interested in. And it doesn't have to just be on Instagram and Facebook, where you use the hashtags to pick up followers.<\/p>

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This kind of content-first approach also works with your newsletters. Rather than send just sales promos or new products, you can send cool stuff from your feed for people's interest. If you look beyond the sales, great content helps increase engagement, like email open rates or profile visits.<\/p>

Generating content for your marketing is done in two ways.<\/strong><\/p>

You either make it yourself, or you curate it. Most people do both. Let's start with your own stuff, and it's as easy as taking a smartphone with you on your next adventure. (Or if you're an action sports brand, maybe a GoPro to save your mob from needing rice-style resuscitation).<\/p>

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Here's a snap by Jay Haysey on the Isle of Wight. A little tickle in Instagram filters and you've got some #rad #isleofwight #surf #photography<\/a> to post online. It's all about getting up and getting out there.<\/p>

High quality original content is always great, but you can also repost stuff too. This photo is from Drive<\/a>, where you can find thousands of free images to download and use.<\/p>

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You can also share, retweet or repost stuff on Instagram to your feed using tools like Reposta, or scan the news to find articles relating to your subject and post the story on your feed. Remember, people are just looking for content that's fun, interesting and cool.<\/p>

You can get really creative too. If you're an action-sports brand, you can look back in time to the origins of the sport, or post bloopers or funny stuff. Here's a repost of Jamie O'Brien doing a cutback in a T-Rex suit. What's not to like?<\/p>

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What you post depends on you, but whatever it is, it will always be stuff that your target demographic will want to read, watch or share. If you're a sustainable brand you can post concepts for the future. Charities can post facts about their cause or post images that show the great work they do.<\/p>

Content marketing is like running a magazine. In order to sell the stuff in the ads at the back, first you need to publish a whole load of high quality, beautiful engaging content for people to read.<\/p><\/blockquote>

Really you're fishing for followers and trying to build an audience up. That means doing work to create or curate your feed and in return your followers get quality content to consume.<\/p>

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And when it does come time to think about introducing some product, drip it in gently. It doesn't have to be about compromise. One of the best techniques we've seen used is never to do a product-only post (except maybe at Christmas). Instead what the best brands do is upload their product as the second or third slide in a multi-image post, so that when followers interact and swipe across, they can see the product in the first photo can be purchased.<\/p>

Content marketing means publishing great content and telling stories, rather than just selling tees. It's how the pros inspire their audience and build a brand with long term sales. If you put engagement first and selling last when it comes to marketing, you'll be riding the right kinda wave to building a successful brand.<\/p>","urlTitle":"content-marketing","url":"\/blog\/content-marketing\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/content-marketing\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/teemill.com\/blog\/content-marketing\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1554302838,"updatedAt":1680693308,"publishedAt":1641986965,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":12,"name":"Teemill"},"tags":[{"id":30,"code":"marketing","name":"marketing","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/marketing\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5dae02840ba240.23851230.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5dae02840ba240.23851230.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5dae02840ba240.23851230.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":null,"metaDescription":"Creating content that catches people's attention online is a great way to drive more traffic to your site. In this tutorial, we show you how.","keyPhraseCampaignId":4289,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":40,"title":"Streetwear photography inspiration from Nocturnal Creature","url":"\/blog\/streetwear-photography-inspiration\/","urlTitle":"streetwear-photography-inspiration","division":12,"description":"Instantly recognisable by their unique and edgy style, Nocturnal Creature's photography is fresh, fun and real. In this dose of Teemill inspo, we catch up with their founder to get his advice on how to create original photography for your brand.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5c8dfcbad57ee4.57720394.jpg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5c8dfcbad57ee4.57720394.jpg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":44,"title":"How to get influencers to wear your products: Ultimate guide to viral fundraising campaigns","url":"\/blog\/get-celebrities-to-wear-products\/","urlTitle":"get-celebrities-to-wear-products","division":12,"description":"A recognisable face wearing your product can be thumb-stopping content for your audience and help you to grow likes, reach and traffic. In this blog we're talking about how to connect your product with influencers, including templates for how to reach out to them.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5c93b706581121.45148005.jpg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5c93b706581121.45148005.jpg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":70,"title":"Fashion photography inspiration and tips","url":"\/blog\/how-to-fashion-photography-inspiration-taking-good-pictures\/","urlTitle":"how-to-fashion-photography-inspiration-taking-good-pictures","division":12,"description":"A key ingredient to marketing your products is high quality, original photography. It's the one thing that all the top 50 Teemill stores have in common. It brings your brand to life, expressing what you're all about before we even get to the captions. That's how it leads to higher conversion rates, turning followers into visitors and visitors into customers. And with our Sample Store, you can order your products at wholesale prices to photography. You'll find tonnes of inspiration in Academy to get you started with planning your first photoshoot and tips and tricks for scroll-stopping shots.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5edf6a03be0dc6.28860351.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5edf6a03be0dc6.28860351.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}