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Innovation Blog

Content Marketing: Good News & Bad News

Sharing your story - Content Marketing

Which do you want first? Let’s start with the good news: your story matters. The challenges you’ve faced, the solutions you’ve created and the team that makes it all work for your clients and customers are all part of an important story that deserves to be told. But here’s the bad news: you have to assume that your audience doesn’t care. They’re wrapped up in their own challenges as the main character of their own marketing story. As a content marketer, it’s your job to make them care.

How do you do that?

Buckle up, marketing friends. Heavy-duty Marketing is coming in hot with a crash course in creating content marketing storytelling.

Start with conflict

People are drawn to conflict. Conflict is the reason you turn the page of the book you’re reading or binge watch just one more episode in that streaming series you’re obsessed with. Conflict presents the challenge and makes you wonder, “How is this going to end?” Luckily, conflict also drives business. It’s the reason your company exists–there was a problem, and yo, you solved it. (Sorry, I had to drop that link.) But you can’t start the story with your solution. The most compelling stories don’t start with “And they lived happily ever after.”

You have to start your content marketing piece by highlighting the problem your product and/or service solves.

It’s the same problem that your customers and clients face every day. Use that conflict to connect with your audience. You have to demonstrate to them that you share their frustration and understand the struggle to be more productive, efficient and all around better.

Continue with character

Now that you’ve identified the problem, you can use characters to draw the audience into your company’s solutions. Think of someone in your company whom you consider a character. I’m sure someone’s face popped into your head just now. Go talk to that person. Interview him or her. Talk to her about the problem, how she approached the solution. Use her voice in quotes to give your content marketing some personal flavor.

Think of it like putting a face to your service or solution in the same way someone might hit it off with one of your product managers at a trade show. It makes your company more approachable and adds expert insight. Bonus points if you can embed a video featuring that person into your written content.

Now can I talk about my service, solution and or product?

Yes! Here is where you lean into your marketing language. You’ve earned it, but maintain your helpful, insightful tone. You want to stick the landing on your call to action and let your audience know that they need to connect with you to overcome their challenges.

But how can I use data to make my content marketing better?

Ah, you’re a regular reader and know that I’m obsessed with data. You can definitely leverage data, with the right partner. Thanks to our investment in audience engagement tools, we’re able to track engagement to give you guidance on how to position your content market.

For example, here are the top five most read content categories on FleetEquipmentMag.com in the past three months:

  1. Electrification
  2. Engines
  3. Fuels
  4. Tires
  5. Telematics

If your story aligns with one of these, you’re well positioned to eat up engagement because our fleet audience is already paying attention to these topics. If it doesn’t, fear not. We can dive into our data and find the content engagement connections we can make to help support your story. Feel free to drop me a line at [email protected] to talk content, storytelling or engagement data.

Bonus content for data nerds

As always, here’s some extra audience insight. These were the top 10 headlines on Fleet Equipment in January:

  1. Mack truck owner honors fallen firefighters with truck design
  2. Hyliion: Renewable Natural Gas Prepares To Take The Wheel As Trucking Fleets Pursue A Lower Carbon Footprint
  3. Nikola Corp. announces executive leadership changes
  4. Detroit driver training video available
  5. Peterbilt GM Jason Skoog charts today’s truck support, tomorrow’s truck solutions
  6. The skinny on thinner gear oil
  7. Understanding truck tires and air pressure
  8. Truck Transmissions Have Evolved: Here’s Where They’re Going Next
  9. ‘What’s an e-fluid?’ and other electric truck maintenance topics
  10. JIT Truck Parts adds Match Made shock absorbers to HD truck parts offering

Jason Morgan is the Director of Content for Fleet Equipment and Tire Review

He’s also a self-proclaimed digiphile. So much so that he often gives himself the Voight-Kampff Test. He always helps the tortoise.

Contact Jason at [email protected]

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