If you’re reading this blog, you probably don’t need to be told that there’s more to successful content marketing then writing articles, creating infographics and hoping for the best.
It doesn’t feel like it when you’re alone on your kitchen table tapping away at a keyboard, but great content marketing is about the relationships you build with other people. Especially the one you build with your audience.
Your content plays a role in the lives of the people who consume it. This means you also play a role in their lives. That’s what this series of articles is going to explore, the different roles you play as a content creator.
In simple terms, there are six main roles of a content creator:
- Educator
- Entertainer
- Inspiration
- Source of conversation
- Friend
- Promoter
The final role, a promoter, is a special one because in order to be an effective promoter you need to have built the trust of your audience. Otherwise, they’ll think you have your own agenda, especially if you’re promoting your own products or services.
So how does a content creator build the trust of their audience?
By successfully fulfilling the other roles of course!
These roles are not exclusive, you should try to become all of them. At times you should fulfill some more than others. Depending on the nature of your business and the industry you operate in, some may hold greater importance.
For example, if you sell educational products e.g. online courses and eBooks, your primary focus should be fulfilling the role of an educator to your audience. Obviously, that role is the most important for you.
However, being entertaining is also important, anyone who studied maths in school probably remembers a particularly dull teacher making the subject unbearable (no offence to the exciting maths teachers out there … if they exist).
However, imagine you taught maths in the context of playing poker or card counting in blackjack, now that might make it more interesting (please note that Talking Toucan does not endorse gambling … unless of course you really can count cards, in which case knock yourself out).
Keep an eye out for the rest of this series
For the rest of this series, we’re going to look at each role individually and explore what it means to be a teacher, entertainer, inspiration, source of conversation, friend and trusted promoter to your audience.
We’ll be releasing articles over the next couple of weeks.