Putting together a content strategy for your business doesn’t have to be daunting - even if you want to plan for an entire year. In my Brand Strategy Session with Kristen Ambos, Branch Manager/SVP of Guaranteed Rate Mortgage, we took a systematic approach that allowed us to creatively plan a year’s worth of marketing content while remaining current with the season.
The goal is to remain authentic to Kristen’s brand while connecting through stories. Here is the process we followed:
Step 1: Identify Key Questions
Think about your target audience and what they care about, what they’re afraid of, and how you can meet their needs. Generate a list of key questions that you want to answer through your content.
Choosing a mortgage lender comes with many questions and concerns. Kristen’s audience needs to know who she is, why she’s different, and how they can connect with her on a human-to-human level.
We identified the following questions that we wanted to answer for Kristen’s target audience, throughout the year:
Who is Kristen?
Why is she different?
What was her first home-buying experience?
Where does she call home?
What does it feel like to work with her?
Step 2: Answer Those Questions Visually
Each of your key questions can be answered in a myriad of ways - through articles, social media posts, videos, interviews, paid ads, your website, and more. You can use words to answer questions literally, of course, but you can elevate your brand by using strategic imagery to communicate your answers.
Kristen and I put together a custom strategy to answer each of her key questions through brand photography. To answer her “why is she different?” question, for example, we identified that she is an educator and an outside-the-box problem solver. So we crafted photos that could convey these traits.
Step 3: Accommodate Seasonal Changes
Most businesses experience seasonal fluctuations. Your customers/clients may come to you for different reasons in December than they do in June. Plan for these seasonal changes when you plot out your content for the year.
Home buying trends are seasonal, especially in Kristen’s market of Wisconsin, so we put this into her content strategy. In order to keep her marketing especially relevant, and make sure she could be attentive to her clients’ changing needs, Kristen also opted for a quarterly photography package. This allows her marketing to be agile, dynamic, and very authentic. She always has fresh images to share.
Step 4: Generate Quality Content
Once you’ve strategically planned out your content, all you need to do is execute the plan. Follow Kristen’s journey on social media - LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. And see even more images from our quarterly photoshoots in this article.
Great imagery is integral to marketing your products and services effectively. In a crowded marketplace, you need to stand out with visual imagery that is strategic, cohesive, relevant, and 100% on-brand. Once your business taps into the power of strategic visual storytelling, you will be transformed into a truly profitable and recognizable brand. Reach out to me, today, to begin your journey.
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