The content marketing matrix is a valuable tool that can help you create a successful content strategy. It provides you with an easy way to see all of the different types of content your business should be producing and how they could work together to generate more leads and sales for your company.
As a business owner, you can generate content ideas and decide on the channels where your content can be distributed.
What is a content marketing matrix?
The content matrix is a cornerstone of any inbound marketing strategy.
It’s also a way to organize the many types of content needed for an effective marketing strategy. They help you create, plan and execute your overall content strategy in an organized way so that it is easy to see what type of articles or videos should be created at different times during the year to reach all potential customers with the appropriate content.
The content marketing matrix is typically broken into the following categories: entertain, educate, inspire, and convince. It is important to keep these types of content separate because each one has a specific goal in mind for your business.
How to create a content marketing matrix
Creating your content marketing matrix is a simple process. First, you need to create your categories for the year and then assign specific content pieces or types of articles that will fall into each category.
The following are some guidelines on which types of content to use:
•Entertain – Videos, blogs, quizzes, funny stories
•Educate – Blog posts about products/services with helpful information in an entertaining way; tips & tricks videos
•Inspire – Articles telling people why their lives would be better if they purchased something from you; case studies
•Convince – Reviews of competitors’ services or products (with comparisons) and calls to action at the end of blog posts or video presentations.
Entertain
The purpose of entertaining content is to grab visitors’ attention. At this stage of the funnel, people are eager to be entertained and have little interest in what you’re selling. They want a reason, an excuse to keep reading your content or watching your videos.
The following types of articles work best for this stage:
•Videos – People love short videos that show them how to do something quickly (e.g., DIY hacks) or make them laugh out loud with funny stories, like the one about the woman who was allergic to watermelon but discovered she could eat it by rubbing the outside on her lips before taking a bite!
•Blogs – Blog posts should focus on quick reads with entertaining headlines-easy ways for readers to improve their lives without wasting time; humorous takes on common problems your audience is dealing with.
Educate
Content that educates gives those who don’t know enough about a subject something new they can learn from it; tips & tricks tutorials help teach these readers more than just how-to’s.
The following types of articles work best for this stage:
•Blogs – Blog posts should focus on quick reads with entertaining headlines-easy ways for readers to improve their lives without wasting time; humorous takes on common problems your target audience is dealing with.
•Ebooks or whitepapers – These must be comprehensive enough that people feel like they’re getting something out of it, but short enough, so viewers don’t lose interest halfway through. If you have plenty of data, consider breaking up key points in bullet point form throughout the article instead of packing all of the information in one dense paragraph.
Inspire
Inspirational content is designed to help prospects feel like their lives would be better if they made a purchase decision on your product.
This type of content should increase the desire for a solution.
If you offer a product that doesn’t require any work on the part of the customer, your content should provide real-world examples.
•Case studies – A case study is best suited for converting customers after they’ve already taken a look at your blog post and considered purchasing your company’s products or services. The goal here isn’t to get them interested; it’s to present information as factually as possible so readers can make up their minds about whether or not they want what you’re selling.
Convince
At the convincing stage, the ultimate end goal isn’t just making someone think they would have better lives if they bought something from us, but actually having them take action on their purchase decision. This means providing valuable information that can help motivate them to buy.
•Testimonials – Testimonials are an easy way to get people on board with your offer. They can make the difference between someone buying or not, especially when they come from other customers who have successfully used a product and found it helpful
•Product Reviews – Product reviews give prospective buyers a chance to see what others think of any given item before they decide whether or not to buy it
•How-to Videos – How-to videos walk viewers through different steps involved in using products you sell so that they know more about their potential purchase
These types of content will help convince prospects that purchasing something is worth their time (and money). You’ll also want them to be able to easily access this information by directing them back into relevant pages on your site where they can go ahead and purchase.
The AIDA Framework
You can use the AIDA framework to help create relevant content that works for every stage of the funnel. You can use it to help guide the customer journey.
AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action, and is the go-to framework in direct response marketing.
It’s a proven way to move people from being cold prospects to becoming customers.
Attention
The first stage of the AIDA framework is all about grabbing a reader’s attention.
This might be through headlines and images that are eye-catching or relevant to your target market.
In this stage, you want readers to keep reading and engage with your content:
* Your blog post has an intriguing headline that makes people want to read it in detail (think SEO)
* You have strong images on each page for those who visit from Pinterest or Instagram
Interest
The second stage of the AIDA framework is about triggering your prospect’s interest.
The best way to do this is through educational content.
Here you want your reader to keep reading and engage with your content:
* Your blog post has educational content about the topic that is interesting and engaging; it’s compelling enough to get readers interested in learning more about the topic
* You have content that is intriguing yet not overwhelming to your readers. Content should be a balance between too much information and not enough detail for those who are reading it. This stage can also include infographics
Desire
The third stage of the AIDA framework is to increase desire.
You can increase your prospect’s desire by using case studies, storytelling, and showing the benefits of the product.
* Before and after stories are particularly effective in this stage
* You can also show how the product or service solves a problem that your prospects may have
* Case studies are real examples of how your prospect’s life could be improved with the use of your product/service. The ultimate goal is to make them feel like making an investment in it will improve their lives significantly
Action
In the final stage, you want readers to take action.
This might be a form or email sign-up that will allow them to purchase your product:
* You have a clear call-to-action near the end of each sales page, video, or blog post
Conclusion
The content marketing matrix is an essential tool to help you create a successful content marketing strategy.
It is important to understand the different types of content that will help you achieve your goals and use them throughout each stage of the funnel of your digital marketing campaign.
With this guide, you should have a better understanding of the right content format to use, how each type of content works together, and what purpose it serves.
Now your content marketing plan will have a clear direction.