Kabuni Academy – Create a content strategy and sell your why
Date: March 22, 2017
Name: Kabuni Academy – Create a content strategy and sell your why
Presenter: Attie O’Rourke
Successful entrepreneurs use effective content strategy to raise their visibility online, especially when they need to stand out in their competitive industries. Kabuni Academy invites Attie O’Rourke, the Founder of Brand Sauced, to discuss her business insight on content strategy. In this presentation, entrepreneurs will know a simple way to brand and deliver their message to their audience through compelling content. Attie O’Rourke will share her key perspectives on creating brand value through content.
Attie O’Rourke is the Founder of Brand Sauced. She helps many entrepreneurs to craft their personal branding. She was a Marketing Specialist for LGM Financial Service Inc and a Marketing Manager for Silver Chef Ltd. O’Rourke has volunteered in Opportunity International for over 9 years. She is also a mentor for a signature program in Greater Vancouver Board of Trade called Leaders of Tomorrow. Furthermore, her passion in marketing inspires many young entrepreneurs.
A question in every entrepreneur’s mind is that they do not know how to form the right marketing strategy in their marketing space. Attie O’Rourke is a marketer and she knows the key in marketing is the word “why”. She inspires Simon Sinek and agrees with his concepts. O’Rourke has a strong “why”. She wants to help people succeed even with no big budget. She wants to inspire others with marketing.
O’Rourke believes to create a content strategy from scratch, the first thing is to start with “why”. There are 3 main questions O’Rourke wants entrepreneurs to ask themselves.
- Why does your brand or product exist?
- Why do you get out of bed in the morning?
- Why should anyone care?
The last question is the most important question for all entrepreneurs. O’Rourke wants entrepreneurs to think deep on the last question.
O’Rourke provides 3 examples. The first one is called Casper. Casper is a company that makes mattress. Instead of branding the function of mattress, Casper does not mention product on their website. They talk about process and explains to audience the drive behind sleep. They even have a blog on sleep. The second example is called Phil and Sebastian. This is a company that makes coffee. Phil and Sebastian explains their true “why” on helping farmers improve. They make videos on their interactive conversation with farmers. Moreover, they have Instagram feed on what they stand for. The last example is called Matthew McCormick. Matthew is a fashion designer. He explains his true “why” on making things beautiful through light. Instead of writing blogs, Matthew uses amazing photos to capture the hidden message.
“People do not buy what you do, they buy why you do it”
Content consists of blogs, videos, podcasts, photos, and social media. O’Rourke defines content as designed for consumption and packaged to share. Instead of thinking of getting a blog or social media, entrepreneurs need to understand what channel is right for their goals and audience.
“Content strategy is a road map”
O’Rourke shares her 3 key steps to create content strategy.
- Strategize first
- Play to your strengths and be realistic
- Schedule and relax
Entrepreneurs need to know why they exist, what do they hope to achieve, whom are they attempting to influence, what is important to their audience, who are their competitors, and how will they measure results. To summarize, O’Rourke wants entrepreneurs to remember “why”, “goal”, “audience”, “interest”, “position”, and “metric”.
When entrepreneurs sell their true why, they need to show they care. When they capture the right moment, they will connect with the audience even closer.
O’Rourke creates a spreadsheet that can help entrepreneurs monitor and keep track the progress of their content strategy. Entrepreneurs need to breakdown all the actions by months and categorize by the types of content. Each action will have its own topic, which is individual “why”. Entrepreneurs need to know which keywords to use for each action. By injecting the right keywords in the content, it rises the awareness through the marketing space. Every action will target specific audience group. Lastly, each action will assign an author. O’Rourke suggests entrepreneurs to keep it realistic and do not sign up too much. They need to delegate if necessary.
Entrepreneurs can send out Q&A to others for content topic research. For every reposting, it is important to credit the source. Entrepreneurs can make comment or opinion to interact with the audience.
O’Rourke recommends entrepreneurs to use Later.com for scheduling calendar for photography. Many applications have a build-in statistic that shows the best time to post. Hootsuite is another great tool for social media scheduling. When the scheduling is set, entrepreneurs can relax and monitor the result.
Questions and Answers
O’Rourke suggests 2 posts maximum per day is ideal. The main metric tool O’Rourke uses is the conversion rate. Social media is a way to increase brand awareness, but the number of conversion through different stages in the funnel is critical for decision making.
The best tool for analytic is Google Analytic. There are many platforms have analytic tools, so entrepreneurs should utilize those build-in tools before purchasing.
To get large followers, entrepreneurs need to tailor their why and share great content.