How to Select Your Content Marketing Channels

What are you positioned to attract?

Recently, I was approached by a successful entrepreneur to work for his organisation. He had been a fan of Book Rapper for some time and wanted me to contribute those skills to his business. Effectively, I would have been doing his content marketing.

I was very interested in working for this person as I felt that I could learn a great deal from him and how he went about business. And, as our conversations deepened as to what was involved, I realised that I was the wrong person for the job. He wanted a writer. And, the challenge for me was that I didn’t see myself as a writer. The feedback I get from Book Rapper is that I write well. However, when I sat down and wrote a list of my top ten skills, writing only came in at 7 or 8.

Activity: Write down your top 10 skills. Ask friends, colleagues and clients to write their list. What do you notice?

Now here’s the interesting bit… Whilst I thought of Book Rapper as a design exercise, it positioned me in the marketplace as a writer. And, the idea of only being a writer and not designing the whole package did not appeal to me.

Your Primary Marketing Channel

And, the lesson I learnt was that you need to select your primary content marketing channels based on what you intend to sell and how you want to be positioned in the marketplace.

Simply put…
• If you want to be employed as a writer, then write.
• If you want to be employed as a speaker, then speak and tell us a story.
• If you want to be employed as a trainer, then demonstrate your expertise and teach us something.
• If you want to be employed as a photographer or illustrator, share great images.
• If you want to be employed as a coach, then ask questions and coach people.

Two Achievements

This will achieve two very powerful aims.

Firstly, it will make it easy to decide which modes to present your content in. The web is now a mixed media vehicle. We can present words, images, audio, video… Ask yourself: What is my primary delivery mode for what I’m selling?

Secondly, it will send the message, this person is a… writer, speaker, coach, trainer, etc. Your content audience will naturally then connect the dots that you have this expertise and you deliver in this way. It’s subliminal selling.

Please note…

I’m not saying you should only deliver in one mode. Expertise can be delivered across multiple modes. And, we all write even though we don’t specifically get paid to write. A mix of content delivery modes will suit a wider range of audience. And, I am saying identify your primary delivery mode and generate outward from this.

And, a question for you to see check if you’re listening… Which channels am I promoting on this page?