Gone are the days of hard-selling. Today, consumers are more likely to be suspicious of outright promotions and discounts. They are far too busy and they have also had enough! It has been a gradual learning for the industry and over the last decade - social selling and consultative selling have evolved as new means to engage customers, develop relationships, build trust, and drive sales.

The growth of technology has led to a significant shift in the ways consumers and businesses interact with each other. 

Nowadays, it is about discovery, engagement, and re-engagement. As audiences look at having more meaningful interactions with brands, good original content has come to take centre stage. Particularly with the rise of social media, posting relevant content or content that offers value to users regularly has become the most effective means to engage a target audience. 

The future looks strong with content that is personal. Content strategies have moved on from content that is efficient to content that the user needs and exudes experience.  

According to the State of Marketing report, the top challenge faced by marketers is finding good content ideas and creating high-engagement content. Even as Generative AI offers powerful tools to boost efficiency the demand is for good, personalised original content. 

90% of marketers prioritise content in their marketing strategies

Content is how a brand can build trust, lasting relationships and repeat business.

So, how do you stand out? Remember, the days of copycats are short lived. Google, for example, has algorithms that can sniff out copycat content and push you down in rankings. It may sound daunting but it can also be deeply rewarding - originality can help you get noticed and grow as a brand. There is a flood of ho-hum content online, and fresh content is a treat to the users. Just be that breath of fresh air and see how you attract more audience!

What is original content?

Original content or authentic content refers to content that is personal, relevant, and unique and is capable of engaging the audience in a way that hasn’t been done already. Anything that falls in the below-mentioned categories can be considered original content:

• Original concepts, ideas, or opinions
• Same old topics written with fresh, new perspectives or just given a different twist
• Original images and videos 
• Content from direct experience
• Employee-generated content

Not just algorithms but audiences too are smart enough to recognize when copies of already published content are presented to them. The effort you put into creating good content will reflect in the quality of your work and will appeal to the audience. A perfect mix of creativity, relevance, and utility will set yourself apart from your competitors.

Value for businesses

Alright, good content should be the bedrock of your content marketing strategy. And it can offer immense benefits and opportunities to businesses. What’s in it for your business?

Let’s have a look at the following points to understand the relevance of original content for the growth of your business.

Boosts your search engine rankings

A strong SEO strategy helps your content to be found by the right audience. Google has admitted that they love original content, and irrelevant and copied content only hurts the search rankings of businesses on Google. One of the factors used in ranking the content by Google is EAT, which stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Google refined it to double EAT or EEAT, adding “E” for experience.

When your content is unique, you can earn more backlinks from well-reputed websites. This will strengthen your internet presence and lead to improved rankings. It’s basically  a ripple effect on your popularity as a brand.

Establishes thought leadership

Most businesses commit the mistake of creating content to achieve short-term goals, like promoting a product or increasing sales. Businesses need to realise that their content has far-reaching effects on their brands. Content is what connects a brand to its audience. The more original and value-driven your content is, the better your brand’s relationship with the audience will be. The quality of your content will be a testimony to your expertise and the insights you have about your industry. This can make you a thought leader and establish you as an authoritative voice within your industry.

Drives engagement and conversions

Good Marketing has always been about engaging consumers, creating more lead nurturing opportunities and driving in sales. 74% of companies are showing an effective boost in lead generation through content that is informative, engaging and tailored to user needs.

Well-written content presented in an engaging manner and adds real value to users even if just to entertain, is likely to be shared and discussed more often. When a casual visitor makes a move to being a customer on your site it is a conversion. Which brings us to a key point about website content - never leave it stale, always make sure to add a touch of freshness and keep it engaging. 

You don’t need a big budget

Quality content marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to draw in your target audience and keep your customers happy. All you need is good planning, a bit of creativity and brainstorming to keep producing insightful and engaging content across social media platforms. 

Our advice would be to keep at it and test and measure the effect of your content on your target audience. It’s not just affordable but also helps you keep an ear to the ground on what your audience is looking to engage with. Investing your time in creating original content is a great way to invest in long-term relationship building with your audience.

Now, a few original content marketing ideas from businesses, over the years

The common denominator in all the below-mentioned examples is the originality and uniqueness of the idea that has been used.

Spotify Wrapped playlists

Spotify Wrapped, a content marketing campaign of Spotify, has been a success on social media. The campaign gathers user data by paying close attention to what kind of music they listen to. With that data, it creates a personalised playlist for each user in the form of visually appealing slides that can be shared on social media. The campaign led to an increase in the number of users signing up for Spotify.

Canva’s Design School

Canva’s Design school offers courses for beginners to teach them how to create engaging and meaningful images. Even those with no design experience can learn from the course. It also allows Canva to showcase all the design features it has to offer.

Design personality by Airbnb

Airbnb, along with Domino, came up with the idea of creating a fun quiz for users to discover their design personality. The quiz provides accurate answers and genuine recommendations to users on where to stay next. They even get content from the design experts at Domino on how to spruce up their space.

Colgate’s Research page

Colgate has created a resource page that offers high-quality content related to oral hygiene and gum diseases. Such helpful and informative content is an effective way to build thought leadership and brand authority in the industry.

Conclusion

To carve out space for yourself in the content marketing space, you need to brush up on your research skills, creativity, and then practice, practice, and practice. Only then will you be able to grab attention.

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