Aren’t we all trying to get a reaction?
A few months ago, I showed Content Marketing Institute members how to create a marketing reaction using some household chemicals and some simple lab equipment.
I hid the science from you by talking primarily about converting a blog into an eNewsletter.
Today, I want to expose the chemicals and reactions to you so you can begin to see how content marketing strategy is simply a combination of common reactions combined in interesting ways.
Once you understand the core chemistry, you can begin to assemble content marketing programs that deliver the attention and revenues you need.
Let’s take a look at the reactions involved in the blog-to-eNewsletter strategy outlined in my column.
The basic blog reaction
Here is the first basic reaction, which many of you will be quite familiar with:
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By combining Content with a Blog, you generate – among other things – an RSS Feed. The feed content can then be used in other reactions, such as this one:
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Combining the feed with your Lead database and opt-in Permission, you create a reaction that generates Email. This reaction is endergonic, meaning that you need to add something to the mix to make the reaction happen. In this case, you need an RSS-to-email technology like those I discussed in the column.
Email by itself can generate Attention, but something more is needed to generate traffic to your site.
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When you mix an Offer with the email, you not only generate attention but you also generate Traffic to your site.
Traffic, however, is only the first step.
Creating a landing page
We want our traffic to react. We want to generate Sales from it. One common reaction is this:
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By combining our traffic with a Landing Page we can generate a quantity of Sales for our business.
Of course, the landing page is a complex compound that can be difficult to formulate in the laboratory. One of the simplest has the following formula:
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A landing page at its most basic consists of persuasive or descriptive Content, combined with an Offer and a Form designed to take information or begin a purchase process.
Additional chemicals can be added to the reaction to increase the purity of the landing page created.
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The quality of the landing page you produce changes with the quantity and quality of the reactants you choose. We strongly recommend that you test a variety of combinations in the lab to achieve the best form of landing page — the one that generates the most sales.
Generating leads
Leads are also generated from a reactive combination of Traffic and a Landing Page. A proper landing page must generate Permission, allowing a lead to be used in subsequent marketing reactions.
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Content is the key ingredient
Content is a required ingredient in almost every marketing reaction. Content can take many forms, as we all learn from the Content Marketing Institute.
It is highly reactive.
Content is the universal solvent and a reliable catalyst. It can be biological in nature, creating viruses that grow and spread. It can be radioactive, influencing other elements far away from it.
It can be nutritional or poisonous if consumed.
Finding the combinations that work for your business
When you’ve refined the elements of online marketing to core components, it becomes easier to imagine new combinations and reactions that result in better results. Content is the key. How can you combine your Content and Traffic with other reactive elements to create sales gold?
