By Darren Gilbert
The cold, hard reality is few will take notice of what you create. And even if they do, it won’t be as significant a number as you would hope. However, this sobering fact shouldn’t stop you from creating content. Rather it should steer you towards the goal of creating content which is sincere and helpful. You only need to speak to Kyle Fraser, co-founder and director of strategy at Durban-based content marketing and development agency, PlusNarrative, to know that this strategy works.
In fact, it is so effective, Fraser built it into the very foundations of the agency. “What we try to do is produce content that is helpful to people; that does something for them,” points out Fraser. “This means we are often convincing our brands to put their customers first; helping them to achieve their goals.” The result is obvious: great content in the right context. And in a world cluttered by information, this is always welcomed. After all, people only want what is relevant to them. Nothing more.
“We obviously start with a persona who we want to engage with,” says Fraser. “We look at their challenges; their opportunities; their goals. And we see how a brand can cater for them. How our content creation can relieve their challenges and help them achieve their goals,” says Fraser. With that set, everything else begins to fall into place. Of course, anything you create needs to be individually stimulating. However, so long as it is either entertaining, convincing, inspiring or educating, your content is doing its job: it’s providing help to those who need it most.
“We encounter great brands who have amazing stories. Real, meaningful stuff that people want to hear,” says Fraser. “But they don’t tell those stories, because they either don’t know how or they don’t feel they can.” And this is where PlusNarrative looks to help. “An amazing brand, plus their unique narrative, equals something that people can actually connect with and believe in.”
That is, of course, not to say PlusNarrative gets it right all the time. In fact, Fraser will be the first one to admit when they get it wrong. “We don’t always get there first. But if something hasn’t worked, we don’t beat ourselves up about it for too long. We try to get over that as quickly as possible because what we found is that the quicker we get over it, the quicker we end up producing something that people really love.”
This statement should be evidence enough: Fraser and PlusNarrative continuously strive to give the customer something that will help them. “It comes down to being empathetic with your customer,” believes Fraser. “And that is something that we do at PlusNarrative. I believe wholeheartedly that we sincerely care. We have a culture in our business of really wanting to connect with people.” And this is what any content you produce needs to do too.
Fraser explains, “When your marketing is human-centred, with a sincere, authentic and caring heart; people will immediately identify. They will pick it up.” This doesn’t mean that it’s easy though. It’s easy enough to write about a subject or take a photograph and post it online. But to tell a story, and to tell it well enough to get people to engage. Therein lies the challenge.
PlusNarrative knows this all too well. They deal with it every day. However, instead of being intimidated, it provides them with opportunities to hone their skills. To find something that helps people. To put the customer first. And to get that right, PlusNarrative focuses on the one thing that will help them achieve it: human-centred content.
For more information on PlusNarrative, visit www.plusnarrative.com. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook and on Twitter.