The world of online marketing is growing rapidly, but one stable component of online marketing has and always will be the content that is being produced. Online marketing content is all about making a business or brand stand out, it helps them to be seen by the public, and it eventually leads to building their reputation and improving their bottom line in the industry. Those who create content for online marketing realize the importance of showcasing the integrity of the brand they are representing, while also being creative in how they are presenting the information. Depending upon the industry in which a marketer is representing, it can be difficult to come up with content that has not already been created. How many times have you, the reader, looked at content seen on social media and thought, “I’ve seen this before from another company,”...then turned away to something more interesting? It happens more times than people realize, and it is the worst nightmare for a marketer. So, what can a marketer do? We have 5 things that every marketer should ask themselves about the recent content they created to know for sure it is something to put online!

1. Will this content bring some type of value to the reader? Value comes in many shapes and forms. There is an educational value that it can bring to the reader, or it could simply be entertaining. The value must be present for the content to create the type of response that you want! If the content holds no value, readers may look at this but they are not going to give it another thought, yet alone share this content with others.
2. Is the content easy to understand? It can be super easy to get too in-depth on a piece of content, especially in those highly technical industries. The goal that most marketers have is to create content that can easily be understood by someone who is in high school. Do not make this content to where people need a dictionary and thesaurus to understand it.
3. Is the content showcasing something new or excitingly presenting old information? , Ask yourself, what is making this content different than the thousands of pieces of content already posted online. This difference is key to standing out in a competitive industry.
4. How is this going to help the brand? This is an important question. Many people post content with one thought in mind: to get the brand name out there. They are not considering how this content reflects on the brand. Instead, they think that since the content is not negative or derogatory in any way, it can only help. That is not always the case! If the content is repetitive or even if it is somewhat similar to a competitor, it can greatly hurt the reputation of the brand who posted it!

Every marketer who creates content will want to ensure that the content being created can meet the above guidelines. Otherwise, time is being wasted creating content that is subpar and not going to render the results the brand/business needs!