Engage your audience with effective content strategies
Take a moment, and think back to the last piece of content you consumed that truly made an impression. Or that you even remember. What’s that? Nothing’s coming to mind? Exactly our point, because let’s be honest: The overwhelming majority of content that lands in our feeds on a daily basis is entirely forgettable. There are any number of reasons for this - it might be irrelevant to us, or poorly executed, or perhaps it’s simply lost in the deluge of content we all contend with. Whatever the case, we swipe past it without so much as a second thought.
That’s a problem, because content marketing is essential for your brand. Not merely to get your key messages across, or to stand out from the crowd, but to truly connect with your audience in a way that makes them care. The million dollar question is: How? It’s an important question, and it’s exactly why we’re here to share some insights on content marketing that can help you connect with your audience, nurture long-term loyalty, and ultimately inspire them to purchase your products, visit your destination, and feel more connected to your brand.
Content vs. Content Marketing: Are You Just Making Noise?
Content creation and content marketing are often used interchangeably, but they're fundamentally different. To begin understanding the difference between the two, it might help to look at it this way: All content marketing involves content creation, but not all content creation involves content marketing. That’s because effective content creation must be guided by sound strategy, including a comprehensive understanding of the marketing goals. Otherwise, you’re basically throwing paint at a wall, hoping it somehow creates a masterpiece. Is that possible? Sure. Is it likely? In a word, no. At Origin, we call this sort of content creation “making noise.” It’s content for content’s sake, and not only is it less likely to resonate with your target audience, it’s unlikely to achieve your stated marketing goals.
Content without a strategy is just noise. Content marketing is about crafting a symphony that resonates with your audience.
Content marketing, however, is strategic. It's about crafting and delivering content with intention. It makes sure each piece serves a purpose: building relationships, engaging audiences, and guiding them through a journey that results in a memorable experience. It’s deliberate, like composing a symphony—each element working in harmony to engage, inform, and build trust.
Why Should We Care About Content Marketing?
We're living in an "attention economy," where brands are competing for a single, precious resource—our audience's attention. The average attention span today is just 8 seconds, which means we have to capture interest fast and hold onto it (if you're still reading this article, we’ve succeeded).
The average attention span today is 8 seconds—shorter than that of a goldfish. This means your content must be immediate, engaging, and valuable.
Consider this: people receive around 120 emails daily, scroll through 100-200 Instagram posts, and spend 2.5 hours a day watching videos. If your content doesn't have a strategic purpose, it simply won't capture their attention. High-quality content builds brand trust—a crucial factor, with 81% of people saying that trust influences their purchasing decisions.
81% of consumers say brand trust is a deciding factor in their purchasing choices.
How to Build an Effective Content Marketing Plan
How do you create a content marketing strategy that works? Here is a proven roadmap; it’s the one we use at Origin, and it’s the one that we encourage our clients to follow, too.
- Define Your Goals: Decide what you want to achieve with your content. Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive off-season visits, or boost customer loyalty? Make these goals SMART—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
- Know Your Audience: Use customer data and feedback to understand your target audience. Create detailed personas that represent key segments, such as "Adventure Enthusiasts" or "Family Campers." Tailor your content to speak directly to their needs and preferences.
- Audit Your Existing Content: Review your current content to see what’s working and where the gaps are. Use content performance metrics to determine what resonates with your audience.
- Choose Your Content Pillars: Identify key topics that align with your audience's interests and your brand values. Break these down into sub-pillars for more specific content ideas.
- Plan Your Content Types: Diversify your content to reach your audience at various touchpoints—use blog posts, videos, infographics, social media, and email newsletters to provide value across channels.
Diversify your content formats to meet your audience where they are. Videos, blog posts, and user-generated content all play a role in engaging different segments.
- Build a Content Calendar: Plan ahead and use tools like Trello or Google Sheets to organize your content by theme, format, and publish date. Align your content with seasonal trends or events.
- Optimize for SEO: Conduct keyword research and optimize titles, meta descriptions, headers, and images to ensure your content is discoverable by search engines.
- Distribute Content Strategically: Use a multi-channel distribution approach, tailoring content for each platform. Repurpose content to maximize its reach and effectiveness.
"Repurpose your content across channels to maximize its impact—what works as a blog post could also become a social media series or an email campaign."
- Engage & Interact: Social media is a two-way street. Engage directly with your audience by responding to comments, running polls, and encouraging user-generated content.
- Track Performance & Refine: Use analytics to measure engagement, website traffic, and conversion rates. Refine your strategy based on what works and what doesn’t.
Encourage User-Generated Content: Amplify your reach by encouraging your audience to share their experiences. Use branded hashtags and feature user-generated content on your website or social channels.
User-generated content builds authenticity and trust—82% of consumers say they trust content created by other users more than brand-generated content.
Bringing It All Together
Content marketing is about creating valuable, relevant content that resonates with your audience and guides them through their journey—from inspiration to booking an adventure or purchasing gear to post-visit satisfaction. It's about finding ways to connect with people who are overwhelmed with disposable content, making them care enough to come back, and nurturing a long-term relationship that leads them to eventually use your products or visit your destination.
For ski resorts, this might look like an emotive video series that follows the stories of skiers and snowboarders across a season—showing not just the perfect powder days, but also the challenges, the community, and the passion that keeps them coming back. For outdoor companies, a commitment (oh, and here's a great article on the value of commitment in social content) to storytelling could mean launching a blog series that explores the personal journeys of adventurers using your gear or visiting your locations. These series help build emotional connections and show your audience that you're not just selling a product—you're part of their adventure. And when you’re part of their adventure, they’re more likely to return to you again and again.
Content that tells a story helps build an emotional connection—brands that focus on storytelling see 30% higher engagement.
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