Launching on a new content marketing platform

Have you thought about launching or using a new content marketing platform? This could include a new social media channel, including TikTok or YouTube, as well as a podcast, blog or mailing list.

It is important to try new marketing devices, platforms and tactics, but before you do, I want to introduce you to my TELL technique, to help you assess the platform and to help you consider what launching on a new digital platform will do in return for your business.

Assessing the need to launch on a new content marketing platform

Introducing TELL

TELL stands for:

• Time
• Expectation
• Learning
• Launch

These are five areas that I recommend you consider when planning to start a new content marketing stream, for example a new social media channel.

Below, you will find a series of questions to ask yourself to help with this process and to ensure that when you get to ‘launch’ or if you go ahead with your plan, that you are in the best position to do so.

Time

The first thing to consider is your time. This includes many elements and interpretations!

Ask yourself:

• Is this the right time for this new platform? Why now?
• Is there a better time?
• Do you have the time to learn (see below) about this new platform?
• Have you got the time to commit to regular content creation on this platform?
• How much time will you need to create new content for this platform?
• Do you need to stop or reduce marketing on another channel or platform to give me enough time on this new one? What will the effect on your business be?
• How long will you put time and energy into this new platform to see if it is a success?

Time, energy and motivation are so important when using a new content marketing stream – a podcast, blog or YouTube channel can include a lot of your time spent on creation. For a new social media channel, it can involve a lot of commitment not only creating content, but also interacting and engaging on the channel itself.

Expectation

If you have the time, what are your expectation for this new content marketing platform?

It is important to do a bit of research and set some goals about what you hope to achieve. Questions to ask yourself include:

• What new opportunities do you expect from this new platform?
• Who are the new and current audiences you expect to find or reach via the new platform?
• How are you going interconnect this platform with other (current) content marketing?
• Who do you expect to be creating content for this new platform? You or are you going to outsource?
• What do you consider a ‘success’ on this new platform? How will you define and measure this?
• What are your expectations about how easy it will be to create content and to continue consistently?
• Are you being realistic with any/all of these expectations?

Knowing ‘why’ you want to launch and being really clear on this is great for motivation after the initial excitement of launch. Remember that marketing is not just about advertising but helping you to move towards reaching your business goals (and sales!).

Learning

I think this is the biggest area that people forget about, especially when a ‘new and exciting’ marketing opportunity comes along! It is true that many content marketing platforms can be learnt as you go, through a little trial and error, but allowing time and considering what learning you want to undertake is important before launching in to something new.

Ask yourself:

• What learning do you want to do about the new platform?
• What learning do you need to do?
• How much are you willing to spend on learning or training?
• How much time are you willing to spend on learning and training?
• If you learn ‘on the go’ versus taking some more time to learn, what will the impact or outcome be on the content created?
• Who do you know that can help and support your learning or offer training?
• Where will you find good training or learning resources relevant to your business?

So many content marketing ‘ventures’ fail because people find it much harder than they expected to make an impact. Often they wonder why others seem to be thriving and they are not. However, so many platforms have little ‘tricks’ and pieces of ‘insider knowledge’ that you need. Also many are multi-faceted. From features on Instagram to Podcast formats, it is often much better to get a true understanding of the extent, breadth and depth of your new platform before plunging in. It is also the only way to create a good strategy.

You don’t have to implement ‘everything’ at once but if you know quite a lot about content marketing platform before you start you can then ‘expand’ or do more, as necessary, and at the right time.

Launch

As an example, certainly, you may want to start a TikTok channel in secret, play around with the features and just ‘hang out’ there for a while – this is a great way to learn and a good part of the learning stage.

At some point, however, once you make the commitment to be on a new platform or offer a new form of content marketing, then launching it is very important.

Ask yourself:

• How far in advance are you going to prepare for launch?
• What do you need to create or prepare for the launch?
• When will the launch date be? And why? Does it coincide with something prevalent or relevant?
• How much are you willing to spend on the launch? Time and money?
• Who do you want to launch to, e.g. current followers on another social media channel? New clients only? A different demographic?
• Where will you advertise the launch and new offering – other platforms? Other marketing channels?
• Will you do a tease campaign? A related offer? A limited time opportunity? How far in advance?
• After launch, what will your immediate plans?
• How much can you prepare before the launch and afterwards to keep up consistency and visibility on the new platform?

You may have heard of ‘podcast fade’ or ‘Instagram fatigue’ or what I like to call ‘Blog dust’ – where after the initial excitement of launch and a few posts or episodes, people just can’t commit or lose enthusiasm. Don’t let this happen to you. Put in place sensible plans for using any time and energy you have on a new platform.

Considering content marketing platform options

If you want to explore lots of content marketing platforms, find people to learn from and discuss your ideas, as well as hear from others’ experience, come and join The Content Club. It’s a collaborative space with access to guest experts from a range of content marketing platforms, areas and approaches, with more being added every month.

Any questions about The Content Club, just email me on kate@thecontentconsultancy.com