- Performance Marketing
Content Analysis and How to Ensure Content Validity
By Julia
Most of the time, when competition businesses talk about growth, it’s all about scaling the company and sky-rocketing profits. And that is part of growth, of course, but really, growth is much more complex than just that. It comprises two main parts.
Growth = Paid Media + Organic Media.
Paid media is, essentially, paid advertising. It places ads in search results, on social media, and on websites. Its purpose is to drive traffic, raise awareness, and boost conversions, but for a fee.
It’s handy, there’s no doubt about that, but to truly succeed, you shouldn’t outsource everything to paid media. You should combine paid media with your efforts, too. There’s lots you can do yourself, even if it might take longer to pay off than ads.
That’s what organic media is all about. This is any content you create for your social media, blog, or website without having paid a penny for promotion. It wholly relies on natural discovery — like in the good ol’ days! — engaged users, and high-quality content. It takes time, creativity, and patience, but it’s worth it for the long-lasting customer relationships you’re about to build.
Uh oh, looks like we just spoiled what this article will cover. Best get into it now!
1. Builds Trust and Authenticity
Ads will help sell your business, yes, but ads aren’t everything. Organic content can help you grow as well — just in a slightly different way.
You see, although ads can help you sell more tickets for your competitions, many players are sceptical about traditional, salesy ads. Especially when it comes to competition businesses, there’s that added layer of ‘is it all a scam?’ which a player considers before entering. Organic content, especially if it’s of high quality, helps to mitigate such thoughts.
When a potential customer is uncertain about making a purchase, they’ll do their research. They’ll check reviews and look through socials to see how credible you really are.
That’s why you need to utilise social media and post organic content. It’s a form of social proof, and thus, it’s very important.
Share behind-the-scenes videos of unwrapping prizes, for example. This counts as organic media. It shows players that you’re legit. Not only does this humanise your brand by showing the face/s behind the brand, but it also builds trust and establishes a connection with your players.
2. Creates a Loyal Following
Alongside behind-the-scenes content, it’s also a good idea to post content that engages with your followers. Polls, quizzes, Q&As, and live draws are all great examples of interactive content. This will go beyond building trust and an authentic brand name for yourself. It’ll establish a loyal following of repeat players.
Yup, repeat players. When you put effort into engaging with the community around your brand, you’ll have more of those than your one-timers. That’s because they’ll see that you’re about more than just selling your next competition to them. You’ll have shown them that you care about their overall player experience.
So, keep them talkin’ and keep talkin’ to them! Encourage conversations, reply to their comments or DMs (that’s short for ‘direct messages’) and continue fostering your brand community. It’s crucial for your long-term growth.
3. It’s a Cost-Effective Option
If you’re not sold on organic media yet, you definitely will be now.
Organic media is free.
You read that right. Organic media is free to post, so the only investment you’ll be making is that of time, strategy and creativity. Not a bad deal, huh?
This gives you an easier start if you’re a newbie competition business with a limited budget. In fact, it’s perfect to start building a loyal following from the get-go. Being a small and/or new business, you have more time to establish your online presence and dedicate more attention to your potential players. All while saving up enough money to allocate to future paid ads and other parts of your business.
Sounds like a smart move to us!
4. Supports Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
There’s more: organic media is in (not-so-secret) cahoots with search engines. This means that your engaging organic content — that is, content that appeals to user intent and satisfies their search needs — lets search engines, such as Google, know that they’re engaging. Google likes that, and what Google likes, it boosts in its Search Engine Results Pages (also known as SERPs), thus raising your site in ranks.
Being higher up in the SERPs makes all the difference to your site visibility. It gives you a significant traffic boost, and it gets more potential players through your door.
5. It’s a Long-Term Strategy
There’s a small catch to organic media. It’s nothing bad at all, but some find it a bit frustrating: it takes more time and effort to produce than paid media. Yes, it can be annoying to not see your efforts paid off immediately, but it’s worth it for the end-goal.
Organic media is a bit like exercising in this way. You have to exercise consistently to start seeing results. You won’t get a six-pack after working out once (unfortunately!). But the fruits of your labour taste much sweeter when you know how hard you’ve worked for them.
It’s the same for organic media. It’s a long-term commitment, and it’ll take a little while to see its success, but wow, will it be worth it when you do!
Why, you ask?
We’ll tell you:
- You’ll have established a brand identity for yourself online
- You’ll have created evergreen organic content that players, new and old, can return to as needed (it also allows new players to get to know you better, and prove your credibility to them!)
- You’ll have built a loyal customer base and retained players
Also, you won’t have to worry if your paid ads ever stop driving traffic to your site, because your organic content has your back. The organic media you’re creating will keep generating traffic until your paid ads get back on track — and before and after that, too.
That’s why paid and organic media balance each other out, and why they work better as a team. Although paid media is important, you shouldn’t forget about organic media, or underestimate it. Ever. It’s just as good at keeping your business thriving as paid media — and, in some ways, even better.
Organic Media Has Your Back, And So Does Team Zap
Whether it’s paid ads or organic media (which you now know is important!), Team Zap is here to help with whatever competition-related business you need.
We’re experts in the field, after all, so it’s safe to say we know our stuff.
Want to get to know each other better? Contact us today.
