Content. Generate a word cloud on the state of advertising today and “content” will be huge, holding its own in prominence next to “profit” or “business.” Until recently, the marketing landscape in the digital age has been focused on staying ahead of the curve with the latest platforms and technologies that will reach screens in masses.

With these new distribution channels have come innovations on analytics and tracking that provide robust data on user behavior, forcing the industry to rethink digital marketing. It’s no longer about maximizing reach on as many platforms as possible. It’s about reaching the right customer for your business in a more meaningful, genuine way. What are these folks looking for? Content.

That’s why at the core of all our work at Peter Mayer is a user-first approach that really seeks to provide value to our target audience. We understand that, unless we execute on this fundamental first and foremost, we cannot accomplish anything of ongoing value on behalf of the brand. The root of content marketing is about building relationships. By providing something that benefits our user, we are establishing the foundation of our relationship with the user and then nurturing it over time.

Here is where Peter Mayer stands as an agency:

We dive deeply into the research our planners have done to define the brand, identify the user and uncover the cultural opportunity.

We believe that content marketing must be grounded in a user-focused approach. It’s understanding a customer’s journey and their frame of mind through each phase that allows us to deliver content that’s meaningful and relevant to our audience.

We go further via social listening to deeply understand our target’s online behavior and activity.

Constant optimization is vital to the success of content marketing and social media management. At Peter Mayer, community managers – the same people who are directly interacting with online communities – own content creation. They reach further beyond our clients’ current communities using an ever-evolving social listening tool kit to find not only new customers but also users who will become highly engaged brand advocates. It’s working so close to the audience after the content is published that provides such deep insight into the specific community attached to a brand.

We define content buckets that reinforce the brand promise and simultaneously serve the user’s needs.

The best content creators understand the importance of journalistic integrity. This understanding, combined with an editorial approach using an organized content category system, helps guide the production of every content piece including video, blog posts, podcasts and updates.

We work hard to understand our target audience better than anyone else.

We think the best way to create content that is helpful, valuable and interesting to our consumer is to put ourselves in their shoes. We become specialists in how our various demographics use social spaces to create a blueprint of consumer behavior long before we post anything to Facebook.

We understand that content is only successful if it serves both the brand and the user.

Content marketing has the unique ability to be a dialogue between the consumer and the brand or, in most cases, the community managers. By utilizing the two-way communication channels, a brand can learn the topics of interest to the user while garnering insight on opportunities to genuinely introduce product offerings.

Content marketing requires a significant investment to be successful. There are pitfalls for brands that rush into it, and failing in these endeavors is a very public affair. An agency is vital for guiding brands through new content-focused marketing. Peter Mayer understands the content publishing cycle, and has a 360-approach brand strategy and a track record for growing business. We understand a solid content strategy is the backbone for any content marketing plan.