Another academic year is about to begin later this month. Regardless if it’s the first day of kindergarten or senior year in college, kids and adults go through the same shopping and planning processes to prepare for this new period.
As such, planning a new content marketing campaign shares several similarities with key elements of going back to school. We could say that depending on our products and their lifecycles, we could go through this process several times per year.
Let’s look at some of the elements marketing and school-ing have in common:
We must know what is going to be our focus: In school, we get to decide which are the subjects we will focus on during the academic year, in order to have the best chance at success and progress in our careers. Marketers go through the same process when planning for a new content campaign: deciding what are the topics that will stir the most interest from their audience while being aligned with their business vision and marketing goals.
We must set clear goals and monitor them: Aiming for a D grade is deadly for a content marketer. Each bit of content that we broadcast must follow the highest standards and be aligned to our goals. Keeping our marketing GPA high will automatically bring new clients and improve our company’s image.
We will be evaluated: Our audience as a Content Agency might be even more demanding and critical than our worst teacher in school, because they grade through engagement and sales. The key here is to thoroughly assess our analytics reports, learn from them and make changes as needed.
We must always be chasing knowledge to thrive: When starting a semester, students won’t learn everything on Day 1 and settle there, it is a continuous learning process throughout the academic period. Likewise, as content marketers, we cannot afford to stop improving and learning about the latest trends, tools and techniques to connect with our audience.
In conclusion
Just as a good beginning to the school year will paint the path to high grades and a successful semester, starting a marketing campaign with the right foot will give us better chances of achieving our goals with less barriers along the way. Take into account these topics for each of your future marketing ventures, and always remember to keep educating yourself. Great marketers never stop learning.
Tell us in the comments: what other similarities can you see between school and great marketing?