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Content strategist Andres Lopez-Varela shares tips for every brand and retailer

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What is content marketing? And should you invest in it? In this Afterpay Accelerate video series, content strategist Andres Lopez-Varela, who has helped create content strategies for the likes of Tourism Australia, Coca-Cola, Commonwealth Bank and Playstation, explains what content marketing is and why it’s important.You can view the series, which is presented in four instalments (just as Afterpay allows customers to make purchases in four payments) below.&nbsp;You can also find extra information about the topics that Lopez-Varela discusses, with helpful links, below...

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WATCH: How to get started with content marketingFirst up: Instalment 1: Intro&nbsp;

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<h2>Want more information on content marketing?&nbsp;</h2>Let’s start with what content marketing isn’t. It isn’t TV ads, paid search or non-personalised emails. It isn’t outdoor billboards or ‘salesy’ social media posts.Content marketing is essentially storytelling; it involves telling stories about your brand, products or people.

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For many brands and retailers, content marketing is most valuable because it builds an audience. Over time, that audience will become increasingly engaged with your brand, so that eventually when it comes time to sell, you’ll be selling to an audience who already like and engage with you and your brand. In other words, you’ll be speaking to a ‘warm audience’ who are ready to become customers.It’s important to remember, though, that content marketing is a long-term play. It isn’t about instant conversions.

WATCH: How to get started with content marketingInstalment 2

<h2>Want more info? So, you’ve decided to invest in content marketing. What next?</h2>To stand out in a sea of content, your content should ideally be inspiring, educational or informative, or entertaining.&nbsp;(Quick tip: If you’re a service-based business, consider creating content about your team, as you’re mostly selling your own services and experience.)You also need to identify the best way to reach your audience – and this is often where social media comes in. Is your audience on Instagram? Or LinkedIn? Or would you be better considering Facebook?

<h2>How to identify the best social media platform for your business</h2>Start by thinking about your customers (or potential customers), and identifying everything from their age to their interests.&nbsp;&nbsp;If your audience is younger, they’ll more likely to be found on Tiktok or Instagram for example; if they’re older they may be on Facebook. Meanwhile, Pinterest, for example, has an average age of around 40.Of course, it’s not just about your audience; it’s also about choosing the right platform for your brand or products. Different platforms cater to different interests; Pinterest is best to reach people researching life events like weddings or home renovations, while YouTube is dominated by videos about make-up, fashion and gaming, for example.Once you’ve worked out where your audience is, you’ll need to create content that works for that platform.&nbsp;

<h2>Blog posts</h2>Why consider writing blog posts? For a start it’s usually fairly straightforward, especially if your website was created with Shopify or Wordpress. However, blog posts also deliver authority by positioning businesses as an expert in their field – and they can help attract new customers, who may stumble across a blog post during a Google search and discover your site that way.

<h2><a href="https://www.afterpay.com/en-AU/business/access/email-marketing/what-is-email-marketing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Email marketing</a>&nbsp;</h2>Your <a href="https://www.afterpay.com/en-AU/business/access/email-marketing/how-to-build-an-email-list-from-scratch" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">email subscriber list</a> is a totally ‘owned’ audience, which means that it isn’t subject to algorithm changes like most social media platforms. However, it’s not a good way to attract new audiences – in the way that Instagram or Facebook might be.

WATCH: How to get started with content marketingInstalment 3:

<h2>Want more info?</h2>Feeling overwhelmed? The trick to starting out with content marketing – while still running a business – is to get organised. Plan, prioritise and batch your content.Plan your topics and content ahead of time, and then create a week or a month’s worth of content together.Quick tip: Sit down for an hour and brainstorm 50 ideas for content. Here are some ideas to get you started:<ul><li>What is your USP?</li><li>What is your expertise?</li><li>What questions do your customers frequently ask?</li><li>What key events are happening over the next few months that you would like to post about?</li><li>What business milestones (or anniversaries) can you post about?</li></ul>

WATCH: How to get started with content marketingInstalment 4

<h2>Want to take your content marketing to the next level?</h2>Consider collaboration. Are there suppliers or aligned (but non-competitive) businesses that you could collaborate with on with an event or product? Collaboration can give both businesses exposure to a new audience.Try monetising your audience. Once you’ve built an audience, it’s worth considering that that audience may be of value to other businesses, too. You can monetise your audience by creating e-books or other branded products that you then sell, or by selling advertising space on your website or social media feed.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Content marketing strategist Andres Lopez Varela shares tips for every brand and retailer in this Accelerate series from Afterpay Access

Content marketing strategist Andres Lopez Varela shares tips for every brand and retailer in this guide series from Afterpay Access

Learn Content Marketing: Free Video Course | Afterpay Access

How to get started with content marketing

The Indigenous fashion brand marrying social purpose and style

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Whenever customers shop with fashion brand&nbsp;<a href="https://magpiegoose.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Magpie Goose</a>, they not only receive a brightly coloured piece of clothing featuring Indigenous art, but an equally colourful postcard with the artist’s story and photo, too.This dedication to storytelling is at the heart of Magpie Goose, which aims to celebrate Aboriginal culture through fashion.“Story-telling is very important to us,” says co-founder Laura Egan, who together with her partner Maggie McGowan, launched Magpie Goose in 2016. “We want to bring wearable art to a global audience while creating much needed economic opportunities for Aboriginal people in remote Australia.”

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Today, the brand has successfully navigated the tricky terrain of merging social purpose and style. It has a dedicated social media following of 44,000 fans – who flock to Magpie Goose’s bold, colourful designs - and it has so far channelled $403,000 into Indigenous communities.The idea for the brand emerged after McGowan, who previously worked as a welfare rights lawyer, fell in love with the Indigenous textiles while travelling to remote communities in the Top End, Northern Territory.Together, the women believed there was a market for clothing featuring the designs, and, at a time when Aboriginal people faced exploitation for their art, they wanted to create a completely transparent business that would generate income for Indigenous artists.

So, in 2017 they launched a Kickstarter campaign to get the business off the ground. “We had a goal of $20,000 in pre-orders - the campaign ended with over $100,000 of clothing orders. We were shocked! Neither of us had a background in fashion or retail, so we really just made it up as we went along” says Egan, adding, “But it proved there was a huge demand for wearable art from talented Aboriginal artists.”

<h2>Clothing that tells a story</h2>Today, storytelling is an intrinsic part of the business – and each piece of clothing.“Each collection of clothes is a vessel for an Aboriginal story” says Egan of the prints. “This can be anything from traditional creation stories, designs depicting bush foods or how to catch certain fish, stories from mission times and of contemporary life in community. We share the stories of each design on our website."

As well as including a postcard featuring the artist with any purchase, Magpie Goose also often creates videos of the Indigenous artist speaking about the design, themselves and their community, and posts it to their website.Indigenous artists are often profiled on the brand’s social channels, where posts often receive thousands of ‘likes’ and comments.

<h2>Choosing authentic storytellers</h2>Not only do Egan and McGowan work with Indigenous artists to create the textile designs, but they collaborate with Aboriginal creatives for campaign imagery. Over the past five years they have worked with more than 50 Indigenous photographers and models, including<a href="https://magpiegoose.com/blogs/news/a-yarn-with-marley-from-barefoot-wandering-photography" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;Marley Morgan</a>&nbsp;of Barefoot Photography and Amber Hamer from<a href="https://wayilacreative.co/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;Wayila Creative</a>. The result is distinctive, authentic and inspiring imagery.

<h2>Storytelling to connect</h2>Storytelling is also an important way for Magpie Goose to connect with customers, and Egan says that sharing their business journey has helped them build a sense of community.The pair regularly post updates about a visit to a remote art centre on their blog or run interviews with artists, photographers or models on social media.Recently, the brand shared its biggest announcement yet: that the business would transition into 100 per cent Indigenous ownership.

Egan and McGowan recently had their first baby, Mabel Quincy, and have transferred ownership to Amanda Hayman, who has cultural connections to Kalkadoon and Wakka Wakka Country and Troy Casey, of Brisbane-based&nbsp;<a href="https://www.blaklash.com/projectss" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Blaklash Creative</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;“I am completely honoured that Maggie and Laura have entrusted us with Magpie Goose” says Hayman. “These ladies have worked tirelessly over the years to collaborate with artists and communities. They are, metaphorically, handing over their baby. They have been through the tough teething stages and as a result, Magpie Goose has a great brand and quality product. We are so excited to lead the social enterprise into the future.”&nbsp;

Indigenous fashion brand Magpie Goose has successfully married social purpose and style, thanks to inspiring, engaging content

Magpie Goose on how brand storytelling helped them stand out

How storytelling helped Magpie Goose stand out

Creating content can often slip to last place on a busy business owner’s to-do list. Bed Threads founder Genevieve Rosen-Biller explains why it deserves your attention.

When Genevieve Rosen-Biller launched her popular French flax linen bedding and homewares company&nbsp;<a href="https://bedthreads.com.au/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bed Threads</a>&nbsp;in 2017, she devoted a huge chunk of her energy to two main areas.&nbsp;The first, of course, was the product itself. “Our linen had to come from a manufacturer that was ethical and had all the correct certifications like OEKO-TEX Standard 100,” says Rosen-Biller. “And it had to feel amazing, arrive pre-washed and the colours had to be beautiful.”

Her second focus? Content.&nbsp;As a former lifestyle journalist, Rosen-Biller was adamant from the outset that creating engaging content, including beautiful <a href="https://www.afterpay.com/en-AU/business/access/product-photography/product-photography" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">product photography</a> and <a href="https://www.afterpay.com/en-AU/business/access/email-marketing/what-is" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">email marketing</a>, would play a significant role in Bed Threads’ offering.&nbsp;“[Content] gives warmth, personality and a way to communicate what your business values without aggressive sales messaging,” she says. “It gives people an opportunity to connect with you – in the same way they would with a magazine, for example – through a memorable and meaningful interaction.”&nbsp;So, nine months after Bed Threads’ sell-out launch in August 2017, Rosen-Biller introduced the brand’s ‘Journal’ section, which was uploaded directly onto the site.

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“Content gives warmth, personality and a way to communicate your business values without aggressive sales messaging”

She also launched <a href="https://www.afterpay.com/en-AU/business/access/email-marketing/how-to-build-an-email-list-from-scratch" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">emails</a> to her small-but-engaged database, which featured beautiful images and four pieces of useful, inspirational content. And the content wasn’t the usual boring blog posts, designed to appeal to Google’s algorithm with <a href="https://www.afterpay.com/en-AU/business/access/seo-tips/retail-seo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">SEO</a>-driven wording or excessive backlinking. It was much more organic and intuitive than that. “We try to create high-quality stories that people want to read at any point in their day,” explains Rosen-Biller.It’s an approach that’s worked; today Bed Threads has 300,000 subscribers on its <a href="https://www.afterpay.com/en-AU/business/access/email-marketing/email-marketing-tips" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">email</a> list.

<h2>Finding ‘brand-adjacent’ content</h2>The secret? From the very beginning, Rosen-Biller commissioned content pieces that she felt were ‘adjacent’ to the Bed Threads range, but weren’t delivering a hard sales message. Things like sleep tips, interior decorating and home styling.&nbsp;The aim was to build trust and engagement with her audience and customers, rather than chasing vast volumes of clicks. “It was more about, how can this piece [of content] serve the person who’s reading it? How can it help them enhance their time at home or inspire them? How can it genuinely be of service?” says Rosen-Biller.

<h2>Devising an original and inspirational series</h2>&nbsp;One of the brand’s most popular content collections is the&nbsp;<a href="https://bedthreads.com.au/blogs/journal/tagged/home-tours" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">‘The Makers Home Tours’ series</a>, which offers readers a peek inside the homes of more than 100 inspirational creatives, from artists to interior designers. Another franchise is ‘<a href="https://bedthreads.com.au/blogs/journal/tagged/recipes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Put On A Spread’,</a>&nbsp;a recipe series featuring chefs and home cooks, alongside the brand’s tableware.&nbsp;The series allow customers to see Bed Threads’ products in situ “and give context to our products so they can see how they look in real situations and how they might play a part in the lives of others”.

“Content gives context to our products so customers can see how they look in real situations.”

This approach also offers social proof and helps grow Bed Threads’ audience, with the creatives featured often sharing the images to their own social media audiences. However, Rosen-Biller explains, when it comes to choosing who to feature, she is less interested in high-follower counts than people who align well with the Bed Threads brand. “It’s about [choosing] genuinely interesting people who will hopefully inspire our audience… there has to be an element of heart and warmth like there is in any publishing context.”<h2>How content can form a relationship</h2>Rosen-Biller says that content shouldn’t merely be seen as a vehicle for product placements. Some of Bed Threads’ content features product – if it fits organically within the article – but some doesn’t. With this sort of authentic and inspirational content, Rosen-Biller says, “You can genuinely form a relationship with your community, which is so valuable. People start having a genuinely positive sentiment towards your brand. That actually converts in terms of traffic and sales in much higher volumes than just saying ‘buy our linen’.&nbsp;“For example, someone might have a Makers Home Tour saved on their phone from two years ago that they'll reference when it's time for them to eventually buy bedding or redecorate their home.”&nbsp;

<h2>Investing in content</h2>&nbsp;The Bed Threads content team comprises seven staff and they publish a minimum of 10 pieces of unique content a week, plus two bespoke features from the Makers Home Tours and Put On A Spread series.&nbsp;The team uses Dropbox and Curalate and works a month in advance.

“Imagery is everything. I truly cannot stress this enough.”

“We invest a great deal of time and energy into [our content series],” says Rosen-Biller, who adds that imagery, in particular, is a key focus. “Imagery is everything – I truly cannot stress this enough. Do not skimp on photography – save until you can hire a professional photographer and stylist, as this will elevate your brand instantly. People are bombarded all day with imagery, so you need to offer them something very special.”&nbsp;And their audience can’t get enough of it. When the brand launched in 2017, its arrival was announced to just 2000 Instagram followers. Today, there are more than 300,000. And sales are just as strong – in the year to July 2020, the company’s revenue surged by 500 per cent, and then a further 300 per cent during the most recent financial year.&nbsp;Afterpay has played an important role in the Bed Threads sales strategy. “We're not a budget brand but we believe in pricing homewares fairly,” explains Rosen-Biller. “We want people to have access to beautiful, natural products in their home without compromising on price or style. Afterpay is hugely helpful for young people who want to have beautiful, quality products in their home that they'd been previously priced out of. It’s a way for them to work them into their budget.”

Bed Threads founder Genevieve Rosen-Biller explains why content marketing deserves retailers' attention.

Bed Threads founder Genevieve Rosen Biller explains why content marketing deserves retailers attention
