How could an episodic content strategy benefit your business?
If you have a consistent, driven approach to creating content, then you’re likely seeing results over time.
But if you have no strategy at all, or if your approach is to create content only when you’re inspired, that’s a bit like throwing your content against the wall and hoping it sticks…
If you want to…
- Build a business and brand
- Get your product or service well-known in the marketplace
- Become a recognized authority in your industry
… creating consistent, high-quality content and distributing it to your audience can help you achieve this.
The three main pillars of a successful content strategy are consistency, quality and distribution.
It’s why we create episodic content. It’s also why we recommend our Content 10x clients use the same strategy – because it works!
Listen to the podcast episode…
Or watch the video podcast…
What is episodic content?
Episodic content is any form of content that's broken down and delivered as episodes. Your favorite TV shows are often a type of episodic content because they are on at the same time, in the same place, every week (before the days of binging whole series, but you get the gist!).
In B2B content marketing, episodic content has a reliable, set structure. It should be regular content that follows a schedule and is in the same format.
Take The Content 10x Podcast, for example. This is our episodic content. It’s a bi-weekly show that goes live on Thursdays and has done since 2018.
Episodic content can come in different formats, but it should be a “core” piece of content that people can revisit again and again.
But your episodic content must stay in the same format (so you can maintain quality), be posted in the same location (distribution) and follow a regular cadence (consistency).
This way your audience will know when to expect your content, and look forward to it – just like they do with their favorite TV shows!
But, episodic content sounds like a lot of work...
If you’re not a consistent content creator, then what are you?
If you wait for inspiration to strike before you create content, then you’re not really adhering to a content marketing strategy at all, you’re creating “random acts of content”.
This phrase was coined by Content 10x friend (and regular client) Jay Baer. He believes that random acts of content are the main reason why content marketing fails...
To be clear, random acts of content are when you create a video here, a podcast episode there, the occasional blog post, livestream once in a blue moon. Whether it’s daily, monthly, or annually, you only pop up as and when you feel like it.
Your audience might feel like you’re difficult to follow. Even if they enjoy your content, they’ll likely lose interest when they have to constantly be on the lookout for it and not be able to rely on you.
The benefits of episodic content
Here are 7 reasons why episodic content is a beneficial content marketing strategy.
1. Episodic content grows a loyal audience
Just as people return to TV shows after they’ve been hooked in, people will continue to come back to your content. They might even become a fan – subscribing and following – and binge past episodes. People are more likely to subscribe if they see there’s something worth subscribing for.
People love consistency. So if you can show up for your audience, they’ll show up for you. As the saying goes “if you build it, they will come” – but remember, you need to keep building consistently, otherwise, what are they coming back for?
2. Social media platforms reward consistency
We talk about ways you can outsmart social media algorithms, but they’re not that dissimilar to people. They seek out high-value, reliable, and consistent content to show people and keep them on the platforms.
If this is what you’re creating, then they’ll be far more likely to feature you at the top of your audiences’ feeds.
3. Episodic content is great for SEO
That’s right, it’s not just social media bots that like consistent content – it’s SEO bots too!
Search engines look for updated and reliable content to give to their audience. If it can provide lots of people with great content, then more people will trust the search engine. If your content is consistently published and is generating repeated user interest, then the search engines will reward you with a higher ranking.
4. Episodic content streamlines your content creation process
We are always looking for ways to optimize and streamline our processes at Content 10x to make more efficient use of our time. Episodic content is perfect for any content creator who wants a one-size-fits-all creation and repurposing workflow.
Managing one-off pieces of content can be time-consuming. But with episodic content, you’re always creating the same core content in the same format, so you can use the same processes to create and repurpose that content episode after episode.
5. Episodic content helps you develop and share ideas over time
If you want to discuss a big or complex topic then episodic content gives you an opportunity to break it down into smaller, easier-to-understand chunks. This is fantastic for any business looking to discuss or explain ideas without excluding people who don’t have prior knowledge on the topic.
Episodes give you the space to develop and frame your thinking further on a topic. If your content addresses current events, for example, then episodic content will keep you on top of changes, and won’t date as quickly as more sporadic content might.
6. Episodic content keeps you front of mind
According to a well-known marketing principle, people need to have more than 7 “touches” with your brand before they act upon a call to action. This means you need to be consistently showing up and getting in front of your audience.
There is a lot of noise on social channels, so it's important to make a repeated effort to impact your audience. This way, they’ll be more likely to remember your brand when they need a solution or product like yours.
7. Episodic content builds credibility
Finally, there’s no doubt that showing up regularly builds trust and credibility.
Even if your content is the best in your industry, trust won’t build up over time with your audience if you’re not showing up regularly. People look for dependable sources of content and trust comes from that reliability.
As more people put trust in you, it’ll help you establish more authority, more interest and help you make more sales.
Episodic content can have big benefits for your business. It's far more preferable than committing random acts of content!
The more you invest in episodic content, the quicker you’re going to see results.
If you’re serious about consistently producing high-quality episodes but need some help with the repurposing and distribution, we can help.
Our services offer end-to-end repurposing, from creating a final edit of your raw content, through to publishing dozens of assets across all of your platforms. All we ask is that you send us the core content – we take care of the rest! To find out more, check out our services.