One key element that people often forget when developing a content marketing strategy is the Depth of that content.

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mcm2, Nantwich, Cheshire - www.mcm2.co.uk
A – Z of
CONTENT
MARKETING
D is for
Depth

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Most people when they start a content marketing approach
splurge out a load of content. They just start doing it, so that
they actually are doing stuff. There is usually not a lot of
thought behind it.
And there’s really nothing wrong with that. You really do need
to start to make things work at all. Basically one single piece of
content that does not necessarily fit into a full detailed plan is
still better (usually) than no content.
But there comes a time when you have to review what you are
doing, or ideally you can review it before you start, and one
dimension that you need to review is your content depth.
The depth of your content is absolutely crucial to its success.
So, what do we mean by depth? Well one way to think about it
is to think about the ocean.

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Epipelagic
Mesopelagic
Bathypelagic
Abyssopelagic
Hadalpelagic
The ocean is made up of
at least five layers, each
one with different
characteristics.

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Epipelagic
Mesopelagic
Bathypelagic
Abyssopelagic
Hadalpelagic
We have the surface level, the epipelagic
level, which is generally teeming with life, it’s a
dog eat dog (or a fish eat fish) a highly
competitive environment. There is floating
trash, pollution and other life – birds, humans –
dipping in and out. So there is one hell of a lot
going on, and its congested and distracting
Then we have the Mesopelagic - now here its
getting darker, life is not as common (but there
is still lots and lots of it), in many cases what
there is rises to the surface level at night to feed
before sinking back down.
While competition is fierce and the life is well
adapted – there are less “distractions” –
birds, boats, humans – less things to interfere
with what is going on.

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Epipelagic
Mesopelagic
Bathypelagic
Abyssopelagic
Hadalpelagic
Next its getting darker, and harder to survive – the
pressure is higher, the light less strong (almost pretty
much pitch black).
We start to have bioluminescence (glowing) life
forms, as fish have to lure in other creatures to find
food. Sperm whales, interesting, are one of the few
creatures which can dive to this depth and return to the
surface.
Next into the Abyss and the Hadalpelagic - we are
getting really dark and deep, high pressure, a very
intense environment.
And yet there is still life. Living at the depths in a
constant rain of organic matter, the remains of the dead
from higher levels.
Interestingly there are hot spots, geothermal vents
which are teeming with life.

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So, what does that have to do with content marketing?
Well we think it’s a useful metaphor, a good way of assessing
your strategy. A great way to think about what you are doing.
Your content must work on a number of levels, or layers, we
have;
Surface layer – A highly competitive environment, lots of people,
lots of distractions.
Through the increasing darkness where we have to lure our
customers in to us.
Abysmal Depths – here the environment is alien and different,
highly specialised organisms, clustering around hot spots, its
much more specialised, much more intense.

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Surface Level
Depths
Increasing depth
So we need to make sure that our
content strategy reflects this.
Surface content casts its net wide. Its
lacking in depth, its easy to
absorb, but it is highly valuable –
remember we want people to want
to get more, to get deeper.
But we have to accept that a lot of
surface content will end up scattered
to the winds. Surface content is easy
to digest, and hopefully easy to
produce. You don’t want to spend
too much budget on surface
content, you don’t want to give it all
away from free!

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Surface Level
Depths
Increasing depth
As we move down the layers we give out
more and more detail, more depth to our
content.
We want to entice people who are
interested to delve into our content, to
really immerse themselves on our offers
But we need to know that once we get
below the surface we have to be able to
drag people to our content, we have to
lure people to us, or at least provide
routes for people to access our
information.
Deep content should not be stumbled on
– people need to be a bit more
committed to get to it.

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Surface Level
Depths
Increasing depth
Surface level content is things like this
presentation. Podcasts, articles general
questions and probably the way most
people use linked in. To be honest this
is where most of the content sits in the
digital space. Its where we need to cast
wide nets, we know that only a few
people will ever actually contact us as
a result of our activity, but those that
do we can jump on and ideally drag or
encourage them to the lower levels.
The depths is the really intense
content, in many cases it’s the sort
of detail people only get to after
face to face meetings, in my
business this is certainly true.
But also it could be the way you
work with those really deep
forums, which are filled with
people who are really into, and only
are into your business or sector.
White papers on the real detail of
your industry would fit in here.

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Surface Level
Depths
Talks and presentations – where
people have to pay, or make a
special effort to attend
Those free talks that happen at
shows and events, where they
are easy to attend and people
tend to wander in and out
People who subscribe to
newsletters, or podcasts
Blogs News Surface web
copy
Webinars
Forums
Specialist
“answers”
Linked in
Twitter
Facebook Pinterest
Yahoo
answers
Conference calls
Real books
Most e’books
Case
Studies
Market
Analysis
Technical
Journals
In depth Case
Studies
One to one
tutorials

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We need to build systems in place that will encourage people to
delve lower and lower into our content. Some people are free
divers who will work their own way to deeper content. Some
need a submersible, they need to be taken down and looked
after, and some are bottom feeders, they may never see your
surface content, they are too busy really getting into the detail of
your business.

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So, if you want to, have a look at our
website, we have lots on information
on how to make the best of your
content marketing, have a look at our
website – www.mcm2.co.uk
Illustrations courtesy of Tom Joyce -
http://tomjoyceillustration.blogspot.co.uk/