Putting content at the heart of strategy
What does a communication strategy that puts content first look like?
As Head of Content at Hunterlodge, I was able to completely revolutionise how they used and created content in their recruitment cycles for Queen Mary, Malta Campus with dramatic effect. We already created emails for Malta, encouraging students who had attended an open day to apply, but the content was below par and created on an ad hoc, and there was no platform for this content to sit on.
Content strategy: What I call a “content-first” approach enabled us to make the most out of every penny of the budget through smart commissioning. This new model combined both the conception of ideas and how, where and when they are best experienced.
“I love it! It’s the most exciting project I’ve worked on in my professional career and we wouldn’t have got here without your expertise.”
Ultimately it’s about creating value by making good old-fashioned entertainment, rallying people to a cause or providing utility that no-one else can offer. We have to do things and create stuff that people want to read, watch, talk about and share. Paid advertising and media needs to play an essential role in signposting and distributing that content, but it can no longer be the sole focus. As as example, we created a series of “My Malta” videos using real students to speak to and of the student experience. We covered real topics and gave backstage insight into what it’s like to study at Queen Mary, Malta Campus – answering students real questions – how do you make friends here? What’s the social life like? How do you keep fit. By putting content thinking at the heart of their communication strategy brands can create better relationships and greater long-term value.
Content hub: Somewhere for all our content to sit, an evergreen resource for young people thinking about studying medicine in Malta, that covered life, location and learning as well as our series of My Malta videos.
Study Medicine in Malta – an evergreen resource for prospective students, as well as a community hub for present students.
New videos: My core skill set is crafting a great story delivered in the right medium across the right platforms. I believe video is the gatekeeper to all of this, considering how precious time is now in an ocean of daily digital information.
Luiza on keeping fit in Malta
New photography: we developed a new look and feel to the photography that felt youthful and fresh – by adding a photographer to our video shoots we made sure we were getting the most value from them.
Streamlined emails: More personal and directive. Worked with a xxxx specialist to create different communications hooked around people’s different journeys to applying and nurturing them right up to the moment they arrived in Malta.