Retail giant Target is doing a lot more than dabbling in content strategy. A Bullseye View, their content-focused sister site, gives a behind the scenes look at Target, moving beyond ecommerce to a magazine-esque documentation of company and community culture.
While your company may not have a budget or product scope comparable to Target’s, their commitment to the task demonstrates several important pillars of content strategy. Let’s take a look at the ecosystem that is Target’s content marketing site.
The Content-Only Microsite
Notice that A Bullseye View is not a blog that lives on Target.com, but an entirely separate site that subtly links back to the mothership. A separate site that feels like a digital magazine rather than a portal to a shopping cart will reassure visitors that this is about quality content, not sales.
Consistent Content
We all know it’s hard to publish content regularly, but there’s nothing worse than a blog that publishes a piece then disappears for months on end. Target publishes several pieces of content per day, demonstrating a dedication to the project and giving readers a reason to come back for more.
Repurposed content
Recycling is one of the keys to publishing consistent content. Sometimes great content is a byproduct of other projects – it’s simply a matter of collecting the video, pictures or text snippet and plugging it in where it fits. Target uses this technique often on A Bullseye View; fun commercials, behind the scenes clips from video shoots and photo opportunities may have been created for other purposes, but they fit nicely here, too.
Community Ties
Target uses its content marketing arm to show off community work and connections. Between photos of Target-sponsored athletes, infographics on corporate responsibility and videos from charity events, Target shows that it is a business with strong ties to the community.
Embracing The Visual Web
In this era of the visual web, consumers crave multimedia. Target delivers by dedicating two full sections to photos and videos. You’ll also notice that the site has that clean and simple Pinterest-esque look that so many sites are adopting these days.
Social Links Readily Accessible
Content marketing and social media marketing often go hand in hand, so this is a great place to remind your readers where else you can be found online. Retail sites like Target would be wise to share links to the notorious conversion-driving Pinterest.
Have you found any brands that are diving head first into content?
