I spent this morning doing a ton of research on coworking spaces from across North America to see what they were up to as far as content marketing goes. To be exact, I found and analyzed more than 60 spaces ranging from ultra-niche single locations to multi-location and multinational operators.Why did I do this?Curiosity, first and foremost. And secondly, because I was planning on sharing a breakdown of the best coworking content marketing I’d seen and what made it so impressive. I’m still going to do that in the coming week. But my research made me realize something: out of the 60+ spaces I analyzed, only a handful stood out as being top-notch.The rest ranged from decent to piecemeal to lackluster in terms of their content marketing (with most being in the decent and piecemeal categories).So, before I share the specific coworking spaces I saw killing it, I thought it would be valuable to explain the core components that make a great coworking content strategy and how they work together.

Here are the five core content strategy components I most commonly focus on with my clients.

1. Brand Positioning

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.So, it’s important to know and share what you stand for, what your space is all about, and what makes it amazing.You need to clearly define and articulate:

• Your story
• What makes you unique
• What your space offers and for whom (the more specific, the better)
• Your mission
• Your values

This brand positioning should form the foundation for all of your content marketing, from your blog to your newsletter and your social media.

2. Blog Content

Creating high-quality, value-driven blog content helps you to become a trusted resource for valuable information, both for members and non-members.Content creation generally comes down to entertaining, educating, or telling stories. And it should all serve a purpose.I’d recommend creating content pillars, such as:

• Helpful content: Share information that your members and target demo find helpful and interesting, such as business tips and strategies, tools, reviews, and roundups.

• Member profiles: Showcase your members to demonstrate your brand positioning and help prospective members realize that your space is a good fit for them too (for more on this, check out my article about why your members are your best salespeople).

• Business development content: Use company news, industry insights, and the what/why/how of coworking to educate and entice prospective members.

Your blog content can be repurposed in a number of ways. Check out seven of them here.Be consistent. Show up often. Bring value every time.

3. Newsletter

For coworking space operators, your newsletter is one of your most powerful sales tools. It lets you connect directly with members and leads and to provide them with real value. It allows you to nurture relationships over long periods of time. Your email list will be yours forever. And your subscribers have given you permission to contact them, which is a huge privilege. In your newsletter, I’d recommend:

• Keeping it simple (don’t inundate people--if you wouldn’t read it, don’t include it)
• Being consistent in your approach while providing something unique each time
• Including your new blog content content
• Curating content that your members will appreciate
• Utilizing member-generated content, when possible
• Being strategic

To elaborate on that strategy point... I subscribe to Josh Spector’s newsletter, and he once explained his approach crystal clear: his goal is to “help creators produce, promote, and profit from their creations.” So, in every newsletter, he includes at least one piece of content that focuses on each of those goals: producing, promoting, and profiting. That way, he knows there will always be something in there for all of his subscribers.

4. Social Media

As they say, social media is the new consumer marketplace.It’s a great way to showcase your space and your brand, profile your community, educate prospective members, cultivate a community, share blog content, and drive people to your website.To be successful on social media, make sure to:

• Post frequently
• Engage with people and businesses proactively
• Share only high-quality content
• Incorporate variety, such as member showcases, reviews, quotes and insights, photos and videos of your space, and blog content
• Use member-generated content

When used properly, social media is a great way to connect directly with your target audience.

5. Website

Your website is the online face of your coworking space and it’s vitally important. It needs to capture and keep your visitors’ attention and then educate them about how your coworking space solves their specific challenges.Your website should:

• Be concise and to-the-point
• Quickly differentiate you from your competitors
• Clearly showcase your unique features and value proposition
• Make your services clear and understandable
• Avoid making people think too much

For a deeper look at what makes great website content, read this. There’s a ton you can do to expand upon and amplify each of these core tools, like building and contributing to online communities, creating podcasts, hosting videos and webinars, and dialing in your SEO. But what’s most important is getting the core components finely tuned first.And what surprised me most when doing my research was how many coworking spaces did some of these things but not all of them.My recommendation is this: if you’re going to do any of these things, do all of them. Because piecemeal content won’t give you the results you’re looking for. But when you do each of these components well and they all work in harmony, the sky is the limit for your content marketing.I work with coworking operators from across North America to craft and implement content strategies that deliver results. If you’d like to learn more about how I can help you, or if you’re interested in bringing on some help with your social media, get in touch with me today.And if you’d like more insights like this, subscribe to my mailing list.