Although initially introduced by Google as a marketing strategy for YouTube, the 3H (Hero, Hub, Hygiene) Model has been adopted by all types of marketing.

It is viewed as the best method to improve audience reach, nurture connections with an existing loyal audience, and attract new audiences.

We take a look at the different aspects of the Hero, Hub, and Hygiene model for marketing content:

1. Hero Content

As part of a bigger, typically one-time campaign, hero content is created to be highly shareable and leave a lasting impact, exposing as many prospective customers to a brand or business as possible. 

Although they can generate considerable returns, they also entail a higher degree of risk, needing a greater investment of time and money.

For these reasons, this type of content should be data-driven and extensively studied. 

With hero campaigns, the goal is to draw attention to the brand. These campaigns frequently span many channels and incorporate all forms of owned, earned, and paid media on both online and offline platforms.

You could use channels like:

• Paid Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat)
• Organic Social (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat)
• Google Networks (Search network, Display network, YouTube)
• Email Marketing
• Digital PR/Outreach
• Paid placements on advertorial websites

Hero content examples include viral videos, seasonal campaigns, and recruitment campaigns. A well-thought-out blog post, about a product launch or significant events, could also be considered Hero content.  

The best option for this content would be a promotional video. The content should address a larger target audience, with the frequency of the production being one to two times a year.

2. Hub Content

Hub content is intended for everyone who is already one of your fans, followers, or clients, as opposed to hero and help content, which tries to draw new users.

Hub content is all about giving those who are already interested in your brand extra content.

While it’s a good thing to attract as many new customers as possible, it’s as important to the long-term success of every brand, to retain the loyal existing customers.

Without them, brands would find it challenging to progress since everything else, including your revenue, would be unstable.

Examples of Hub content would be producing articles or videos that your audience has requested to see more of.

Once people have found your brand through Hero and Hygiene content, you need to maintain their attention by providing them with ongoing valuable content that they are particularly interested in.

3. Hygiene Content

In its simplest form, hygiene content is the functional content that forms the foundation of your digital communications strategy, and it plays an important role in guiding your audiences through the purchasing process.

Hygiene content is daily or weekly content that you place on owned channels.

This type of content is primarily designed to attract new visitors, especially through the use of search engines. By using search engines to pull in visitors, you’re ensuring a steady stream of new users to the site.

Hygiene content is useful for discovering emerging trends among your current audience, as well as analysing gaps in your current marketing offering.

You should be routinely analysing the questions that bring users to your site to see if there is anything you’re not already covering, or if any questions are unanswered.

Getting your hygiene content right often delivers the biggest attributable return on investment from marketing.

It really is worthwhile to look at where your hygiene content is performing well, where it isn’t performing, and where there are potential gaps in your strategy.

Examples of hygiene content would include, always-on social media, such as Facebook and Instagram; Daily content aimed at searches done by your consumers, like the ‘how-to’ or ‘what-is’ content.

In regards to frequency, hygiene content is listed at the top of the ranking.

In your marketing strategy, be sure to account for the different types of content you need to create and publish so that you can be sure you are using the 3H Model effectively.

If you need help doing that, our agency will gladly help get started.