Be relevant and you will be cared about… it really is that simple. Here at Linx we are helping clients be pinpointed to specific needs with the use of Marketo!
Are you trying to publish more content as fast as possible while still finding measurable success? It could be time to reinvent your content strategy. Firstly, you should keep a mindset that you can’t publish at a breakneck pace and expect all of your output to be completely effective. It’s good to go at a measured pace. Especially for early technology startups, even just a few blog posts a week is good enough to develop a following for your business.
Secondly, one of your goals should be to create stories and other online material that will attract and engage potential buyers. Here are a few ways to create buyer-centric content that will bring you the results you’ve been looking for.
Buyer Focused
The first step in making your content buyer-centered is to take the focus away from your own product. I start with this point because it’s still so counterintuitive to so many marketers. For as long as there have been stories, videos and images online, there have been marketing doofuses who think endless self-promotion is an effective strategy. It’s not. Content marketing is all about bringing your customers useful, interesting and compelling information. It is not necessarily about the product your business is selling.
You want your consumers invested in your company, not just your product. They are generally not interested in your company’s mission statement, quarterly sales or newest employees. Most likely, they have a problem and they are searching for the solution. So give them that solution without running an ad. Become an expert they rely on by providing content they can derive value from regularly. Focus on the person reading your content, not the person writing your content.
Deep, Not Wide
The majority of the material you generate just won’t resonate with people and won’t become a vital resource that people come back to often. Don’t feel bad about this. There’s a lot of noise on the Internet. You do, however, want to closely examine what you are producing and ask these questions. Is it not helpful, too generic, or not specific?
When creating content, your company should be looking to go deep rather than wide. Seek to generate relevant and helpful content, even if that means you don’t produce as much of it. Quality is the goal, and relevant content will usually hook your buyers for the long haul. How do your buyers think? To create a successful content marketing strategy, your business must be able to answer this question and put those answers to use in their content.
The Blueprint
To create effective content, you must have a plan. Moreover, this plan needs to be driven by your buyers’ purchasing patterns and behavior. It should play to where they are in their buying cycle and engage them. The best way to achieve this is to sit down with a content production team and write out a clear and specific strategy with stages set in place. The goal of any marketing is to increase revenue. To increase revenue, you must increase interest and conversion. And, to create interest and conversion, you must generate content that gets to the heart of the matter with your buyers. Again, are you putting out information that is meaningful and resonates with your consumers? If not, you may need to sit down and rewrite your blueprint.
Who’s Who
One of the most important components of a successful content marketing strategy is to know your buyer. What do they need? What is important to them? What can you offer them through your content that will keep them interested in your company and product? Moreover, where are they at in their buying cycles? All of these questions need to be addressed and answered in order to effectively and efficiently reach your audience successfully.
Get Found
Your content needs to be search friendly. You can put tons of effort into making it successful, but if the buyer can’t find it online or on your site, your effort has been completely wasted. Implement a strong search function on your site so people don’t give up on you and go looking to other sources for their answers. Keep all of your information organized. This could be by topic, questions, or any other category that will make it almost intuitive to find the information your buyers are looking for. There is nothing more offputing for a customer than having to engage in a manhunt just to find certain content on your website.
In a business, the world just isn’t all about you. It’s about your buyers and their needs and wants. When making your content marketing strategies, remember to keep them at the center of your plans.
Source: Inc.com April 14, 2016
