The world of sales has changed in two significant ways. Firstly, the days of prospective customers heading in-store to find out about products and services from a sales rep are well and truly over. Nowadays, people do their own research. For example, research done by HubSpot, a developer of inbound marketing and sales software, found people do around 12 online searches before even visiting a brand’s website. Secondly, there’s more noise out there than ever before, constantly clamoring for customers’ attention. However, in response to this noise, consumers are fast-forwarding television shows, installing ad-blockers so they can browse the web without adverts and customizing what they get to see in their social media feeds. All this makes it imperative that you find a way to make sure your brand can still stand out – and one of the best ways for doing this is by means of content marketing.
Content marketing isn’t just for the big brands. Small businesses use it successfully every day to grow their sales. The question is, are you?
Content marketing that makes consumers sit up and take note
Here’s a little success story of how one very small business used content marketing to achieve a whole new outcome. In 2007, English taxi dispatcher Lauren Luke began to subsidise her day job by selling make-up on eBay. In an attempt to increase sales, Lauren created ‘how to’ videos and posted them on YouTube. Very soon, Lauren was bigger than mega cosmetics brand Estee Lauder on YouTube, and she was able to launch of her own make-up company, By Lauren Luke, stop dispatching taxis and become a successful business owner. Lauren had never spent a cent on traditional marketing.
By replacing the traditional sales pitch with helpful information, Lauren made consumers sit up and take notice. Why did it work? By making prospective customers see her brand as a valued provider of useful and relevant information, instead of merely being self-promoting, she ultimately enticed them to do business with her – and the return on her investment in content marketing was huge.
Low cost and effective
In any business, relevant content is one of its most valuable assets. However, the fact that small businesses have much less capital and fewer resources than bigger brands makes content marketing one of the best marketing strategies for any small business. In fact, content marketing is one of the most low-cost and effective ways you can build awareness of your business, generate leads and drive traffic to your website.
Content marketing includes all forms of digital marketing, from emails and social media to webinars, eBooks and video – in other words, anything used to create and share content that will attract, engage and, ultimately, drive a profitable customer action.
7 tips for creating a successful content marketing strategy
No matter what industry you’re in – from fixing cars to building homes or selling widgets – you can attract and retain customers through content marketing. Here are 7 tips for creating a successful content marketing strategy that will drive results and increase your bottom line.
1. Set specific goals – ones that you can measure
First of all, you need to establish what you want to achieve with your content marketing – so you can measure whether it’s working or not. Is your intention to boost your SEO, or do you want to generate more leads or are you trying to secure more conversions?
2. Know what content people want
Remember, it’s not about what you want – it’s about what ‘they’ want. While you might know exactly what you want to tell them, if that’s not something prospective customers want to hear about, you’ll be wasting your time and effort.
So make sure you understand what it is that people want to find out about your niche market. What are their pain points? What are their needs? What are the things they want to know before they commit to buying the sort of products or services that you’re selling? This will help you in your choice of topics and mediums for creating content that answers their questions, as the first step in guiding them towards your solution.
3. Give them fresh, quality content – and do so regularly
As we mentioned before, it’s ‘loud’ out there. To get noticed among all the noise, you have to provide a steady flow of new information on various topics to grab the attention of your target audience and drive traffic to your website.
Only quality content (informative, useful, entertaining material) is going to get their attention, get shared on social media, and get them to engage with your business. Remember too that other marketing tactics, such as pay-per-click advertising and banner ads, don’t really work if there is little or no fresh content to discuss or link to. Make sure you give people a reason to click and to keep coming back for more.
Fresh, quality content also boosts SEO and search engine ranking, which increases the likelihood of your target audience coming across your material, but it’s also a great way to make yourself stand out from your competition, and make your brand more familiar in your target market – that way, there’s a much greater chance they will think of your business first-up when they need your type of product or service.
4. Build a reputation as a thought leader
If there are seven plumbers in town but only one provides useful information, then that will be the business that will start to stand out as the trusted expert in that community. Any small business that helps consumers, especially when they aren’t getting paid, will quickly build a reputation for trustworthiness.
5. Create content in various formats and repurpose for different platforms
People have preferences when it comes to the format in which they like to research their intended purchases. Some like to read an in-depth report, while others would rather just watch a video or look at a product comparison table. To reach the widest possible range of potential customers think about preparing your information in various formats. However, you can easily turn an eBook into a series of blog posts, or grab some statistics from the eBook to create an infographic, or create a quick video interview to share the information from the eBook.
People also have their preferences when it comes to the platform via which they like to receive their information – so, think also in terms of blogs, website pages and the various social media networks.
6. Keep your website fresh, up to date and mobile-friendly
We all know the expression “first impressions count” – when it comes to your website they count even more, because it is often the first impression a potential customer will get of your business. So, do everything you can to make sure it’s a good one.
A dated website will neither impress a viewer nor will it give them confidence in your business, and they will quickly lose interest and possibly never come back!
Having a website that looks fresh and inviting, where information is not only up to date but is constantly featuring new material will make for a far better visitor experience, and will build their confidence that your business will be able to deliver for them. Make sure to optimise your website for mobile to ensure your content renders properly on mobile devices.
7. Include a call to action
It’s natural for people to take some time to decide whether to spend money on a product or make time for a service. However, once a prospective customer gets a clear answer to their question(s) or hears something they can relate to or engage with, then they will be motivated to make a purchase or schedule an appointment.
When your content clearly answers the question “What’s in it for me?”, explains why what you offer is the best solution for your customer and gives them a clear call to action, then your content will be achieving what you intended it to accomplish.
Want help to create a content marketing strategy that delivers?
We hope these tips have given you the encouragement you need to create a content marketing strategy that will ultimately attract and engage your target audience. While it may take some time to see the results, if you stick with it, and continue to re-evaluate and refine your strategy, you are sure to reap great results.
If you would like help to create a content marketing strategy that’s tailored specifically to your business, then talk to the team at Net Branding, Auckland’s full-service digital marketing agency. Our experienced copywriters know exactly how to make words sell and our full-service SEO team is skilled at integrating content into a digital marketing strategy that will quickly increase your brand’s visibility and result in quality leads and conversions.
We’re just a phone call away – get in touch today!
