Today, most businesses are aware that content marketing is an effective way to boost brand awareness and engage with potential customers. But just because they are aware doesn’t mean they know how to use content in order to successfully generate interest from consumers.
If you really want to start seeing your customer base start to grow, you first need to know what they expect from you as a business.
While it will take time and dedication, here are a few effective ways to create content that will speak to your audience and bring in more organic readership.
Do your research
First things first, do your research before you even think about starting to write. If your content is going to bring in customers, it will be because it caters to their interests. If your business is new to content marketing, it may be worthwhile taking on a data analysis consultant or an expert content writer who can help you conduct research, identifying exactly what your target audience is looking for and how to create a blog that meets these expectations. Based on a variety of factors, assessing your ideal target demographic based on profession, gender, interests and even work commute patterns.
For example, if your consumers tend to be young and on the move, they will most likely be conducting the majority of their online activity on their phones, thus you will want to make your content easy to read and mobile friendly. Whatever the case may be, research can help you find the best format and focus in which to frame your content marketing strategies to ensure that they will be effective.
Get personal
Getting personal with your readers doesn’t mean updating them about every little task your successfully completed that week. Rather, consumers today value transparency in a company and are more likely to become loyal customers if they feel that they can trust a business. If there have been any recent developments in your company, perhaps you are growing or taking on a new collaboration, write a post discussing these changes and how it will affect both the business and consumers.
This can also be done if your company is going through a difficult time. Being open about where you are on your business trajectory will ensure you create an atmosphere of understanding and commitment to your brand, making it less likely that you will lose customers because of any setbacks.
Teach your industry something new
Overall, it’s important that you focus on the quality of your content, rather than making it go viral because as we all know, there’s plenty of low-quality content that has been shared millions of times. But, whether you’re looking to increase your consumer conversion rates, or expanding your base, having your content widely shared will certainly help.
The best way to achieve this is to focus on a topic in your industry, most likely a new development or emerging trend and write a piece that highlights why this topic is interesting and relevant. If possible, investing in a bit of reach to produce new stats and figures will bring added value to your content, potentially
Insurance specialists, Towergate Insurance are not exactly working in what some would call a “sexy” industry, but they have found a way to produce content that’ll not only be seen as relevant to their industry but engaging to a wider audience of users. Several years ago Towergate published a widely shared infographic that served as a guide to coworking for businesses. The infographic was not only informative for traditional businesses, like banks and insurance companies but the piece also struck a note with the coworking community, creating a bridge between industries that could lead to future collaborations.
Finding the perfect balance between marketable and meaningful content takes a bit of experimenting, as well as experience. But, if you are diligent about keeping up to date on your market research and being dedicated to being open and honest with your customers about who you are as a company, there is a good chance that content marketing will help you bring in customers for a long time to come.
