We’ve all stared at that blank page with no idea where to start...
Do you begin by giving customers advice? Do you lay out what your business does? Should you rely on listicles and quizzes to engage your audience? Or write complex informative content?
Content provides you with the chance to position yourself (and your business) as an authoritative voice through useful advice and thought leadership. It also allows you to entertain and connect with potential clients, provides opportunities to co-promote with other brands, and gives you a chance to be creative. There are so many reasons why content is great for your business.
That is why it’s important to get your content right. Start by asking: what are your customers looking for?
Solve a Problem
Ever wondered why so many posts start with a question? That question is implanting into your mind the need for an answer.
Obstacles are a part of life. Every single person on the internet has an issue that they want to deal with, and you can help them overcome it.
Consider your unique area of expertise. Now, consider how much good you could do by using that knowledge to advise others.
Perhaps you work in a grocery store and are health conscious. Start a blog suggesting healthy and simple recipes for people who are too busy to cook complicated recipes.
Or maybe you are a pediatrician trying to promote your surgery. Create a simple infographic for your website, explaining the symptoms of chickenpox and ways to lessen the itching and soreness.
Consider Your Audience and Your Voice
I have coupled these two points together because they are intrinsically linked. Your audience determines your content’s tone of voice, and vice versa.
Think about your company’s aims. Write them down if you have to. Are you trying to reduce humanity’s carbon footprint? Are you helping professionals succeed in business? Or are you encouraging parents to invest in their children’s future?
Now describe your target audience. Old or young? What are their interests? What are their priorities?
For example, an eco-friendly company may be talking to scientists and researchers therefore the language will be complex and delve into complicated theories.
This fictional company may also be trying to inspire families to recycle. The language used in this case will be far less formal and far more simple and chatty.
Somehow this company must find a way to approach both markets. They will need a strong brand identity which appeals to both. This could mean using simple videos and infographics to deconstruct complicated scientific theories.
The audience will affect your marketing strategy and to support this, your brand voice must be both strong and versatile.
Be Visual
Research shows that Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement, tweets with images receive 150% more retweets and Cisco projects that global internet traffic from videos will make up 80% of all online traffic by 2019. Need more proof?
If an image is paired with information, people are likely to remember 65% of that information, compared with 10% if there is no image.
Call to Action
You are writing for a reason. You ultimately want your readers to use your service or buy your product, right? That’s why you are putting in the hard work now.
So which is it? Hire your services? Buy your products? Visit your cafe? Link to it.
The customer goes on a journey which begins with hearing about a product or service for the first time, and ends with them buying it (or even providing feedback). Content is vital as it determines whether a customer will continue on this journey with your company, or whether they will abandon it. With any content you put out into the world, you must be aware of what you want the customer’s next step to be.
For example, at Texter Communications we want to help you improve your marketing strategy. That is why I am now sending you over to this post we’ve written about the ever-changing world of SEO, showing you how to further optimize your content. Enjoy!