In my most recent article, we talked about how to update your website in ways that will make your marketing more effective. Part of that equation, of course, is content. And since content powers all of your marketing, its importance goes well beyond your website. Let’s take a look at creating powerful, effective content for your website, social media, and other marketing channels.
Your Perspective or Theirs?
Are you talking about your product/service? Or are you talking about how the prospect can use your product/service to save time, reduce costs, increase revenue, and generally become younger, smarter, and more charismatic? (Without overstating efficacy on those last few …) You can imagine which approach is going to be more compelling to your audience.
Organize and present your content from the perspective of your prospects — who are looking for answers to a question that has created an issue for them or their business. Be sure your content provides a frame of reference to help prospects understand exactly how engaging with you will benefit them.
When Is It Helpful?
For most of us in marketing, it is exceedingly rare for there to be a single piece of content that serves as a silver bullet, magically moving your prospects to action right then and there. Even “free” has become devalued to the point that prospects feel the need to corroborate value so they can dismiss “if it sounds too good to be true …” thinking.
For your marketing to work, your content needs to work together. You need to create a system within which each piece of marketing content plays a role and serves a purpose.
Among those purposes will be where in their buying process a particular prospect is, for example. Content of interest to early stage prospects won’t necessarily engage middle and late-stage prospects.
Content tailored to their interests and level of knowledge is required to keep them engaged. Late stage prospects have likely narrowed their search down to you and your direct competitors. Content aimed at their interests will be aware of that and will focus on differentiating you from those competitors.
Prospects in earlier stages of their buying process will be considering any number of solutions, not just the solution you and your competitors offer. For these prospects, your content needs to provide them with the information to help them understand which of that range of solutions is a good fit for them, or at least a good enough fit to warrant further consideration.
What Action Does it Encourage?
Much in the way you wouldn’t want to end a sales call with a simple, “Thanks for your time” and no plans for next steps, you don’t want to end a marketing touch point (of any kind) without encouraging the most logical next step.
That next step might be consuming another piece of content, connecting via social media or email, or engaging with a salesperson. Whatever it is, it needs to flow naturally out of the content and be presented in a way that prospects feel it is the best way to move them closer to gathering the information they need to make a decision. (And not the best way for you to get their signature on an agreement.)
Creating content that focuses on your prospects’ perspectives, needs, and the benefits that will be most valuable to them is the best way to make your marketing powerful and effective.
Andrew Schulkind’s recently published book, Marketing for Small B2B Businesses – How Content Creates Marketing Muscle and Powers Traditional and Digital Marketing, is available on Amazon and elsewhere.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
