Creating content that works

Originally published on Linkedin.com on October 22, 2015 By Nick Sladek

Knowing your market is the first golden rule of marketing communications. Yet creating content that’s right for a specific audience needs to go one step further.
Start by examining what it takes to make your customers want to buy from you.
Think about what motivates them to part with their money – what is their pain? What improvements can they expect to gain? What new or pleasant experiences will they have? Can you quantify and substantiate the claims that you are making about the benefits of your product or service?
However, one size does not fit all; using the right language and terminology for the people you want to communicate with is crucial to maintaining relevance. Market segmentation is also key, so your original content must be adapted for different market sectors and for those in different stages of the buying cycle.
In essence, think about segmenting your market place, targeting your prospects and positioning your offering in a way that is appropriate to them.
If you can do this, you’ll stand a much better chance of getting to the crux of what motivates prospects and turns them into paying customers.
So now you’ve cracked the code to creating content that works, what happens to it next is just as important.
For many, a blog piece, white paper, podcast, e-book, webinar recording or article is placed on the website, and the author or company thinks, “job done”.
And that’s a shame, because there’s so much more that can be done to make the most out of that fabulous piece of content – such as placing it in front of not just one but many different, yet highly relevant audiences.
Bear in mind too, which channels you can use to expose your content – with a few tweaks it can be repurposed to work well for you on different platforms:
LinkedIn – via a long post – remember it shouldn’t be a sales pitch to this audience, but a considered piece that demonstrates your expertise.
Twitter – use short, to the point Tweets including a hyperlink to direct your followers to your new content.
Facebook – not appropriate for all businesses, but if your company attracts a community of interested parties, regular updates on this platform are crucial to boost engagement, encourage online conversations and reach out to a wider audience by encouraging ‘shares’.
Website – Add regular blogs to your website to improve engagement, topicality and visibility in search engines. This is the perfect place to share your knowledge and expertise, positioning your company as a leader in its field.
Email marketing – your contacts will appreciate hearing from you when you are letting them know about content that is pertinent to them. It improves your reputation, and is a great way of staying in touch, maintaining your position at the forefront of your prospects’ minds without being considered too persistent.
YouTube – can you record your content, or give a visual presentation? Remember to give your film a relevant title including relevant key search words to make it more visible.
Yes, create lots of rich content, but go one step further and shine a light on your work through a strategy to expose that content using as many channels as are appropriate.

 
Written by
Nick Sladek – Outsourced email marketing