Content is king, but what should you write about?
In these noisy times, it's challenging to reach and engage your audience. Just any content won't do. In this article we review the Do's and Don'ts for content
Content is King
Bill Gates is credited with the quote from his 1996 essay. In the B2C world this means the stuff that occupies consumers' time and mindshare, thus growing loyalty to the brand that produces the content. Eventually you grow familiarity and gain trust, increasing the likelihood of a purchase and even repeat business.
In the B2B world, the goal of content is not much different though the delivery mechanism often is.
In B2B, the audience is looking to consume content that is helpful for a particular goal, or adds value in some other way.
We work with many clients who believe in the power of growing their brand through content. A very common question at the start of our relationship is "What should our content be focused on?
Before we generalize on what content SHOULD be, lets get our of the way the things that it should not.
Don't do this:
- Don't be too pushy
The goal of marketing is not to make an immediate sale. This is obvious to most marketing professionals but is a mystery to senior business stakeholders. What is the point of investing in a content piece if it does not lead to a sale? I understand this question. I used to ask it.
The real goal of your content is to establish trust, and in a subtle way position your company as a solution in the mind of your target audience. This helps them think of you when they are ready to make a purchasing decision. It does not lead to an immediate sale because the purchase is not emotional, it is researched and calculated.
That means that your content should not be too pushy or salesy. It won't work. Save that for later, and focus on providing value first.
- Don't focus too much on your product or service
When I first started writing for Novus I could not resist the temptation of telling the world about how great our product it is. The product IS awesome but guess what, no one cares. Your audience cares about their own challenges and goals, not your product. Instead of patting yourself on the back, focus on their workflows and challenges. This type of content resonates much better and eventually builds trust.
- Don't go too general
When you write content for everyone, you are writing for no one. Be deliberate with targeting your audience, and create lot's of targeted content, instead of a few generalized pieces. Target the role and the job of a segment in your audience. Counterintuitively, the targeted content gets more reads and downloads then the general, non-targeted stuff.
What works
Is there a pain point? Push on it.
Content that is helpful to a specific role, targeted to a select audience, and talks about a real world problem - usually performs better. If you hit on a nerve in your industry, it's likely people will share your content with their contacts and so forth. You also make it clear that you understand your prospect's journey and can empathize with their challenges. That in turn builds... you guessed it. Trust.
Need a little help? We're here for you even if you just want to talk ideas.
At the bottom of your marketing funnel lives a powerful conversion tool: the Case Study. Keep these five things in mind when crafting your case study.
What is Marketing? It's planned advertising, promotion, and publicity. Explained in the simplest terms.
The top three reasons why you need to establish a predictable cadence for your content marketing.
