Content marketing isn’t as straight forward as it may appear. Everyone seems to appreciate the amount of time it requires to produce content, that’s often what deters businesses from following through. What they can easily underestimate is the research and strategy required to produce quality, revenue-generating content. Done right, content marketing can be your top marketing tactic. “55% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority.” “On average, conversion rates are six times higher for companies and brands using content marketing than those that aren’t.”
There are multiple facets that play into structured content marketing but, the first steps to creating content that will reach your target audience are below.
Know who you want to reach.
Always the first and most important. Identify your target audience, their search habits and the results that pull them in. Understanding these demographics will get you on the right track.
Understand how your audience breaks down.
No matter if your target market as a whole has the same goal in mind, which you can provide, they still have individual needs. Take the time to learn about your audience and categorize them into appropriate marketing tactics then handle accordingly.
Listen to what kind of content your audience needs.
Monitor metrics, analyze traffic patterns and note what kind of content makes the most sense for your target market. Don’t just fluff up your content marketing with empty words or continue down the same path that hasn’t worked, make the most of your efforts with what they want and need.
“Buyers trust content. An overwhelming majority of B2B service and product buyers – 95% – consider content as trustworthy when evaluating a company and its offerings.”
Dig deeper to determine why they need the content.
They need content to feel confident in the decision they are making. Whether about a service or a good, your audience needs to be assured they are making the optimal decision. They need the content provided to support that decision, to be clear and true. It’s not about just creating attractive marketing, it’s about showing your worth, while also satisfying your audiences need.
Pull analytics and perform research to understand which keywords they are using to find you.
If your content doesn’t contain the right keywords then why even put it out there? The entire purpose behind any content marketing is to reach your target audience. How do you expect to reach your audience if you aren’t including the keywords they want? Take this necessary step to recognize the market search and results and create your content to fit those prerequisites.
