I have to admit, I love producing content. Obviously I am in the right profession because it’s a huge part of my job and has been for decades. If you are in marketing like me, you have heard the words content marketing a million times. It is important, we all know it. However, is it possible we are spending too much time thinking about just the content part of marketing and not some other key parts? Hmm…maybe.
Marketers cannot afford to just be good content producers. We must also be great strategists that think about the holistic approach of how we create, capture, compel and convert customers. This is easier said than done.
Here are 5 questions that marketers need to ask themselves before great content is produced. If you actually think about and act-on these five, your great content will work harder for you and produce greater results once it is published.
- Are you thinking about what you want to accomplish with your customers by providing them content? If you know what information will help them to be more informed about your brand and also bring them closer to making a purchase decision, then you will be able to create content with a clearer purpose and also with increased relevancy.
- What is the best customer path to conversion? This is a tough one. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution because not every business model and/or industry is the same. However, if you put your strategist hat on, think about how your customers enter the sales funnel and where they should go to convert.
- What data do you want to gather along the way from your customer so that you can achieve your goal? What is the customer data you want your sales people to know before they contact the customer? What will help them be effective in their customer communication? Get this information from your customer. Also, try to capture a complete view of them over time. This cannot happen all at once. It takes time, multiple touch points and technologies.
- What touch points help you collect customer data? A customer touch point comes in many forms. In the digital world it can be email, social, text, display, retargeting, web landing pages… to name a few. All of these can be used as entry points to a form, which collects data. The form can be on a landing page which sits on your website. This may be the easiest way for you to start.
- What brand content works best to engage your customer and keep them active and interested in your products and services? Because you know your customers well, this should be an easy question to answer. Most customers want answers, it’s as simple as that. So, give them answers. You can also solve their problems, provide tips and tricks, a step-by-step procedural guide, did-you-know? an Inside look. There are many topics that you can write on and produce content for your customers. Here’s a tip: Don’t sell them on your products and services, inform and engage them with incredible content.
Yourbrandexposed.com is designed to look at digital with an eye into the future using a creative, innovative marketing perspective. We are a consultative and tactical resource for companies looking to leverage the power of digital, social and content marketing strategies.
Scott MacFarland
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottmacfarland
Twitter: @scmacfarland
Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-macfarland/
Email: Yourbrandexposed@yahoo.com
Image Design: Canva
Photo Credit: HubSpot