Community
2,217 views
More content on the web. More social media posts.
Cutting through the digital marketing noise has become one of the top challenges nowadays.
But you can still find a way to break through.
What is the solution?
Creating content and promoting it on social media is a proven strategy to succeed. Ok, but why is it so effective?
In this digital age we live in, people are wary of ads, so they use ad-blockers. Also, they can just leave the website if the ads are annoying.
It is said nearly half of Millennials use ad-blockers and Generation Z also avoid ads.
So, on the web, content is that much more important. Website owners have to earn the attention of consumers and find a way to genuinely engage their audience.
People don’t like to be sold after you’ve been on the site for only 5 seconds. Simply throwing ads will not get it done.
So, what to do instead?
Publishing content based on the interest of your audience, whether blog, video or podcast, offers far more value.
The more helpful, entertaining or informative your content is, the more value it offers to your audience.
According to Content Marketing Institute, Content marketing offers three times the leads of traditional marketing, while costing around 62% less.
Content Is an Asset
Let’s say you are a professional photographer and made a video tutorial for beginner photographers and uploaded it to YouTube five years ago. Now five years later there is a great chance that video is still popular today. Some things never get old and still serves the purpose.
And don’t forget. It’s not just content you created. Things like customer reviews can become content if you have many of those. It actually is even more valuable because it’s a social proof.
Generate Content Ideas Based on Your Audience’s Needs and Wants
So, the great content can stand the test of time. But it will be useless if your content serves no purpose to people out there.
So, how do you create content that you know your audience is going to love? I can think of three different types of content people are hungry for.
Of course, there are other popular blogging topics, but these are common ones.
Passion, Entertainment
It could be sports like golf, art, music, cooking, car, DIY or any hobbies where people spend money to improve their crafts. They are passionate and totally dedicated to it. Tutorials on how to improve something are usually popular for this type of content.
Educational/Informative Content
We all want to learn something to enrich our lives whether for career or just personal satisfaction.
You can create content in every imaginable category: writing, web design, programming, photography, exercise, cooking, any sports and the list goes on and on.
Problem Solving
Health, Wealth and Love are humans’ basic needs. Problems in these categories are more serious than, say, how to improve golf swing.
People looking for serious relationships. How to make more money. How to lose weight, How to prevent hair loss, etc.
I simplified quite a bit, but the most content you find out there falls into one of these categories: entertain, educate or problem-solving. Of course, some are the mix of these.
But how do you know what kind of problems people are having?
For that, you need to listen to what questions people are asking. On these sites, people are asking all kinds of questions when they are having problems or seeking advice.
- Quora
- Yahoo Answers
Related: Why Should You Add Quora To Your Marketing Strategies?
These sites are great places to get ideas. Some of the questions you see on these sites are very naive, but don’t we always have questions we want to ask someone but feel too embarrassed? We all do.
If you are an expert who can answer questions like that, these are great sites to find topics.
Distribute Content and Promote Yourself
So, you’ve written a blog post or created a video and are thinking heavy lifting is done. Now you can sit back and relax, right?
Wait… not so fast.
Once you’ve created content, it’s time to put it out there so that people will discover you.
Just like bands need a venue to play their music and also need a record company or label that promotes their music, you need a platform to promote your content.
Without them, you will become the world’s greatest basement band nobody has ever heard!
Luckily, for content creators, there are different places where you can promote your content without a record deal.
- Social Media
- Email Marketing
- SEO
- SMS Marketing
While Email marketing, SEO, and SMS marketing require a little bit of technical knowledge to get started, social media marketing is relatively easy to start, although you need to use it strategically.
Everyone from business owners, social media influencers, well-known bloggers to regular consumers alike hang out on social media, so you also want to be out there to promote your business and develop relationships with them.
Having great products or services alone is not enough. You need to be out there regularly marketing yourself and let people know about your business.
It’s hard to get organic traffic to every one of your blog posts, so that’s where social media can come in and help.
Create Positive Brand Awareness and Build Trust on Social Media
Pretty much anything you do on the web can influence your online reputation, especially on social media.
So, be careful what you say on social media because it could hurt your brand’s reputation if you don’t do it carefully.
According to ISPO News, 90% of all purchasing decisions are made subconsciously. So, consumers are influenced by brand images and they can have a big impact in the minds of consumers.
If your business is new, you need to lay the foundation first. Create compelling content that people are going to enjoy. Prove your worth by offering something upfront. And most of all, be helpful to others.
Building trust on the internet can take a while and it’s a big piece of the puzzle. But equally important is the design of your website and copywriting.
Putting the Pieces of the Puzzle Together
So, you’ve been consistently creating great content and there is a decent traffic.
More and more people have started noticing your brand and you want to turn those visitors into customers. But your website can make or break an impression of visitors.
Copywriting and Web Design
I am simplifying it again, but I think there are two elements that affect visitors’ behavior on your site.
UX (user experience) is an important part of the website. Here are the few things you need to keep in mind.
- Are visitors able to navigate your site easily?
- Does the site load fast?
- Is your site mobile optimized?
On the web people are not patient, especially on mobiles, so do make sure everything is organized.
Your copywriting skills also come into play. If your copy is boring or sentences are too long and hard to read, visitors will leave the site quickly.
Talk about how you can help your clients. Don’t go on and on talking about yourself although that might be important. Always put your customers first.
It’s important to:
- Use Simple, easy-to-understand language
- Speak to emotions
- Use effective CTAs (call to action)
- Not to be manipulative
Final Thoughts
Whether informative articles, beautiful photos or entertaining videos, you want to let your content do the talking if you want to grab the attention of visitors.
If you can do that consistently, they will become regular visitors and loyal customers. Then sales will follow.
Are you creating great content that earns people’s trust? Creating quality content consistently requires dedication, but it’s all worthwhile.
Share Your Thoughts