The decision many businesses struggle with is not whether to make content but rather, what kind of content to create. How do you know what topics to use and where to deliver what you create? It turns out the best strategy is to take the decision off your hands. Let your customers determine your strategy.
Choosing the Right Content Begins with Your Audience
Content begins with your audience, your target customer. If you sell toys for kids under ten, making how-tos about the best ways to get a business loan won’t land with your target customer (children) nor the decision-makers (parents).
Define exactly who you are speaking to and give them a name. You must understand their problems and where they turn to for answers to their questions.
For example, a working audio engineer looking for the right plugin may turn to quick videos. A top-level executive may prefer case studies and testimonial videos.
Your target customer will show you what they want to see, how they want to see it, and where they want to see it.
Choose the Right Content Format
Now that you’ve identified your customer, ask yourself, “what kind of content do they prefer?” There are some guidelines to start with so you can do some testing and figure out the best approach to take.
Video Content
Video is today’s top format and it’s easy to understand why. It’s engaging and because you see a real person speaking to you, it builds trust quicker than other methods. But jumping into video without a clear strategy can be costly and overwhelming.
You watch the biggest creators and start to think that’s the quality you have to provide from day one. Then you begin to see red dollar signs as you consider the best lighting, locations, cameras, microphones, guests, etc.
This is the wrong way to think about video content. All you need to get started is a strategy and your phone. Every weekend when I take my dog to the park, we run into a guy recording positive messages for his channel as he walks around the lake. Despite the simple setup, he enjoys a healthy following he monetizes.
Blog Posts & Articles
Words on a page matter, especially when that page is tied to your company. Articles on your page give your company authority and make it more discoverable.
As AI has grown, Google and other search engines are using it to answer search questions. Searches that yield the answer without the need to click on a link to an outside source are known as zero-click searches. But if company links go unclicked, why does written content still matter?
AI may answer the immediate questions, like “how do I use contact cleaner?” This is a question with little to no intent to make a purchase. The person has probably already purchased contact cleaner or is wondering if it will work for his situation but is not yet convinced.
At some point, that intent will change, and that’s when you need your company’s products to show up. And when potential customers do find your website, it’s those articles that will raise your status in their eyes.
(On a side note, remember that while using the right keywords is important, you are still writing something humans will want to read. Don’t force keywords in)
Social Media Posts
Everyone does it but not everyone does it well. Strategy, consistency, and purpose are key.
When you start your business, those first few exciting posts will come easy to you. Can you maintain a consistent and engaging flow of social media posts to remain in front of your customer?
Develop a social media strategy that answers the 5 W questions:
- Who are you speaking to? Determine your target audience
- What do they respond to? Identify what your audience likes and what they struggle with that aligns with your business
- Why are you on social media? Thought leadership, brand recognition, direct sales, etc.
- When will you post? Choose the days and times, and the frequency of your posts
- Where will you post? Identify the platforms your audience uses and lean into the top one or two
Email Newsletters
Email remains one of the best ways to reach your audience. With just one click, your reader can start a one-on-one conversation after receiving your message.
If you sell hiking accessories like compasses, utility knives, or trekking poles, and a person joins your email list after visiting your website, they’re likely already hiking and in need of more equipment. The right email with a personal hiking story and a promotion on select equipment is statistically more likely to convert than a social media post.
Podcasts
Do you work in a fascinating industry? If you work in tech, there are lots of experts to interview that will draw people in.
Don’t have access to big names, no problem. Experts with smaller audiences can help you grow with them if they’re talking about the topics your audience wants to hear.
If your industry is more niche, that’s also okay. Podcasting may be your opportunity to take control of the market.
Not one for interviewing? Consider collecting your customer questions and answering them on your podcast. Your use cases can also make great stories and become your best marketing tool.
Choose the Right Content Topics
Your audience helped you find the right format. Let them help you determine your topics. Start with the questions and problems from your customers and then add in your goals. How you deliver the messages comes down to three styles:
Educational Content
This type of content is the one I lean on most and this article is an example of it. Educational content creates trust by teaching something valuable for your target customer. And if your customer is not ready to buy, it gives them a reason to keep coming back to you until the time is right.
Inspirational Content
Coaches and advisors tend to favor inspirational content but it doesn’t mean you can’t use it. For example, a sound isolation company can use stories of artists or engineers who were struggling with their sound until using their product.
Use cases and conversations with industry leaders can serve as inspiration to your target customer. And if your company is a result of something you struggled with for years before creating your own solution, then your story provides inspiration.
Entertaining Content
Entertainment, where the biggest social media influencers shine. They know how to entertain and keep you engaged and coming back.
It’s not for everyone but if you have the right personality, keep up with trends, and love talking to others, it’s probably right for you. Of course, you can also bring in help.
If entertaining content is not your thing, use micro-influencers or find the right person within your organization. A guitar manufacturer is going to have a few guitar players on staff and at least a few of them will be happy to play something for the camera.
But putting a bubbly person on your video isn’t the only way to entertain. Memes sprinkled in your feed will lighten the mood. If you know your industry’s struggles, laughing at those same struggles will connect you to your customers.
Find the Right Combination
Now take what works for your audience and mix it up strategically.
Say you’re posting mostly on LinkedIn because your target audience is made up of professionals. What platform do those professionals use when they’re not at work? If it’s YouTube, for example, you should also post there.
If you’ve found your audience is on TikTok, you can easily take those videos to Instagram Reels. You may find a subset of your audience there that would’ve otherwise missed your content.
And the same goes for the type of content. Your customers may look to you for education, perhaps how-to videos if you make tools. That doesn’t mean you can’t drop in some memes from time to time or laugh at some DIY projects of your own that didn’t go as planned.
Find the right mix of content and platform to reach your customers in more than one place and with a nice variety of content so it doesn’t feel repetitive.
Repurpose Your Content
Recording your podcast takes time. Don’t let those hours of work equal just one brief moment. Every big piece of content has the potential to become several shorter pieces.
A blog post can be chopped up into multiple Facebook posts. A long video can become multiple Reels. A podcast can become a blog post by just pulling the transcript.
Always look to repurpose, build it in from the beginning. As you complete a long-form project, ask yourself how else it can exist and prepare it then before moving on.
Test, Measure, Adjust
Fail. Fail fast…
And then fail again. Failure is not a bad word. Think of failing as testing.
Start publishing according to your plan and determine when you’ll measure results. That “when” depends on how much you’re posting. If you post once a week, a month will probably give you too small a sample.
Count What Matters to You
When the time to measure comes, be prepared for it. You should already know the metrics you’ll look for to determine success.
If your goal is to get brand recognition, likes and follower growth could be your success measures. If sales are your goal, then it will be about clicking through to your store.
Pivot with Purpose
When the numbers tell you things aren’t working, it’s time to adjust. You may need to change the type of content, the way you do it, or where you post.
Maybe you find a specific part of your audience is reacting while the others ignore your content. You just found a niche. Don’t be afraid to narrow your audience to get a bigger chunk of that niche.
Marketing can’t have a “set it and forget it” mindset. Remain in a constant state of testing, measuring, and adjusting.
Last Words on Choosing the Right Content
It’s your responsibility to go where your customers are and give them relatable content. But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Start with one platform, one format, and one message. Take the time to make quality content people want within your abilities and start testing.
Of course, if you’d like help developing and implementing a content marketing strategy, we’re here for you. We’ll get to know you and see if we’re the right fit for your content marketing needs. Contact us today to get started.