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Your business probably has an online presence, but how well do you understand why people are searching for things on Google, Facebook, or another search engine? You can have the best products in the world, but if no one knows about them, they won’t buy them.
Content marketing helps with this by taking all of your existing products and promotions and explaining who you are, what you offer, when you opened, where you are located, and what others like you say you provide.
It connects you back to your fans and customers so that you know exactly who you want to sell to and how you intend to help him or her.
By having consistent, quality content over time, you’ll build trust with your audience, and they will start trusting your brand more. Both of these are necessary ingredients for successful marketing campaigns.
If you’re using posts or pages on your website, make it easier for people to skip around by creating a navigation index that shows off most of the content you have available.
But what if you want them to navigate through your site in an unexpected way? What if you wanted them to land on a particular page because you gave them a promotional code to use at check out? You can do this with newsletters as well as blogs.
Broken down into steps, here’s an example of how you can create a guide that helps customers choose while also promoting your store or brand :
Begin with a few words about the topic that is sure to grab someone’s attention.
Next, introduce the reader to the perfect place to take care of all their needs. Include directions and a time limit so they can fit this activity into their busy day.
Finally, include any rewards you may have for going there. These are tips that never hurt! Only includes ones that are relevant to the audience.
If you've ever been part of a webinar or blogger conference, then you know that content is constantly being published online.
It's easy to publish content once you have it written, but that doesn't mean that you should put it out there right away.
You need to consider whether someone who visits your website/blog will immediately "fall in love" with your product or service and want to buy it.
Your content needs to be targeted at these prospects without over-explaining yourself. Put yourself in their shoes before sending anything up the page.
Is what you are writing getting across the idea that you want to sell them something?
Know who you want to engage with your content. These might be friends, family members, colleagues, or clients.
Learn about their preferences (how and when they access news, social media, email, etc.) to determine how best to reach them.
You can do an internet search, have conversations, consult catalogs, read blogs – don’t forget about books, magazines, and other traditional sources that may help in terms of learning more about your target audience.
Your knowledge of your target audience will only improve by knowing whom you’re talking to. The better understanding you have of your target market, the easier it will be to generate quality content related to those audiences.
Content marketing is like sports advertising; it has rules and structures behind it. I recommend you get familiar with these concepts and find out which ones work for you.
To create effective content takes practice. By being aware of the strengths of your company and its products, you can develop creative ideas that will make people feel comfortable and interested in what you have to say.
If you’re unable to provide answers immediately, it will put your audience at risk of buying your competitors’ products instead. Provide detailed information where possible, then refer them to their sources if they ask.
It can be tempting to give people straight-forward factual data or answer their question with a short comment like “because this company claims to have x in product y”.
Rather than providing an instant answer, try thinking about who these people are and what kind of resources are available to them. Try helping them see how limited they actually are.
By guiding someone else towards a resource that helps solve their problem, you can also develop a relationship along the way. People feel more satisfied accomplishing something together.
That is one of the most powerful things about content marketing – you connect with your readers and help them accomplish goals together.
People are more likely to trust you and what you have to say if they see you engaging in public conversations about relevant topics. Contributing to community events is a way to connect with others that may not even be possible through traditional advertising.
By connecting with other people, their opinions of you will grow and they might start trusting you more to do business with them. As interactions increase, so does confidence in your brand and company.
Conversational marketing is all about building relationships one chat message at a time. It helps people know who you are, which makes it easier for them to trust you and your product.
Connecting with potential customers via social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ can help draw them into trying new products and services. Those messages that come across your page can also serve as confirmation that you’re legitimate, making some people less wary of buying.
The more personal the contact is the better. If you show up face-to-face telling someone how great you are, they’ll probably believe you. When asked questions, don’t answer with facts but instead give brief answers that involve saying something positive about yourself.
Making people feel good around you creates an emotional connection that tells them you respect them and value their needs. This feeling goes a long way towards convincing people to buy.
Beyond setting birthdays and holidays, you’ll also need to map out how you are going to allocate your resources (time, money, people) during the month. Will there be one week where you focus on social media or online marketing?
How will you track your success? Do you already have a system in place for measuring website visits and page views? How about ratings or reviews? Does everyone who walks through your door record their purchases from your catalog? Are they signing up for emails too?
Data is key when it comes to digital analytics. Without it, you’re just throwing money at a blind campaign.
It’s like buying advertising without having a way to measure results. You’re just throwing money into the air and hoping that it comes back down on you.
In order to get results, you’re going to have to take action and create a strategy that fits the type of business you run and the kind of customers you seek to attract.
Track your progress. And don’t forget to give yourself enough time to make your campaigns work. It takes longer than we think to achieve things in the digital world.
Don’t worry though, because someone else has done the research and created a playbook based off what works and doesn’t work. Now you can grab this important tool and learn exactly how to increase engagement and sales by using photos on Instagram.
A dynamic website is critical to any marketing campaign that you are going to run. Without it, people will find it difficult, if not impossible, to reach you through the internet.
This can be an expensive way to reach your audience. Paid advertising, such as sponsoring an article or using search engines to gain traffic to a page, takes time and money to produce a return.
However, once you put up a new web site, make sure it’s backed by excellent content and regular updates. It should be easy to use and understand, and it should represent your brand well.
The best strategy here is to include both paid and organic material, so there’s something for everyone.
You can also try social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, though take care not to over-tweet and fill people’s feeds with unwanted ads.
Last but not least, don’t forget to invite people back their own websites at the end of sales emails or newsletters, which creates more exposure to your name and products.
Once you have created a blog, you will need to do is work on your content strategy. This includes trying to come up with creative ideas for at least one article that will be published every week.
You also want to make sure all your articles are well-written and updated with enough news or stories that relate to your targeted audience. Your readers may only read the first few paragraphs of each article because they are busy and focused on other matters.
Your goal should be to create original content that provides value to your business and potential customers. You can use case studies, reviews, interviews, top 10 lists, and educational resources; just keep them all separate so that they can serve different audiences.
By being consistent, you will build trust in your clients, and they will feel comfortable coming to you with questions and making purchases.
Consistency is key, but so is variety. The way you connect with your readers through multiple channels is by maintaining their interest and keeping their expectations high. Then you will draw them in and get them involved and engaged.
