Have you ever wondered why content marketing works so well for some businesses – but seems like a real flop for others? Want to know why good looking content isn’t enough to build a profitable business? The content itself – even great content – is the only content…
This can be fun. It can be educational. But he doesn’t have any magical powers. It will not change your business or lead you to success. Unless you include other ingredients…
business objectives.
How does content marketing work?
For content to work, you need to understand your marketing and business goals. You can then create content that serves those purposes, rather than simply offering your audience a recreational hobby.
Your blog articles, your emails, ebooks, podcasts, ads… it should all fit into a more global strategy.
Now, if you are blogging only to express your creativity, that is a different matter.
But if you’re using content to market a business, you need a strategic framework.
Here are 7 business goals for successful content marketing.
You can focus on only one or two targets, or you can use all 7. As you go through the list, see what goals you can implement on your content marketing strategy.
Goal #1: Build trust and connection with your audience
When you create useful, interesting, and valuable content, your audience knows they can trust you.
He sees that you know your subject. He has an idea of ​​who you are and what it would be like to work with you.
Lack of confidence kills converts. An abundance of quality content builds trust, increases the number of links, social media shares, and interactions.
But a lot of entrepreneurs stop there. Actually, this is just the beginning.
Goal #2: Explore Possibility Pain
No, you are not doing this out of sheer sadism.
The point is that most sustainable businesses thrive because they solve problems.
Health issues, parenting issues, money issues, business issues, technology issues etc.
When you understand your potential customer’s problems, you know how to help them – and then you have the heart of your marketing message.
Strategic content highlights the issues your prospects face. What bothers them? What scares them? What motivates them on a daily basis?
A smart content marketing program leaves room for questions from the audience. These can be provided in email responses, blog comments. You can conduct Q&A sessions or webinars.
Listen to the issues your market is giving you and use them as a compass to guide your future content.
Goal 3: Eliminate objections
Your prospect is looking for ways to solve their problem, but they also know the potential obstacles.
Strategic content is a great way to address prospects’ objections—the reasons they don’t buy:
- Is the price a pain point? Write content that demonstrates how implementing your solutions saves money in the long run;
- Do your customers think your product will be too complicated to use? Write content that shows your customers are using it without pain.
Figure out the objections that deter your customers from buying, then think of creative ways to address those objections in the content — before the buyer even gets to the sales page.
Goal #4: Use Storytelling
In his Copywriting Handbook, noted copywriter Joe Sugarman describes how he might be approached to write an ad for a Corvette:
“Feel the wind blowing through your hair as you drive on this hot evening. See people admire you. Speed ​​up. Can you feel the power of this American super sports car? Your dashboard Consider the beautiful screen of the show, a real tech gem.”
Sugarman does not describe the car. It describes the experience of the driver. And they used these copywriting techniques for all kinds of products, be it pocket calculators, private jets, or multimillion-dollar mansions.
This works even better in an ad or sales page, and in content.
Storytelling is one of the best content marketing strategies because it allows prospects to mentally test your proposal before they experience it on their own.
Objective 5: Build loyalty with your customers
Every business should attract new prospects. But the greatest potential for growth comes from its ability to nurture close relationships with existing customers.
Create an enriching experience for those who have already bought from you. Enhance your products and services by combining them with useful, user-friendly content. Use original presentations to entice them.
Objective 6: Developing new business ideas
Your content is a great place to experiment with new ideas.
Thinking about restocking your flagship product? You try to define yourself better unique selling proposition? See a new problem on the horizon that your customers want you to solve?
Put those ideas into your content and see how people respond. This is a low-risk way to try out your ideas while taking very little risk. Your audience will tell you by their reactions which thoughts ignite them and which ones calm them.
Objective n ° 7: Build your reputation for search engines
Many content marketers mistakenly believe that creating great content is first and foremost in order to rank well on Google. However, if you put this objective in the first place, you will naturally have a hard time referencing it.
In fact, search engines find you valuable because readers find you valuable. And readers like you because your content strategy is top-notch.
So bet on 6 goals first, then focus on SEO later.