Does content marketing really work?
You are blogging and creating content, but feel like nothing is working the way you want. Your sales aren’t increasing, your newsletter isn’t getting new subscribers, and it looks like you’re wasting your time.
If that’s the case with your content marketing, take heart that you can log in from where you are and start fresh at any time.
determine your why
When you are creating any piece of content, do you know what its purpose is? Every content choice must have a reason to be successful. Is the content there to inform your audience about a problem? Is the goal of the content to get more subscribers? Perhaps the point is to sell a new product or service? If you don’t know what the point is, it will be difficult to get someone to take action.
Understand your audience
When you produce any content, it is imperative that you know who you are creating it for. Try to develop buyer personas and write content for “one’s customer” instead of creating it for some nameless person you don’t know. This can help you develop highly personalized content that gets results.
know your niche
You may think you know your area of expertise, but the fact is that a niche can change a bit over time as technology improves. Stay current in your industry so you are ready for changes and trends that may develop.
Follow your competition
The best way to differentiate your content marketing from your competition is to look at what they are doing. Join your competition’s lists and look at the content they are submitting. Can you determine if it is working well for them or not? Can you decide how to make it a little better?
Learn about the purchase process
There is a set buying process that your audience will be participating in, even if they don’t realize it, and it’s important to realize where people are in the buying process. Usually something like this works:
- Awareness
- information search
- Assessment
- Decision
- purchase
Also, after the purchase, your customer will re-evaluate whether or not they should buy from you again.
Refine your strategy
If you don’t have a strategy, or feel like what you’re doing isn’t working, take the time to work on refining your strategy so it works better. Base this on the information you’ve gathered about your customers, the niche, your products and/or services, as well as the buying process.
Promote the content you create
Content can’t just be created and that’s the end of it. Use promotion strategies like on-page and off-page SEO, social sharing, and other means to promote content for viewing.
Create compelling content
Nobody wants to consume boring content. Make sure the content matches the needs of your audience, speaks to them on their terms, and provides value in and of itself to your audience.
Ultimately, content marketing is about the long haul. Results are not going to happen overnight. Keep producing consistent, relevant, high-quality content that has purpose and provides value, and you’ll see the results you want.
