Content is the centerpiece of your inbound marketing efforts. If you can’t make anything people want to read or view – then share with their friends or co-workers – your inbound marketing campaign will never get off the ground.
You know you want to make positive impressions in your market and gather inbound leads, but because there are practically limitless directions you can go in to produce marketing content, it can be difficult to know where to start.
Know Your Audience
The first thing you need to do is spend time thinking about your audience. It doesn’t matter if you think you produce great marketing content. Your target audience is the final judge. If they don’t like and engage with what you produce, you’re wasting your time.
Start by thinking about who your audience is.
- Are they young or old?
- What part of the country do they live in?
- What language do they speak?
- Do they work in an office?
- Do they spend more time on their phone or their computer?
These are just a few of the questions you need to ask yourself. The answers to these questions, and many more, should influence what content you choose to produce and how you write for your audience.
What you know about your audience should help you choose everything from what tone to write with to what words to use. A computer engineer in her 20s will probably talk differently than a financial advisor in his 60s. Talk to your audience with language they use.
Produce Useful and Engaging Content
Continue your thought exercise about your audience. Ask yourself these questions:
- What are challenges your audience faces?
- What are they interested in?
- What information can you share to help them?
Answering that last question can be especially challenging, but if you answer it well you will be on your way to creating effective marketing content that will engage with your target audience.
Since you are probably an expert in what your audience is interested in, be careful to avoid “COIK” issues. COIK is an acronym that stands for “clear only if known.” One of the most difficult parts of writing educational marketing content is getting out of your own head and seeing things from your audience’s point of view. You know a lot about your topic that they may not. Be sure that the content you produce does not make too many assumptions about your audience’s knowledge on your topic.
After you decide what information you want to share with your audience, you need to figure out how to do it. A few examples include infographics, e-guides, and videos. Every medium has its own benefits and drawbacks, so do your homework. Make sure you have the talent available that is required to produce whichever medium you choose to go with. It would be better for you to write a great blog post than publish an amateur looking infographic. Quality counts!
Include Calls to Action
At some point – typically at the end – of whatever you’ve made, you should ask the reader to take an action. It could be anything from calling a sales rep to reading other pieces of content you have published to your website. If you are trying to drive conversions, make the call to action more aggressive.
Whatever you choose for your call to action, be specific and make it easy. Don’t just say “call us,” for example. Give your phone number, too. If you want to see a call to action, you’re in luck, because…
If you are looking to initiate or improve a consistent content marketing program, NuGrowth Digital can help. To find out how, contact the NuGrowth team at 800-966-3051 or fill out a contact form and we will be in touch.
