I See Dead Presidents
We’ve all heard certain sayings in the world of marketing time and time again. When discussing organic traffic, one of these sayings we hear declares that “Content is king!” However, while it is undeniable that consistent, dynamic content is proven to be an effective tool in attracting a target audience, how does one create content that sets your brand apart from the competition? How does one make sure the killer content that is crafted reaches the desired and targeted audience you seek? On top of these types of questions, what about SEO? You’ve been told how effective a tool that is in driving quality traffic to your website as well. So, where does SEO fit in? Well, simply put, SEO will get you there. No question. However, it’s that consistent, killer content created in three stages that will keep you at the top to stay.
Strategy. Another word we always hear when talking about digital marketing and successfully building a brand. This is for a good reason. Any expert in the marketing game will tell you, a great strategy implemented by a hired professional is the ideal place to start in building your brand. But where exactly is one to start with the actual strategy? Well, the obvious first step is to have a vision. You must first identify and develop the niche audience that you are trying to reach. Remember, the end goal is to create a relationship with the audience that sees them eventually as paying clients. Thus, you can’t effectively start writing any content without knowing who you are trying to reach with that writing. As mentioned above, this is what is referred to as your vision.
Have a Vision Before Making a Decision
In creating your vision, you want to develop “personas.” These are identities that summarize your desired audience and their specific interests. What is the age or gender you’re trying to attract? Looking back through your previous campaigns, what posts or content that you wrote was the most successful? Likewise, what among your content did not resonate so well with the audience? Conducting thorough analysis and research to help answer each of these can be done by looking at analytics.
Using easily accessible tools like Google Analytics can be very helpful in creating your vision. In addition to answering the questions above, they are also helpful in seeing which content your audience engages with most. This allows for you to then create more dynamic content centered around those topics most helpful to the potential client. Once your vision has become clear, and you have an audience and subject matter in mind, the second stage in creating killer content is creativity.
Getting Creative and Getting the Customer
Killer. Consistent. Relative. Storytelling. These are all words that are used often when the discussion turns to content. How do I write killer, consistent content that “tells a story” relevant to my target audience, though? Well, now that you’ve got a “vision,” it’s time for the next step, and that step is creativity. In drafting your content, creativity is key. You want to begin by utilizing the data gathered informing your vision and start mapping out your strategy as you start creating content.
First, in implying creativity, you need a great headline or title for your content. This needs to grab their attention while letting them know what the content will be covering. Also, when forming the vision, you will have identified some key terms and phrases that you feel the target audience would search for relating to the topic of your content. Also, to help you to reach your maximum creativity, take a look at what some of your competitors have written about. Don’t forget, Google and other search engines want to provide the audience with the most thorough article for whatever subject they are searching for. By analyzing the competition’s work, you can use your own creativity to make sure your content is head and shoulders above the rest.
The competition is not the only place to review and use to maximize your creativity within your content. Take a look back at your own work. Have you written on the subjects you decided as relevant in your vision? Look to build upon and write similar posts, creating content on the same subjects moving forward.
The Excellence of Execution
First, you “had a vision.” Next, you turned to your “creativity” to set your brand apart from the competition. The third step in achieving marketing success is executing your strategy. What do we mean by executing it? Plain and simply by execution, we mean, “get the word out.” Your message and content are strong and will lead to organic traffic, but what are some other ways you can promote or execute your written work.
- Your website and blog- drawing potential clients to your website is imperative. Utilizing blog entries to deliver the type of traffic you desire all boils down to a solid vision and creativity in writing.
- Social Media profiles- use places like Facebook or Instagram to post links of your content that can lead the reader directly to your website. Again, the more people who read your content and can be directed to your brand’s “lifeblood” (your website), the more you will see them returning for more.
So, just to be clear. Why is killer content the key? For one, if done correctly, you’re not only putting it in front of their eyeballs, but you’re utilizing the competition to be the “better choice.” Killer content is the key for many reasons, actually. Just remember to follow the steps. Form a vision and make it work. Channel your creativity and use this to build customer and audience trust. Lastly, execute! The one sure-fire way to know that your execution was great is to see what type of engagement there is with the potential customer. The more they come back, the more likely they are to spend, and the more loyal and longstanding the client will become.
