If you’ve started a content marketing strategy for your business, you are likely wondering how to get people to read your blog article, download your whitepaper, see your infographic or watch your informative video.
Follow these suggestions to produce content that will engage your preferred audience.
Get to the point
The first thing to remember is that people are busy. Few people have time to read lengthy articles or watch 5 minute videos – so it’s important to get to the point.
Figure out your main message, lesson, or tip and build the content around that.
What do you want to say? What information is essential for the visitor to consume? Boil it down to a few key points wrapped in a short introduction and summary.
For example, a business selling furnaces could produce a short video offering three quick tips to reduce heating costs.
Be relevant
Make sure your content is appropriate to your target audience. Give them something that matters to them – and to you, because great content will connect the reader or viewer to your business in a natural, logical way.
For example, if you are selling business security systems, it would make sense to offer tips to improve building security or reduce employee theft.
Offer quality content
Pressed for time, some business owners post inferior content to their blog, website, or newsletter because they feel “something is better than nothing.” When the content is poor quality, posting no content is actually better than releasing garbage.
Examples of quality content:
- Helpful, well-thought-out tips to improve your customers’ businesses.
- Interesting customer stories.
- An eBook offering helpful instructions on a complex strategy or process.
- Short solutions presented in an infographic, blog post, or article.
- A downloadable tool or spreadsheet you’ve developed.
Quality content elevates the way people perceive your brand. So spend a little more time or a little more money to produce content that makes you proud to post.
Post consistently
You’ll build an audience by delivering content according to a set posting schedule. A consistent content schedule will help people to anticipate your next post – you’ll only disappoint them by posting sporadically. Present your blog post, newsletter, advice video, or other content at the same time every day, week or month.
Great content starts a conversation. Over time, consumers of your content will feel comfortable enough to reach out and make contact – and that’s when the selling process begins.
[Image courtesy of Flickr]
Small Business Expert Roger Pierce has written thousands of blog articles to help leading national brands engage small business customers. The Founder of Box of Business Blogs, (boxofbusinessblogs.com) his website offers affordable, ready-to-publish professional blog articles designed to attract small business owners to your business. (Image credit: Flickr)