Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about three times as many leads according to DemandMetric.
But connecting with customers through content doesn’t have to be as difficult as you may first think.
Content comes in many different formats, from our high quality, bespoke digital magazines to a quick snap taken on an iPhone shared on Instagram.
The beauty of great content is it helps you learn about your audience and customers. You can then continuously modify and alter your content based on feedback, the results you get and current trends.
We also believe that the content you create doesn’t have to promote the things you sell for it to be valuable.
What’s important is spending time creating content that’s interesting and worthwhile for your customers to take the time out to read and enjoy.
Social media creates endless opportunities for distributing your content to consumers and building more personalised connections which can boost your company’s online performance.
But how can you ensure your content connects with your customers and motivates them to come back for more…
To help you out we’ll look at three ways you can create great content without it zapping all your time.
Create Content that Educates your Customers
With your content, you want to produce something of value that readers can be entertained and learn from. Great content shows that you understand your audience. It allows them to know they can find high quality, relevant and useful information from you without being pushed to buy your products or services.
“Content marketing is really like a first date. If all you do is talk about yourself, there won’t be a second date.” ~ David Beebe, former Head of Content, Marriott
Offering this content to your customers is valuable because it shows that you want to look after them, educate them and share your knowledge, without asking for anything in return.
This is a great foundation to build long term trust and customer loyalty.
Although not new, creating ‘how to’ content still works incredibly well. Three ways to ABC, or 7 secrets to XYZ, are a template you can continue to use to add value to your readers and customers.
Examples of this are ‘3 ways to save petrol on a long drive’ or ‘7 secrets to reaching the number one position in Google’. Both of these help your readers to get quick, useful and actionable information in a bite size format.
Creating a connection with your readers is also important. A short paragraph at the end of your article asking for opinions, views and experiences related to the subject encourages your readers to engage with you on the subject. And, their replies will help you to know if you’re heading in the right direction with your content.
Ask Customers to Help create Content
Asking for customer photos is another powerful way to encourage customers to get more actively involved with you while also giving you content to use. This type of content can make a big impression when used properly because you are able to thank customers and directly engage with them on a one-to-one basis. Whether you post these images on your social accounts or include them in blogs, it works well as a way to improve customer interaction and communication.
You also don’t have to wait for customers to start posting about your business or throwing random photos at you.
To get started, one idea is to select your favourite posts from the accounts you follow and repost them on your accounts with credit. It’s important you get permission with the account owner before doing this.
We have started to do this with our #FridayFavourites on Instagram. From this we have seen a rise in interaction from the accounts we chose from the very first week of the hashtag showing results.
Keep Customers Up To Date by Offering The Latest News
Consistently creating great content can be difficult to sustain over time. A way to enhance your content marketing strategy is by finding the latest news in your industry and scheduling it to launch over the course of the day.
We use Feedly to find all of the relevant news in the industries we work in. We then change the headline to be relevant to our readers, shorten the link with Bitly, and then schedule it in to our social media feeds with Buffer.
With social media being the most common content marketing delivery mechanism, used by 87% of marketers, this method can really boost your content marketing strategy.
We vary and repurpose the content and the consistency of what we share on each platform, but it’s best for you to switch this around to find methods that work best for your business.
With this, you have more time to work on your own content while still being active, and a source where your customers and clients can find good information.
If these tips helped you or there’s any you would add onto the list please let us know! You can leave a comment below or drop us a quick email at info@goldsanddigital.com.