Business owners have a lot of words to describe content marketing. But, unfortunately, if our experience is any indication, some of those words include slow, frustrating, and complex. That’s certainly not the case for every marketer, though; there are thousands of business owners out there attracting customers from blog articles, image posts, and videos.
Why is that? How is it that one group of entrepreneurs can be doing so well – dominating on sites like Facebook and Google – while others struggle to generate any attention for their content month after month?
The short answer is that the successful group understands the hidden rules of content marketing. There are three of these rules in particular that every business owner should master. Let’s examine them in order.
Hidden Rule #1: Make Better Content, Not More of it
For some reason, business owners tend to think content marketing is all about volume. “If I just publish more,” they assume, “the results will follow.”
Indeed, consistency is essential to search and social algorithms. However, the real secret is to make better content. When you produce articles and videos your target customers look forward to seeing then you have huge advantage over all your competitors.
It’s so much better to produce one piece of great content per month than it is to put out dozens that are bland. Don’t believe us? Think about things you make a point of watching and reading.
Hidden Rule #2: Create Content That’s for Someone Specific
How do you create better content? That’s a big question, but the best answers can be summed up with a straightforward concept: think of your perfect customer and then create something they want to watch or read.
Try to imagine the buyer you’re looking to attract as a person. What age range do they fall in? What do they look like? What level of knowledge do they have about your products or services? And most importantly, what grabs their attention?
When you can answer those questions, based on a very specific buyer profile, you can create content that feels like it was written just for them. That’s when the magic starts to happen.
Hidden Rule #3: Put the Reader or Viewer’s Needs First
In some ways, this hidden rule is both the easiest to understand and the hardest to follow. That’s because your natural instinct, as a marketer, is to think about what you want to have happened.
Unfortunately, that makes it harder to achieve your goal. Customers only respond to messaging that speaks to their interests and emotional hot buttons. If you haven’t addressed those, they don’t care about the product or service you have to sell.
Indeed, there is room in your article or video to suggest a solution that comes from your business. However, you shouldn’t get to that until you know you have grabbed a reader or viewer’s attention and built up trust with them. It’s only at that point that they’ll be receptive to your sales message.
Need an Online Marketing Partner Who Can Deliver Results?
Whether you’re looking for an agency to take your ideas and create content on your behalf or simply develop a sensible plan you can follow, our team can help. We have worked with dozens of business owners, just like you, allowing them to achieve real growth with search engine optimization, social media marketing, and online lead generation.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and see what we can take your business to the next level!
