The “so what” of content marketing

Let’s face it, we know when we are being marketed and sold to. Unless you’re this guy, gone are the days of “need and go get it,” particularly for significant purchases. Not too long ago, for example, if you needed an air conditioner, you went to Sears. No question, almost like a robot.

Now, we are all armed with powerful tools like our phones, loaded with apps that can deliver so much information about the things we buy every day. In fact, don’t we expect to find a lot of information before we buy? I know I do. I like to see a few videos, read a review or two, check out social media and then head to a website. We all do it.

If I don’t see product information, on 3rd party sites, it raises a red flag and I will usually hold off until I see some content. Unless it’s an emergency of course! Funny how that works nowadays.

In this edition, we are building on last month’s idea of customer engagement by backing up just a little bit. What do we mean by this? Any writer worth their salt will tell you, before writing anything, the very first step is to consider your audience. “Who am I writing to? And why?”

This is where content marketing comes in. Content marketing increases your chances of connecting with your customers and can be the difference between an open email versus the dreaded trash folder.

But make no mistake, there is still a psychology and a process to selling, but as your customers become more savvy and use different tools to inform their purchase decisions, your company needs to respond by offering them content where they are, that is informative and useful, but without the hard sell.

Like all things we discuss through Bounce Ahead, we are a call away to help you think through your approach to engage more clients to drive more business. We invite you to read on.

With love,

Ada

Bounce Marketing & Consulting

P.S. Happy Spring! Yay!

Photo by Mark Decil on Unsplash

Something to Consider

In the post information age, marketers must now play a different game to drive business results. Which is one reason why companies that understand content marketing post often, on multiple channels and in a variety of forms, all under a unifying look and message.

Content marketing as opposed to conventional marketing, can improve the odds that your company will connect with your ideal customers. This is done in several different ways and we’ve put together a few considerations, as you get ready to launch your campaign.

+ Read More (1 minute)

Define your voice. If you sell a service, you are selling yourself. Customers want to know what you are about. Having a point of view, related to your products, services, and industry, is a great way to share your unique value to potential customers.
Offer value. Give people a reason to visit and come back for more. Offer insights on your service through a 1-minute video (you go, girl!) or create a campaign under a singular topic, to align your business with a pain point or problem and follow that up with related, follow up messages to go deeper into how you can help.
Tell a story. Everyone likes a great story. Broadcast your value in stereo through powerful and well-written stories. Case studies, blog posts, newsletters, videos, tip sheets are all great ways to help your customers consider your services.
Benchmark progress. Be sure to define a few ways to measure your progress. Consider beginning with “vanity” metrics such as number of likes, shares, comments, open rates, click-throughs, subscribers (and yes, unsubscribes too.) In fact, people that unsubscribe are actually being quite helpful to you since they are offering you free information about their preferences. (Pro-tip! On their way out, set up an exit survey. Useful info to collect while cleaning up your list too.) And it’s ok, not all relationships work out.
Consistency: Regardless of what platforms your company uses; the look, feel and tone of your messages should all form a cohesive package. And remember, your company does not need to be on every platform, just the right ones that align with your goals.

Take RedBull, the Austrian energy drink company. They do a superb job with content marketing. They’ve created a whole culture around their vision of extreme sports, competition and human performance. They endorse athletes, host tournaments, run their own music streaming service, create destination trips with professional athletes, run a high end apparel shop, share a company newsletter and much more. All under one unifying brand message. Everything, including the content on their LinkedIn page is spot on message. It’s incredibly impressive and takes an exceptional level of coordination and consistency to truly get right.

But you don’t need to be the world's leading energy drink maker to launch your own content marketing strategy.

Consider who you are writing to, create a profile of them (make sure to write it down) then offer them more than just advertisements about your services. Share with your ideal customers; insights about your business approach, solutions or thoughts on industry trends. Come up with a few assumptions, set goals, post on your channels, see how they perform, re-write and edit, revisit assumptions, re-write and edit some more, then rinse and repeat!

(Small) Businesses We Love

Kingsborough Community College, CUNY, Division of Workforce Development

The Division of Workforce Development and Continuing Education at Kingsborough Community College, CUNY, is playing an instrumental role in ensuring working adults have access to opportunities that do not require a traditional degree. Their new website, KCC Future InSight helps job-seekers map out career options, based on real time labor market data, their level of academic achievement and professional interests.

Things Worth Sharing

Take a few minutes to read this great post from Shanelle Mullin from CXL on the difference between linear funnels vs. tornadoes. Super sharp and spot on.
This post will help sales reps define prospect vs suspects and improve the quality of leads in your funnel. Thank you, Justin McGill from Lead Fuze!
Check out this great infographic from the team at Crestline, which is full of great data to help guide your thinking around how you post, which platforms you focus on, and what you can expect to see as a result.
We are so glad to share with you the latest edition of It’s in Queens, brought to you by the great team at the Queens Economic Development Corporation. Check out all the events happening this week, all over Queens, NY.

Just in time for Spring! Giant installation of 150,000 native Australian blooms displays the power of flowers

About Create

Spread the Love

Something to Consider

Bounce at Work

(Small) Businesses We Love

Things Worth Sharing

subscribe to Bounce Ahead