The web is, essentially, content. People search the web for content. So theoretically, if you can give your target audience the content they’re looking for, they’ll pay attention to you and the product or service you’re offering.
But it’s not just a theory. Content marketing can hold customer attention and boost brand loyalty in a way that traditional marketing techniques can not.
It’s not enough to post your content and wait for your potential customers to come clamoring to your site as the mecca of their frenzied content search.
You need to get the content out to your target audience! There are likely hundreds of ways to do that, but here are a few suggestions:
1. Develop a free e-course or e-book that offers a tantalizing taste of your product or service. This will show people they are important enough for you to go out of your way to reach them. You can use the free gift to thank loyal customers and attract new ones.
2. Send out an e-newsletter offering genuinely useful information and/or discount offers on your product or service. People don’t want you to bother them with junk e-mail, but they will pay attention to genuine savings.
3. Make a You tube video with some of your best and more interesting information. You might find you reach a whole new segment of your target audience. Link it to your site.
4. Write a blog that answers the questions people are asking. Search engines love new content, but if your content is relevant to your audience’s needs, they’ll love it too. Offer something extra special to those who subscribe.
5. Create a FAQs page on your site to answer all the questions people are asking about your product or service. People want information at their fingertips…not on the other end of the phone after holding for 20 minutes. A FAQs page is where you can spend some time and detail explaining why your product or service really does live up to all the claims you’re making.
6. Be ridiculous. An off-the-wall blog post headline or a quirky comparison between your business and the latest blockbuster movie storyline can draw lots of attention from new directions.
7. Record a session with an expert in your field and post it on your site as an audio or video file. An expert will lend credibility to your business.
8. Follow-up email surveys are a great way to get clients thinking about you. Surveys are usually considered time-wasters…unless the survey-taker is rewarded with a free gift for their efforts. Make the survey short and to the point and make the free gift worthwhile. Consider giving away a free trial of your product or service.
9. Press releases are not just for business start-ups. You can write and submit a press release every time something even semi-significant happens in your business – a location change, a new staff member, etc. Don’t make the press release primarily about you. It needs to be interesting enough to be newsworthy.
10. Use your imagination. These are all relatively cost-effective, tried-and-true content marketing schemes but there are hundreds of untried methods out there. Take some time out for a long brainstorming session. There’s a good chance it’ll pay off in the end.
