How Content Marketing Influences Customer Relationships
It’s a new year and I think it’s time to talk about the major shift in business marketing over the last ten.
I have been working in the industry for more than 20 years and watched the rise of social media, fall or print and everything in between.
What hasn’t changed?
The need to create content that connects with your customers.
It is undeniable that savvy businesses have switched to digital marketing, creating customer relationships and a favorable customer experience has become a top branding priority.
What and how they learn is key to a digital consumer's perception of a brand, what value they receive from the company and in turn whether they want to do business follows.
Businesses that are genuinely helpful, informative and offer entertaining content are more likely to have a relationship with their customers. Businesses that do not focus on content get ignored and swiped away into the cosmic void.
The first step is to identify your target audience.
Who do you want to work with? What problems are they trying to solve? How can your business help them?
Answering these questions will help you build the right content strategy. Without knowing who you are marketing to, how the heck can you expect to serve up value?
Once you have identified your target audience, the next step in creating customer relationships is to determine the style and flow of your content.
Is it going to be playful and lighthearted?
Is your goal to become a thought leader in your industry?
Is engagement and beta testing important for your brand?
The tone and style you choose will become the bedrock of your content so understanding this in the beginning is crucial to your success.
Lastly, ensure that your strategy encompasses all of the channels where your brand lives.
Posting your podcast on your website is great but what about taking that content and using it as a base for a blog post? Then taking that blog post and using parts for your social media? The more places your content resides online the greater your authority and influence (and SEO ranking). Aligning it all is what makes your strategy work for you, not just exist online.
Let’s back up for a second, shall we? Is what you are sharing actually good information? Are you providing value and motivating your audience? Consistently producing powerful, informative and unique content helps you build trust and engagement. There are three pillars that will help you accomplish all your content goals. Simplicity, value and consistency. Yes, it really is that easy!
1. Keep It Simple
Is what you're sharing simple and interesting? If your content is too complex or intricate you are going to lose folks fast. Remember, content marketing is a numbers game and you need to reach out to as many people as you can. Unless you are running a niche business that only sells to the top 1% of the smartest people in the world, keep your content messaging simple and helpful.
2. Focus on Providing Value Instead of Selling
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again “teach not preach”, for the love of sliced bread this is fundamental to your success.
When it comes to the Google monster and most search engines people type in questions to find quality answers fast. In order to be seen by the algorithm as an authority in your space you will need to answer these questions on your website, social media and in forums. If your content is only focused on selling your products and doesn’t provide any help, then the potential customers simply will pass you by for someone who does, i.e. your competitor.
3. Create Content Consistently
It is common for online businesses to get sudden booms in activity when they post new content but then they fall off the radar after a while. Why is that? They are not posting new content consistently.
Search engines want to show relevant and current results to their users. If you posted a killer blog in 2019 but haven’t said a peep through the pandemic then your SEO will go down. The content posted on your website several years ago may no longer be valid and the search engine will push your results down to the bottom of the page because they want to give the best results possible.
Second, the folks who are existing customers never hear from you. When they have questions or see an innovation in the industry they WANT to hear from a brand they trust. If they don’t, they will look to others in the space and the result could be catastrophic for your business over time.
Your content can not stand on its own. Gone are the days when marketing communications only flowed in one direction. Today, digital consumers expect to be equal partners and engage in the conversation. They want to hear from the industry experts AND be able to ask their own questions.
How are you making it simple and easy for potential customers to engage with you?
Are you hosting weekly Facebook Lives? Or answering common questions on your podcast? Is there an instant chat feature that connects with your business on your website? Enabling these features while being responsive, friendly, polite, and helpful is the first step in creating a good impression. Above all, two-way communication allows you to help solve problems in real time, which is great for building a good reputation and avoiding major PR disasters.
Creating rich content and engaging with your ideal customers may seem like a lot and overwhelming at first.
In the digital world we now live in, business reputation is based on how much trust you can generate and the value you provide for people. Customer relationships and content marketing go hand in hand. Still not sure where to start? Give Clement Consulting a call, we’d love to help!
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