Friday, 30 March 2012

Create Effective Content to Market Your Business

As a solopreneur or small business owner, you may think that content marketing is a huge undertaking and that there are better things you can do with your time. You should realize, however, that putting out great content is an excellent marketing tool for building your brand and establishing customer loyalty.

In recent years, there has been a shift in marketing campaigns. Advertisements have lost their power over customers. Nowadays, people buy from brands they like and trust. But where does this trust come from? Through engaging and building relationships with your consumers using effective content. This is essentially known as content marketing.

You want people to subscribe to your blog updates, follow you on Twitter, opt-in to your email campaign, and subscribe to your page in Facebook. Through the repeated exposure of your content to an audience, you effectively build a relationship with them, giving you opportunities to get them to convert.

The tricky part though, is creating excellent content that can connect and engage with your audience. How do you create a social marketing buzz around your brand? Here are some tips:

     1. Know your audience

Before you can create effective content, you must know your audience. What are their likes and dislikes? What makes them happy? What pains them? What are they looking for?

For example, if you’re a small business owner with an online business selling mom and baby products, then it’s important that you understand what moms like. What do they look for, what problems do they suffer from? What kind of content would get them excited?

By knowing your audience, you can create content that’s relevant and focused, and effectively promote and market your business. Keep in mind that you must inform your audience as well as entertain them.

     2. Be unique and creative

Although it’s easier to simply copy what others have done before you, duplicating content is not really going to effectively capture your audience’s attention. Your audience will simply think “been there, done that,” and you’re left feeling discouraged and wondering why it didn’t work for you.

In today’s world, you need to be creative and unique. Don’t just copy what others have done before you; on the other hand, you can pattern your ideas from them and create something new and different. Something that will make your audience stand up in attention and say, “Wow!”

So don’t be a copycat. To create effective content, put your own personality and style into the content you’re offering.

     3. Experiment

If you’re using Facebook, for example, and are not getting the results you want, maybe it’s time to experiment a little bit. Try different kinds of content and use different kinds of platforms to discover what works with your audience. Maybe you need to mix it up a bit and create more meaningful Facebook posts to connect with your followers. Or maybe creating a blog would be better for your small business brand to help you engage with readers.

Experimentation is important because otherwise, how else will you discover what works or not?

     4. Personalize your content

People want to engage with other people, not brands. So it’s important that you show off your personality through the content you offer. Tell your story and make people empathize with you. Don’t be afraid to share something about yourself, because this is how people will be able to relate with you and your brand.

     5. Be consistent

This is a very important thing you need to do in order to effectively market your business. You must post regularly and consistently in order to engage with your audience.

How will people remember you if you don’t provide regular content? If you don’t update your Facebook page, then how are people going to read your valuable Facebook posts?

So be relevant and consistent. If you abandon your blog or Twitter account, then your followers are going to abandon you as well.

Creating effective content to market your business can be tricky, but following these steps may help you find the right balance in engaging with your audience and marketing your small business. Remember to listen to your audience first and learn what they want – the rest usually follows after that.

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