Evidence is stacking up in favour of content marketing; it’s becoming a vital tool for customer engagement used by SMEs and big brands alike. Plus, it can be less expensive than many other forms of marketing.
More than two-thirds of people claim that they know more about a company that produces custom content. Seventy per cent say they like the content since it’s created with their needs in mind.
Consumers are savvy – they look for content that resonates with them. But how do you go about creating copy that meets their expectations? Knowing who you’re writing for is a fundamental factor in shaping your editorial – from the topics you cover, to the times you publish and promote content.
Unfortunately, businesses can’t expect customers to machete their way through the dense jungle of online information to find their articles. So, here’s some advice that’ll help your customers find you, and stay with you.
Defining your reader profile
By nailing down your target audience profile, you get to know their ‘hot buttons’. What problems do they have that you can help them solve? What are their biggest concerns? If you’re a business owner your sales team could help flesh out the reader profile. If you’re a marketer you may already have analysis you that can draw from.
Make it meaningful
People generally want to make emotional connections with whatever they’re reading. One way of doing this is to use language that comforts, excites or inspires them. Getting this right does take time, but it helps make your content ‘sticky’ (readers are more likely to stay on your website) and share-able. Whether you’re producing content copywriting for digital or print, your customers will also remember you as a trustworthy source of information, who understands their motivations.
Track your customers’ online behaviour
If you’re promoting a local event and want to attract as many people from your community as possible, would you hand out flyers at 7am when most people are at home tucking into their Cornflakes? Or would you reserve your energy and go out at lunchtime when more people are on the streets? Of course the latter will ensure you’ll reach more of the people that matter, quicker.
The same applies to publishing content. You need to know your audience’s online movements to boost your chances of engaging with them.
If you’re working on B2B marketing, your readers might use your content as part of their research at the office, while consumers are more likely to go online outside working hours. By tracking your own website and social media traffic, you can publish and promote content when your customers are online, browsing for information.
Go where your customers hang out
By regularly visiting LinkedIn groups or company pages you’ll get a great understanding of the questions your customers are asking. Twitter and Facebook are also great places to read conversations between customers, and between people and their favourite brands. Take note and weave the key topics into your own content.
Getting to know the people you’re writing for is essential and something that copywriters do every day. It may add a little more time to your content creation, but without this intelligence, your copy may get lost among the plethora of competitor articles that are already online.
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Still unsure? Get in touch with Red Ruby Copywriting if you’d like to know more about content copywriting!
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