The term, “content marketing” has become muddy. There is no agreement on what content marketing really is. I’ll spare you more of the history lesson (which can be a bit nauseating) but there are many, many ways to define it.
One of my favorites came from entrepreneur and investor Gary Vaynerchuk who describes content marketing as, “a way to gain distribution for things that aren’t normally distributed.”
This article will give you a quick overview of the different approaches to content creation and help you define your Digital Strategy and brand story.
I believe you have an obligation to publish articles answering your customers’ questions. I know of no other way to become the No. 1 most trusted resource in your space. And today, that is the key to winning over your more modern, sophisticated, internet-enabled buyers.
In the modern sales cycle, your buyers are asking a lot of questions. How do I compare different solutions? Which vendor is best? Which type of product is right for me?
The more questions they ask, the more uncomfortable you might feel as a salesperson or business owner. After all, you're trying to grow your business. Time can be tight and profits can be short — and to be honest, it may seem you don't have time to dig deep and really answer all these questions. So what should you do?
It’s true. There are a lot of questions customers demand answers to, and you can never stop providing them… but, I uncovered five topics - Marcus Sheridan’s The Big 5 - that drive the most traffic, leads, and sales by sharply focusing your attention on doing just that. Answering your customer's questions.
And, when it comes to getting results from your Digital Strategy, being laser-focused on answering your customer's questions will get you big results because you build trust with every answer.
The Big 5 topics perform so well that implementing it is really the only Digital Strategy that you need.
The Big 5: Content Topics That Work For Any Business
I've got good news and bad news.
What's the good news? There are five topics that nearly everyone in business should have on their website right now.
These topics will drive more traffic, leads, and sales for your company — regardless of industry or niche.
Let me share the bad news: These topics are wildly popular. In fact, they're so popular that if you're not covering them yet, you'll most likely be playing catch-up with competitors who already are.
Here they are:
Cost and pricing.
Comparisons.
Problems (theirs and yours).
Best of lists (best in class, best practices).
Reviews.
The obvious question then is: If these topics work so well, why aren't more companies covering them?
Because it's not easy to create content on these topics — at least not at first. You have to develop the knack for it before you can produce something that's effective. So let's get started!
1. Cost
When you’re searching for an item, you want to know how much it costs. The price is just as important in your purchase decision as the product description or reviews.
We’ve all been there—you’re about to make a purchase on a site and want to know the cost of shipping, or if the site offers free returns, or if there are any other hidden charges. But when you go to find out how much something costs, you’re left clicking around on a bunch of different pages and tabs before you get to the answer. You may even leave the site altogether and go somewhere else where they just give you the information up front.
Why don’t more sites just show the cost upfront? And why do some sites show it in one place and others in another?
Because of all these questions we have about costs, we have no idea what they really are! So, businesses respond by trying to guess at our questions and create content targeting them. But that isn’t helpful because it doesn’t end the questions; it only raises more of them.
Costs - or at least the factors that make cost variable - should be right up front. It should be easy for customers like us to see what things will cost us before we get to the checkout cart.
Costs are an important part of any business. But we’re often so concerned with the bottom line that we forget to talk about them on our website.
And, there are plenty of reasons your company might be hesitant to talk about costs.
Maybe you design a product or service that is custom-tailored to each customer’s situation. Or, maybe you think your competitors will use the information to their advantage. Maybe you think talking about costs will scare away prospects who want something “out of their budget.”
Whatever the excuse, here’s why it doesn’t fly: You aren’t just selling a product or service — you’re offering a solution to a need, and the prospect should be able to make an apples-to-apples comparison between you and your competition.
Let's take a closer look at each excuse business owners give for not proving price and cost on their website.
We Offer Custom Solutions and Price Varies
One of the most common questions I get from prospective new clients is, “How much do you charge?”
No matter how many times you answer by saying, “It depends…” people keep asking. So, I am going to give you a more detailed answer than just that one word, “depends.”
Answer your customer's questions in a way that gives insight as to why the factors that influence your price vary.
We will tip off our Competition what We Charge
Chances are your competitors already know your prices. They are not completely unaware. Your competition likely is discussing what they charge on their website. If they are not talking about pricing, then you need to get into the conversation before they start.
We Might Scare Customers Away
Here's the thing: If a customer has a question, they are going to ask it. They might even just leave and go somewhere else to get an answer.
Here's how you can avoid this problem: Be honest. Be upfront about everything. Be transparent and let your customers know why your product costs what it does and all the factors that make it vary.
2. Problems
Problems articles also provide you with a chance to showcase your expertise by providing a solution to a problem that's clearly out of the understanding of your reader.
Here are the two major types of problems articles you should be writing about:
Their problems.
Your problems.
Their problems
The reality: most prospects have no clue that they have a problem in the first place. They're either unaware or in denial. And if this is the case, then your job is to help them become aware of their problems and show them how you can solve them with your product or services.
How do you do this? By writing content that helps your prospects and customers recognize their symptoms - which are usually problems or frustrations that they're experiencing in some form or another.
Your problems
Articles that address problems with the products or services your organization provides is one of the best ways to engage with prospects who are not a good fit and have them disqualify themselves as prospects saving you from wasting your time.
By creating content for "bad-fit" customers related to your organization, you automatically attract your Dream Customers who have problems that your organization is looking to solve.
3. Comparisons
Comparing the solutions your organization offers to the marketplace provides an opportunity to persuade your audience that they should choose one of your solutions or your competitors.
You can compare prices and features of different categories, but also compare what you offer with what they’re getting elsewhere being used under different circumstances. Don’t be afraid to say why your solution is better than the other options — but you must remain unbiased so that you always maintain the customer's trust by being fair in your comparison.
The key here is to be transparent and helpful while selling a product that really benefits your potential customer..
4. Listing the "Best"
When you're considering a purchase of any size, especially a big one, it only makes sense to carefully research your options. That’s why the businesses that sell these products use the terms “best” and “top” to describe them.
Trying to find the best of anything can be overwhelming. How do you decide what the best option is?
By using the words best and top, marketers have made this choice even more difficult. Which is why we need to create content reviewing all options on a spectrum from worst to best and carefully review those on the far ends of the spectrum.
We start at the farthest extreme point on the spectrum and walk backward until we find what’s best for us.
Listing your best competitors
I’m not going to lie: it’s scary putting all your best competitors out in the open.
You may worry that writing an article listing all of your top competitors will steer prospects away from your business. But let’s be honest: they’re going to find out about your competition anyway. If you write an article introducing them to all the vendors, they’re at least reading the information on your site, and you have the first chance to convert them into a lead.
An article comparing different competitors will also help build trust with your readers. A potential customer that comes to your site to read an article comparing two or more vendors are looking for an expert opinion, not someone trying to sell them something. Having the trust of potential customers is crucial in getting them to convert into leads and eventually customers.
Best in class
Best in class is a great way to write helpful articles for your potential customers. You can be as broad or granular as you want when you write one of these articles. For example, I could write an article about the best accounting software out there, or I could write about how QuickBooks is the best option for bookkeeping services.
A “best of” list is just a list — but it has the word “best” in it somewhere—and it can cover broad topics. Best in class, best of the best, top of the line…
Writing “best of” lists will become your bread and butter. You can get as broad or granular as you want. And, don’t get too caught up in using the word best. There are lots of other superlative adjectives people would use to search: fan favorite, top-rated, number one, most popular, top rated.
Listing best practices
Best Practices are a type of strategy that helps consumers develop a plan for using your product or service. Best practices help consumers understand the best way to use your product, illustrate the most efficient ways to use it and present strategies for getting the most out of it.
Telling people how to get the results they desire from using your product or service is a common best practice strategy. You might list the steps necessary to accomplish a specific goal or explain which features need to be valued in order to optimize the consumer experience with your product.
You can also help consumers plan for future success by providing best practices for things like annual maintenance or long-term storage. Consumers are likely to have questions about how to keep their items in good condition over time, and your article can provide answers.
Best practices don't always involve step-by-step instructions or lists of tips, though. If you provide software as a service, for instance, you might publish an article on optimizing workflow that doesn't include any "how-to" tips, but still provides readers with strategies they can use when working with your product.
5. Reviews
Reviews have become one of the most important factors in making a purchasing decision. We want to know what others think before we buy and we trust other people’s opinions over any other form of advertisement.
I see this all the time when I’m making decisions. If someone is asking for my opinion, I will read reviews to make sure I understand the product, but I will also read those reviews with a grain of salt. People who love products often gush about them in their reviews and people who hate products go out of their way to warn others about them. But if you’re using reviews to write your own copy, you can use both sides of the coin to make your case.
Telling the truth is always best. If you love a product, say so! If you are frustrated with a product, say so! People want to hear about what is working for you as well as what isn’t. And don’t hold back if something is great or not-so-great — just tell it like it is when creating this type of content.
Where should we start with The Big 5 content creation?
In most businesses, you should start with a strategy that focuses on answering the questions your cream customers are asking.
If there’s a question that your dream customer tends to ask more than any other, this is the starting point for your content strategy. It might be a question that nobody has answered yet in the way they have been asking it, or it might be one that nobody has really answered yet at all.
Starting with a unique need of your dream customer will keep you from trying to please everyone—a trap we commonly fall into as business owners who create educational content for our products or services.
In fact, one of the most effective strategies is to create a "Learning Center" tab on your website dedicated to answering your customer's question via articles and video.
If you’re anything like me, when you start to learn about marketing and creating content, your first thought is to write reviews. Reviews are an easy way to build trust and authority with your audience. You can see examples of big brands using reviews to their advantage all over the web. However, reviews may not be the best strategy to start with for every organization.
The truth is that creating content for the sake of driving traffic isn’t effective in the long run. Of course, you may get a quick spike in traffic – but it won’t last. In order to have a lasting effect on your site’s traffic and rankings, you need to create content that drives conversion rates from customers buying your products or services..
Reviews are still important; they provide trust and credibility with your customers, but they aren’t a conversion-first tactic. Instead, content addressing Cost & Price, Problems, Comparisons and Best Of will get the highest results the fastest. These articles are easily shareable, help people solve their problems and are great for building conversions long-term.
Need help building and executing a Digital Strategy?
The digital age is here, and your business needs to be here with it. Do you have a Digital Strategy in place yet?
If not, you’re in good company – the majority of businesses don’t have one. Having a Digital Strategy - we call it Marketing Automation - is important because it helps your audience learn more about your products and services, and it makes your business more visible by driving traffic to your website and social media pages.
If you’re looking for outside help to help boost your content strategy, you can save a lot of time, energy, and money by partnering with BrandYou.Website.
We work with growing small business owners just like you who are ready to shift the focus of their marketing plan from more traditional tactics towards more results-driven strategies that involve content.
If you need help…
Schedule a strategy session with Brand You to see how we can help you bring your Digital Strategy to life in your business.
