Are you confused about what kind of content you should create? Feeling like you’re constantly staring at a blank piece of paper or post willing it to get you started?
Here’s some good news! Content is framed around your goal in providing the content. Let me put it this way. What do you want your audience (ideal client) to do when they read your content? Each piece of content you create should be part of your content marketing plan. If not, you may be creating content that does not drive your audience (ideal client) to buy.
The key is to first identify the goal for that content. Then that goal determines the type of content you’ll create.
Let’s look at some common goals.
Goal – Raise Awareness of Your Brand
A common goal for content is to raise awareness of your brand. You put this content out into the world in as many places as possible where your ideal client hangs out and hope they see it and click the link to find out more about you.
The purpose of this content is to expand your reputation, build brand visibility, and start building trust and credibility. Examples of content for this goal include blog posts, podcasts, social media posts, videos, infographics, and images that are public and posted in as many places as possible. It introduces you and shows that you know what you’re talking about by offering something helpful or valuable to your audience.
There are many companies that do a great job of brand awareness, such as Apple, Nike, McDonald’s, Target, Starbucks. They do it so well, you only need to see their logo and you immediately know the company and what they offer.
Goal – Generate and Qualify Leads
Another goal is to generate and qualify leads. This content helps you determine which people in your sales funnel are potential buyers you can make offers to. If you are using segmentation in your marketing plan you will be able to offer a product at the exact time you know a potential client would need it, increasing the likelihood of sales.
At this point, the audience often already knows who you are. They’re trying to see if you have something more to offer. They’re wondering if you’re worth their time. Content here could be reports, cheat sheets, courses, resource lists, email messages, and other content that uniquely solves one of the audience member’s pressing problems.
Goal – Build Strong Relationships
Your goal might be to build strong relationships with your audience. They may have already purchased from you or they may still be future buyers, but a strong relationship will keep your audience loyal to you and create repeat clients.
This content could solve problems but also be more personalized. It should be exclusive for your audience and highly unique. You’re most likely to be using a personal channel for giving them this content, such as email messages, social media content, or webinars. This content not only gets results but gets the best results. Often, the audience member is at the point of evaluating the results of what you’ve taught them.
Goal – Earn Revenue from Your Content
You may be producing content whose purpose is to generate revenue. You might do this by selling the content directly, or producing promotional content that sells a product or service.
This content needs to be high enough quality that it’s worth the customer paying for. You have to demonstrate well-established authority on your topic and offer unique solutions. Promotional content needs to explain the benefits of the product and the product should deliver on these benefits.
This goal works best when it is sprinkled in with other content. Remember no one wants to be sold to 100% of the time.
Creating a Comprehensive Content Marketing Strategy
Your comprehensive content marketing strategy will include more than one of the above. For example, you need content to get people into your sales funnel, and then more content to build relationships, which then leads to paid content. You want to make sure that each piece of content you create supports a goal in your overall content marketing plan. This strategic plan takes your ideal client through your buying cycle, skyrocketing your sales.
