Online Marketing for Local Business
Posts tagged web content
Boost Content Marketing ROI by Giving Away Secrets
10 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
When developing a content marketing strategy for your business, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to shy away from publishing so-called trade or company secrets. Although you may assume your company’s proprietary information should remain private, divulging “secret” information is in fact one key way you can effectively boost your content marketing ROI.
This is because content marketing works to serve a specific purpose – building trust between your company and target audience. When you provide a reader with unique and actionable information, that reader has little choice but to believe you are an exceptional industry expert.
You can effectively reach beyond the realm of best-deal shoppers, and enter the coveted land of customer trust and loyalty.
Walking The Line
Of course, there is a fine line to walk between sharing uniquely valuable information and giving away your edge. For example, the Bush Beans company probably shouldn’t give away that secret family recipe their TV commercials are always talking about. But when people are online, they’re looking for information, and a good content marketing strategy needs to focus on supplying that information.
Giving away secrets is the secret ingredient in the recipe for positive content marketing ROI. Bush may be protecting the secret family baked bean recipe, but the company still gives consumers what they want. The Bush Beans website offers a variety of helpful information, ranging from “Kid-Approved Recipes” to nutritional information about beans. The company has developed a solid foundation for a positive content marketing ROI. Your business can do it too.
How to Boost Content Marketing ROI with Secrets
Creating truly effective content for online marketing is no easy task. It takes time, and as the old adage goes, time is money. Consequently, in order to achieve a positive content marketing ROI, your business must invest in quality content and avoid wasting time on fluff.
Churning out words and posting them online isn’t enough to convert readers into customers. The words must be exceptionally valuable.
1. The first step when developing a content marketing strategy that shares valuable secrets is to set aside fear. Don’t be afraid your competitors will steal your mojo. They have their own secrets, and they likely have many of the same secrets that you do.
Also, don’t be afraid your customers will become do-it-yourself practitioners if you give them instructions. If they want to do something themselves, they will – with or without you. If they don’t, your transparency and expertise can help you build enough trust so that they choose your institution to do it for them.
2. The next step is to determine what your target market needs to know about your industry and/or your product/service. More importantly, find out what they need to know that hasn’t already been beaten like a dead horse by other content marketers.
Basically, you need to have the guts to answer the questions that your competitors haven’t already answered. Give away advice. Show your target market that you get it, that you care, and that you’re here to make even the most complex practices seem simple.
3. The third step is to put it all out there. Choose to answer a unique question about your industry and give it all you got. Go in-depth. Take your time. Get into the nitty gritty. A detailed how-to guide or a well-researched white paper will present more value to your potential customers than a fluffy blog post could any day. (Does this qualify as fluffy?)
Content Marketing ROI Boost for Your Industry
If you are ready to provide real value to your target market and build a solid foundation for positive content marketing ROI, consider making sure to publish these three key pieces of online marketing content:
- Industry FAQ – Gather a list of basic questions that newcomers ask, and answer them in a FAQ page on your website or blog.
- Education – Give your target market educational information on their essential concerns regarding your industry and your product/service.
- Benefits of Your Service or Product – Publish a piece of content that not only explains the generic benefits a using your product or service, but also the benefits of getting them from YOUR business.
Achieving a positive content marketing ROI can be quite a challenge, but success comes more easily when you focus on creating valuable content, instead of merely lots of content. Give up secrets. Get transparent. Get real with customers, and persuade them to get real with you.
If you need help creating content for your business, Hat Trick Associates is ready for you. We specialize in content marketing, and we are prepared to show you how your own trade secrets can be utilized to boost your content marketing ROI. Contact us today by calling (314) 494-3494 or by emailing Jim Haynes at jhaynes@hattrickassociates.com.
Top Content Marketing Strategy: Helpful Information as the Sales Pitch
11 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
Content marketing is all the buzz, and it has changed the way we do business. An effective content marketing strategy now serves an increasingly significant role in marketing departments throughout the world. Whether you’re working to generate leads, improve search engine rankings, or boost sales efforts, content is a big deal.
Some companies, however, are missing the point. Avoid wasting your time and follow the top content marketing strategy out there – make helpful information your new sales pitch. From e-commerce to SaaS, business is no longer about the sale, it’s about customer service and education.
Why Build an Educational Content Marketing Strategy
Let’s say you’re selling light bulbs. Your prospective online customers are probably homeowners or business owners, and they’re either replacing a burned out bulb or outfitting a new building with brand new lighting fixtures. Either way, you’re trying to convince these web surfers that your light bulb web store deserves their time over any other light bulb web store. How are you going to do that?
Answer: By helping them.
When a prospective customer first discovers a new need, such as light bulbs, the final purchase is rarely the first step in solving that need. Rather, it’s usually next to last. That means the final sale cannot be the focus of your content marketing strategy. The new sales pitch is helpful information.
Google has coined the marketing term “zero moment of truth” or ZMOT to explain where in the purchasing process educational content comes into play. The ZMOT is the first step in the process – conducting initial research.
These days, most everyone goes online to find out more about a desired service or product. During this time, they’re not yet in buying mode. They’re in learning mode. Of course, the ZMOT phase in the purchasing process isn’t new, but with the growth of online stores, review websites, and social media, this phase has become incredibly more important to consumers.
According to Google (easily one of the most influential companies in the marketing industry), “Before making an online purchase decision, a customer may engage with your brand through many different media channels over several days” (The Customer Journey to Online Purchase). In marketing time, these several days can turn into eons if your content marketing strategy fails to engage potential prospects at the zero moment of truth.
However, if your content marketing strategy is based on a commitment to providing helpful information, you can win over prospects right off the bat. Which website would YOU click on when searching for “how to replace a light bulb”? Would you click the link that says “Buy Discounted Light Bulbs Here” or the one that says “How to Replace a Light Bulb”. Probably the latter, right? We’re all looking for information, and the companies that provide it are the companies that earn our attention.
How to Create Educational Marketing Content
Once you decide to build your content marketing strategy upon helpful information, the path forward is fairly clear. Consider the different reasons your customers require your services or products, determine the frequently asked questions, and then answer those questions through original, educational content.
One of the easiest ways to get your helpful information published and found online is by blogging. Your company blog can potentially become a go-to resource for information about your industry. And by attracting online consumers who are just in the “zero moment of truth” phase, you can capture their attention before anyone else, and capture their business in the long run.
For more information on developing an education-based content marketing strategy, or on any other aspect of online marketing, call Hat Trick Associates today at (314) 494-3494. This is our zero moment of truth together, and content marketing expert Jim Haynes is ready to answer your questions. Come to the next phase with us to discover the power of educational marketing content!
Tips to Becoming a Better Becoming a Better Web Content Writer
12 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
There are always many business owners, marketers and others who wish to improve their writing skills as they create and distribute their web content online, and even for those that don’t plan on making writing a profession, there are still good ways to hone your skills to become more effective with your ability to communicate via the written word. Here are 3 good ways to evaluate your writing skills.
Write the Article, Then Come Back in 2-3 Days
A great way to know if your writing is at the highest level is to write about a topic that you’re passionate about, and then step back and leave it for a bit. Come back later to review what you’ve created two to three days later. You can’t truly evaluate the quality of your written piece if you review it right after you finish writing. The tendency to be emotionally attached to your own web content writing is too strong at this point, and can affect your judgment on the piece. If you write a blog, publish your article or essay, and then come back to it when your emotional connection has subsided. This can allow you to be in a better position to make an honest evaluation of your work.
Take Your Direction From Search Engines
Search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing can help to make a rough evaluation of your web content writing kills sometimes. Recent search engine algorithms on all major engines are now equipped with the ability to determine relevancy and quality of web content. Their spiders are constantly sweeping the web to index sites and rank them according to the quality of their online content. When you receive a good Google ranking or Yahoo, Bing ranking etc…this is an indication your content is gaining favor from both readers AND search engines.
Post Content on Social Media
Share your web content with friends and contacts, and gain the extra exposure it brings on sites like Facebook and the many others. If it gets a lot of “Likes” and “Shares”, you can be pretty sure that your article or post is well-liked for its information, quality, and substance.
Objectively Evaluate Your Work
Try not to judge your work as “good” or “bad”, because it can blind you to areas that need improvement. Make an objective evaluation of your work instead. Set a criterion where absolutely flawless equals 100. Then deduct points from every error that you find. These results can assist you in measuring your improvement as you travel along on your web content writing career.
Also remember, being a good writer takes practice! Which means, you need to exercise the “brain muscles” that create your wonderful content often, as you would any other muscle. Sticking to a very regular and frequent publishing calendar for web content creation and distribution can be challenging, for sure. But in the end your business will prosper because of it, as will your confidence in your own writing abilities over time.
And of course, if ever you decide that you’d like a partner to assist you with your web content writing/creation, there are many resources available to you, including Hat Trick Associates of course but also many other experts as well.
And if you do decide to be your web content writer on your own, remember that practice makes perfect. Or maybe we shouldn’t say perfect, as mentioned above…since there is always room for improvement as you continue your journey as a writer!