Knowing how to market to your audience despite algorithm updates such as Google’s recent March 2019 Core Algorithm Update can be a challenge, especially if you aren’t confident you understand how your target market searches for information online. Inbound Marketing is a numbers game in the sense that if you reach enough people that are interested in your product, you will find a number of buyers who will become loyal customers. However, to make this process more efficient, it’s important to point your marketing team in the right direction from the get-go.
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5 Tips to Create Marketing Content That Attracts Buyers
1. Create a Buyer Persona
Depending on what you sell, you may have one or more buyer personas to define. Creating a buyer persona requires that you are able to picture this persona in your mind when you’re ready to market. It’s not enough to describe a persona as a Millennial. Instead, you should describe them in detail.
For example,
Jane is 26 years old, and has been a pharmacy technician for 2 years. She graduated from college with a science degree, but the pharmacy tech job is the closest she’s been able to find a job related to her degree. She is a homebody, preferring to stay home rather than go out to a bar. She loves science-fiction, and keeps up with all of the new superhero movies. Jane works part-time, because there are limited jobs in pharmacy that are full-time, but her company does provide benefits for her including health insurance. She lives with two roommates and several pets. Since Jane has just enough money to pay bills, she is very particular about what she spends money on for fun.
As you can see by the buyer persona above, you can literally picture Jane in your mind as a specific persona. This type of detail is crucial as you move forward with creating your marketing plan. Developing a persona can begin with your top customers. Interview them to find out why they have become loyal customers.
Read more about Buyer Personas here.
2. Determine Your Keywords
Keywords are an essential component of internet and mobile marketing. A keyword is the search term a potential buyer uses to find your content. Some keywords are easy to determine such as the name of your product or service, brand name, type of product, and product industry. However, some keywords take research including local jargon, idioms, and words used to find your product/service. Keywords can also change over time. Therefore, remember to find the best keywords for each item you’re marketing and to conduct research a few times a year to make sure you are still using the most relevant terms for your industry.
3. Know Your Brand
Establishing your brand as secure and trustworthy will help market anything you sell. Trust takes time to establish. Consider using customer testimonials to help show your performance in past relationships as well as case studies which highlight your process. Use reviews and surveys to understand how your brand is perceived. Use your unique value proposition in your content and messaging to ensure you are communicating consistently across channels.
4. Use a Variety of Marketing Channels
Your persona helps to determine marketing channels. Use this list as a guide:
- Website – Use text, image and video content on your website embedded with keywords to reach potential buyers through search engines.
- Social Media – Be creative in how you market your brand and products on social platforms where you find your target persona. These may include Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
- YouTube – Video marketing is a huge part of successful marketing plans. YouTube links are indexed on Google, and videos are easily viewed on mobile devices through the YouTube app or a web browser.
- Local Search – A subcategory of a website, local search includes adding your local parameters to your information so people searching in your locale will find you. This is especially important for companies with brick and mortar locations or local service goals. An optimized Google My Business page is essential.
- Artificial Intelligence – A new and upcoming area of marketing, AI includes Amazon Alexa and similar programs that learn what users like and dislike and offer suggestions based on past searches.
- Mobile App – Apps take time to create, but worth if your potential customer base prefers mobile interaction.
- Email – Tried and true, but still an effective way to reach customers, especially with segmented target groups.
- PPC – Also a sub-category of website/search, PPC is still a valid way to reach your target audience. You can advertise on social media, YouTube and search engines such as Google or Bing.
5. Offer Value to Returning Customers and Prospects
Content marketing is more than simply telling everyone about a product or service you are selling. Content marketing is an essential part of inbound marketing, or an “invitation” to find out more about your product. Your prospect determines which content they are interested in, and they follow their own interests to learn more about your product.
By creating helpful and educational content you will attract the right customers to your business and establish yourself as a trustworthy source. Consider this example: A person is trying to figure out how to attach a gas tank on their new gas grill. You sell gas grills as well as replacement parts. You can create a YouTube “how-to” video that teaches how to attach a gas tank to a grill. In the video, if you also take time to highlight each part and note when they should be replaced you will provide helpful content for a potential customer now and in the future.
At SMA Marketing, we understand the value of creating content that attracts buyers which is why we’ve written this free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing for Business Growth. Download it today.
