Creating a Content Marketing Plan for Lead Generation Part Two
This is part two of how to create an effective content marketing plan to turn leads into prospects, then customers. Click here to read part one about the funnel approach of nurturing your contacts.
It’s Like Giving the Wrong Christmas Present
You don’t send Uncle Al a vegetarian cookbook for Christmas if he is a big barbecue smoker. You also don’t provide content that is not aligned with exactly who your audience is and where they are in the buying process.
You’ve got to know what your customers want so you can define content that they really need. Please see our other articles about defining your audience demographics and truly understanding them deeply because this is so important. (Suggested articles are at the bottom of this one.)
Write It Down
Unless you sell surfboard wax on a desert island, it’s best to document all the information you can get your hands on about your customers and who you want for customers. This is where the dreaded word “persona” comes into play.
Your persona (or multiple personas if you have multiple audiences) should identify characteristics and behaviors of your audience that you can use to optimize the right content so they say “I’ve got to have that.”
When we interview our client’s customers, we find all kinds of valuable information that helps us create enticing messaging for their needs. For one organization that had trouble engaging busy Moms, we found the biggest hurdle was simply free time. These busy mothers had little time for yet another daily activity. Other similar organizations were not the main competitors, it was professional work, cooking, house chores and even play time with the kids!
Write down the exact words your audience uses to describe their problem(s) too because you want to speak in their language for your content needs. And speaking of their language, the more you know, the more personal your content can be to increase engagement. Most companies struggle with being personal.
From social media posts to white papers to emails to the call to action, truly knowing who your audience is, is so important to close the deal.
Back to our I.T. organization example from the last article, let’s say one of your services is creating a comprehensive checklist to help companies document their I.T. and security procedures and digital properties. But if most of your clients are very small businesses, they may not even have time to do this because they are running their businesses. Start simple, and help them from the ground up with those pain points.
Work The Funnel
In the last article, dissecting the funnel, we discussed how content will be different for each step. Take your personas and create content based on where they are in the buying cycle. Detailed personas plus segmented content per funnel phase is crucial for success!
As you study the data as readers consume your content, you will develop information that helps you refine your content to move people to the next phase of the funnel. Just like a headline on a website is designed to engage, not convert, your early funnel goals should be moving people to the next stage.
An Easy Way to Get Context
This sounds like a lot of work and it can be. But here is a simple process that might help get you started and help you generate unique ideas of your own.
Find competitors in your industry that do content marketing well. If you can’t find related industries, pick a favorite hobby industry and start interacting with their content. Good content marketing strategies definitely transcend specific industries.
Sign up for their newsletters, review their products or services, download their white papers, listen to their podcasts, check their social channels and LinkedIn business pages. See what their teams are posting on LinkedIn.
How do they try to engage their customers? How do they talk about their organization from the eyes of their customers? How do they instill creditability and trust?
You’ll learn a lot about how others nurture their leads and move their readers closer and closer to the purchase.
Write This Down Too
Document what you observe so you can refer to it when creating your own strategy. Write down what you don’t like as well. We learn from bad marketing too, sometimes finding a nice niche to go after which is under addressed with your competition.
Start Small and Think Big
Content marketing can be overwhelming if you let it become so. If you are new to it, start small. Create a short list of educational articles so you can start thinking of what you want to write about. Start with organic social posts or emails to get people to your articles.
And measure everything! How many clicks on your social posts or emails occurred with the intention of consuming the article? How long do people stay on your articles when they are reading them?
After you get your feet wet you will develop a rhythm for types of content and frequency and you’ll know what resonates with your audience.
Start small and think big!
