Content must be created with the customer top of mind. Mapping out your content strategy and writing relevant content requires extensive preparation. Here are a few key ways to treat content like the ruler that it is.

Content Must Have a Defined Purpose

There needs to be an ultimate action in mind. There must be a final destination – a place that you want the customer to end up in order be able to call the content a success. This could be the conversion to a customer, a particular purchase, or a registration for an upcoming event.

That is only the beginning. Now you need to create the content that will take a customer from whichever stage in the journey that they are to the customer/purchaser phase.

Content Must Be Based on a Customer’s Phase in the Journey

Depending on where someone is in the buyer journey, they will require different content.

If someone is not aware that the opportunity you’re presenting exists, they will need much different content from someone who
knows what you have to offer or has already shown interest.

A current customer will need different content. A past customer will need different content. You can see where I’m going with this.

Segmentation is key.

Content Must Be Based on Attributes and Personas

Segmenting your target audience and creating sub-groups make your content more effective as it will be designed differently for different groups.

Find a strategic combination of attributes such as location, line of business, profession, industry, age, interest areas, etc. There are many. The key is to identify the ones that have the most impact on your specific buyers and their decisions.

Personas are a great way to create segments that represent large groups of your potential and current customers. It keeps a general profile of someone that buys what you’re selling and it makes it much easier to find more of them. Their likelihood to buy is greater than others so it will ultimately generate new leads and revenue.

Content Must Be Created Based on Research

Knowing the trends that are relevant to your customer and knowing what motivates them to purchase a product or service is tantamount.

Research – and lots of it – is the best way to be sure that you are creating content and strategies based on verifiable, tested information.

Whether it’s research conducted by reviewing marketing analytics, conducting field research, talking to potential and current customers, focus groups, surveys, industry reports, relevant news, trend reports, or measured data, you can never have too much information.

Content Must Be Evaluated by Performance

The best way to find out what resonates with your audience is to conduct testing.

Try an A/B test with two types of content and see which receives more clicks. Put two different versions of an email up against each other. Give it a go with several types of social media posts and see which style your audience generates the most likes.

Over time, and close monitoring, you will learn more and more about which content is most effective for your specific customers, and even specific types of customers.

Now for the Fun Part

It’s time to create content! I’m passionate about words, pictures and storytelling so this IS the fun part for me. Now…it’s time to create…