Valuable Content = Business Growth
By Aphra Zimmerman-Holy
We live in an age where people are always connected. There is no downtime. We receive a constant barrage of news, updates, and alerts. There’s so much happening that it can be hard to distinguish between what’s true, what’s fake, and what is actually of value. At the end of the day, businesses that are looking to attract, engage, and grow need valuable content.
Are your customers getting the information they want?
Most people start a Google search with an idea of what they are looking for. Sometimes they start with a single word, and other times they use an entire sentence or a long list of words. Results will start to populate even before they’ve finished typing because the system utilizes Google Suggest.
Let’s say I own a painting business in Toronto called The Painting Kings. When I type in a Google search for ‘best painters Toronto’, I want to see information about painters and I want to be at the top of that list. I don’t want my potential customers to see information about contemporary art galleries or the colour of Drake’s walls in his new home. I want to reach my potential customers and tell them how amazing we are.
It’s important to get content in front of the right people at the right times. Consumers need good information in order to make good choices.
Valuable content
Your business relies on your customers finding value in what you offer. Whether they are looking for a home cleaning service, a new car, or somewhere to eat, your customers all want the same thing — they want their problem solved (and they want a great experience).
Things have changed in the market. Value is no longer just about money. Instead, it is about the relationship between the business and the customer. It’s about the experience, and it’s about the outcome — this is what creates value for people.
When customers look for information online, they want to find the best option available. In order to show people that your business is the best option, you have to show them your value.
Providing valuable content to your customers can take many forms including:
- A user-friendly, intuitive, informative website
- Sharing best practices for your industry, services, etc.
- A business blog on your website
- Focusing on the needs/wants of your audience, or customer education
- Facebook ads with targeted offers
- Delivering value in the form of a special offer (e.g. a sneak preview)
- Google Adwords specifically targeted to your audience
- Showing relevancy in a search
- Professionally produced YouTube videos
- Demonstrating expertise, success, history, values, etc.
Information overload
According to internetlivestats.com, there are over 3.5 billion internet users in the world and more than 1.2 billion websites. That’s a lot of people checking out a lot of information.
Here are some amazing numbers showing how much data is created and consumed by lunchtime every day:
- Emails sent: 120+ billion
- Google searches: 3+ billion
- Blog posts written: 2.5+ million
- Tweets sent: 330+ million
- YouTube videos viewed: 3+ billion
- Instagram photos uploaded: 33+ million
- Facebook active users: 2+ billion
- Google+ active users: 505+ million
- Pinterest active users: 206+ million
- Overall internet traffic: 2+ trillion GB of data consumed
There’s a lot going on, all the time, and it’s a lot of noise.
How can your business be heard through all the noise?
You can find information for pretty much anything you search on Google. If you have a business, and you are looking to attract, engage, and grow, then you need to make sure your information reaches the right audience.
Your business needs an integrated marketing plan, with targeted messaging and quality content to cut through the noise.
Sure, your cousin’s nephew on your Mother’s side is a computer wizard. But does he understand the complexities of developing and implementing a strategic marketing plan that presents your business to the right audience?
So how do you get seen, and heard, by the right people? Hiring experts, that’s how.
Experts, like Intrigue, have the experience and the knowledge to help you succeed — and built into their process is the constant testing and optimization of marketing strategies to ensure they are working for their clients.
Intrigue’s in-house talent knows the market and understands the technology (e.g. segmentation, multiple channel diversification, SEO, traffic generation, organic search strategies, interactive content creation, etc.).
If you are looking to grow your business, then you need to spend some time with marketing experts who can help you clarify your goals, consider your pain points, and build out your vision into a workable marketing action plan. This expertly crafted plan is your key to attracting and engaging the right customers for your business.
Connect with your customers
The best way to understand what your customers want, need, and find valuable is to ask them!
Take the time to create a plan, and a timeline, to reach out to your best clients. Then, call them, set up a face-to-face meeting, or send out an anonymous (short and sweet) survey to get their feedback.
Sure, you can research online, read books, or examine marketing data, but that information may not be reflective of your audience. By spending a bit of time on outreach, you will learn how your existing clients prefer to connect and what their needs and values are — and you’ll discover great takeaways on how to engage new clients.
After you’ve collected and mined your information, you will be very well positioned to create a comprehensive plan to get your valuable content in front of your targeted audience.
If you put the right content in front of the right people, you will see results.
It’s not about selling, it’s about value
“People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy.” — Jeffrey Gitomer
Successful businesses are adjusting their marketing campaigns. The focus is shifting from straight-up selling, to addressing customers’ wants and needs.
For example, when a business sells their home cleaning services, they are no longer focusing on selling services to help make your home smell nice and look clean. Instead, the message is that they are ‘giving time back to their customers’. Customers are no longer scrubbing floors, they’re going out for dinner. That is a customer want.
Showing and providing value will create alignment between your brand and your customers.
Results
Creating valuable content on a regular basis will affect your customers in four key ways:
- Attract – Customers will be interested/excited by your business.
- (This is a discovery, education, and encouragement stage.)
- Engage – Customers will visit your website, read your content, connect with your brand.
- (This is a consideration and alignment stage.)
- Return – Customers will repeat their visits to your website or brick-and-mortar store.
- (This is a conversion and transaction stage.)
- Share – Customers will share your content which will grow your audience.
- (This helps to grow your business.)
The result = your business grows.
Expert help to get it right
Working with experts who understand the technology, the processes, and the strategies is key to reaching your audience, creating value, building your brand, and growing your business.
No one wants to waste their precious marketing dollars on a campaign that seems to vanish into thin air, doesn’t produce results, and sends the wrong people through the door. You want A-clients, or as Intrigue calls them, ‘Awesome Clients’! We can help you reach your awesome clients.
