Have you been staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep?
If so, great: You know firsthand what Todd Lebo, formerly of Marketing Sherpa, is talking about when he writes:
My first marketing boss told me that you need to know what keeps your customer up at night and help them with that problem. If you can do that, you are providing true value and that will inspire and build loyalty with your ideal customer. People don’t lie in bed thinking ‘[I]f I just had more information or if I just knew more about product x.’
As reported by TJ McCue, in a post titled “5 Customer-Focused Questions to Guide Your Content Marketing,” at Forbes, Lebo offers this advice:
The key to content marketing is customer logic, not company logic. All of your energy must be focused on answering ‘What is important to my ideal customer’ as compared to ‘[W]hat is important to me (as the marketer).’
Wide-Awake Quality, Not Quantity
McCue explores the importance of “picking the right content road map” so that you (the marketer) are solving actual problems that keep your customers up at night. One of his primary suggestions is the development of a company blog:
Start with a blog. Ask your sales team the top questions from customers and bam — you have your first series of blog posts.
It bears repeating that offering quality information is the number one priority. Start with end-user needs and build content from there. Are you providing value? Solving a problem? Educating readers? If you are, your content serves as a repository of frequently asked questions — perfect for those late-night Web searches made by insomniacs (and others) searching for solutions.
Don’t Fall Asleep Behind the SEO Wheel
There is another advantage to putting people’s genuine needs ahead of marketing speak: search engine visibility.
Again, blogs are a centerpiece solution. Here at SixEstate we believe that blog content is a fundamental part of the “Newswheel,” a system that produces and distributes valuable content. And yes, that content needs to be beneficial, not superficial.
This is increasingly important from a search perspective. Recent Google algorithm updates Panda (content) and Penguin (link neighborhoods) have affected how your content is discovered, if at all! Your best bet is producing original content likely to be shared. This kind of content is voted more valuable in Google’s eyes, a search visibility win.
Don’t Be a Snooze
Lastly, don’t be boring!
Image by Greencolander (Michelle Tribe).