Whether you have been utilizing content marketing for lead generation or if you are new to the game, you?ve probably asked yourself ?what am I going to write?? The truth is, writing is hard, and writing good content that will result in lead generation is even harder.
So how do you get past the terrible bout of writer?s block and deliver extraordinary content current and future customers will eat up? After you get into a content generation routine, you will find that the largest chunk of time is spent trying to determine what to write about. Here are a few tips for overcoming this obstacle.
Before writing a single word, make sure you know and understand the audience whom you are writing for. Create a detailed buyer persona for each type of customer you hope to reach. The more details, the easier it will be to write content for that audience, and the more effective it will be at lead generation.
Buyer personas should include the buyer?s sex, age, occupation, interests, and dislikes. Feel free to add as much detail as necessary to make the buyer persona as real as possible. Identify their needs, challenges and obstacles they face in their daily lives. Each customer is different, and will each have different reasons for using your products or services. Keep this in mind as you craft your content.
When determining what to write about, consider how your product or service can meet the specific needs of the buyer. As you are writing, picture the buyer in your head and speak directly to them. Keep your content conversational and maintain a consistent tone to improve engagement with the buyer. While this can quickly turn into a sales pitch, remember to keep it friendly and engaging.
Generate content that is useful for your audience, even though it may not directly relate to your business or service. If you run a bakery, you may write content about DIY party favors. An auto mechanic may post tips on how to improve gas mileage. The key is to generate content that is useful to your audience, that will encourage them to visit your website regularly. This content will also help drive traffic to your website through organic search.
As you generate content, you will be able to utilize data to determine which types of content generate the best response from your audience. You can utilize this data to determine what content works, and what content may need some additional work in order to reach your audience.
Evaluating your website?s traffic data, search terms, and traffic flow can not only give you a clearer picture of the types of content your audience responds best to, but it can also be a useful tool for deciding what to write about next. Take a look at the search terms your visitors entered when they found your website, and use that data to generate new content topics.
When all else fails, visiting a competitor?s website is another way to find new topics to write about. Type in a search term in Google you would want your website to rank in, and check out a few of the top-ranking pages. Spend a few minutes browsing their content, then brainstorm ways that you can reinvent it. Treat their existing content the same as you would content on your own blog?don?t duplicate or copy, rather consider a new approach to an old topic.
Never lose sight of the fact that your content serves multiple purposes. Content educate, informs or entertains readers, and it can also help boost search results for your website. It should be an essential part of your marketing strategy, and one that can result in new customers when done correctly.