If you’re asking this question, well done. Too many businesses create content simply because they’ve heard “content is king.” But without a solid answer to this question, you could potentially waste a lot of precious resources or harm your brand's image.
A fitness studio owner once asked me, “There’s so much content already out there, why should I create more noise? Why should I spend my limited energy doing what everyone else is doing?”
In short, because content can play an integral role in helping you achieve business goals by showing the proof in the pudding instead of trying to convince that you are the pudding.
Let’s say one of your business goals is gaining more customers.
If you’re like 80% of small businesses, you rely on word-of-mouth for getting customers, followed by online search and social media. So far, I haven’t had a single client that didn’t tell me that they get most of their customers by word-of-mouth referrals. That’s great! Referrals are what we’re going for as marketers. It’s the most impactful method of marketing. But referrals don’t live in a vacuum. They are spurred by other forms of getting the word out.
Content marketing is a vehicle for perpetuating word-of-mouth referrals. A client of this fitness studio was interviewed and requested, “Give me a blog, a picture, or something to share with my referral. With how busy people are, they want more information than just a suggestion. They want to evaluate if it’s worth their time or not.”
I asked a Cincinnati landscaping business owner why he takes time for producing content. He responded, “I honestly feel like I can’t afford not to nowadays. It’s what my customers expect. But beyond that, I see it as worthwhile because I want my customers to understand what lawncare and landscaping services I offer and how I do it differently than the next guy. Plus it’s a chance to convey the personality of our business.”
After you’ve identified your business reason for producing content, you may be asking, “Where do I start?”
Don’t pick up the pen just yet. When was the last time you talked to your customers? It’s time to get in touch with their world.
