Identify your market to create better content
Sometimes lost in the maze of search engine optimization and keywords is the need to create quality marketing content. While most business owners understand their clientele, many don’t fully realize the value of savvy marketing or how to create content that generates revenue. Your website is the most valuable marketing tool in your arsenal. Have you developed content that specifically appeals to your market?
What’s the goal of your website?
There is only one way to measure the success of a business website – by the revenue it generates. SEO seeks to increase the amount of traffic to your website, but if the traffic isn’t being converted into sales then it’s time to focus on your market so that you can create appealing content that achieves this goal.
Who are my customers?
This may seem obvious , but there is more to this question than meets the eye. You may already have a number of residential customers, but want to develop new web pages to attract commercial clients. Or perhaps you want to run a sales campaign for a new product or service that your competition has been offering for years.
In situations such as these it’s important to understand the needs and desires of these new markets, so that your new content offers the information they’re looking for. If you’re refining your content or updating your site, you still need to identify your most important existing markets so that your new content maintains focus.
Effective marketing demands an emotional appeal.
Poor content is often the result of marketing to reason instead of emotion. We all make purchases differently, but most of us have the same worries, concerns, and motivations. Successful content seeks to leverage consumer’s emotions to generate a positive response.
Think of your favorite television commercials. Are you more likely to remember a commercial that made you tear up or laugh? If so, you already understand the power of emotions relative to marketing, and your website is no different.
How to generate an emotional response from your market.
There are a many different ways to elicit an emotional response from a reader. Some are useful for marketing and others are not. What follows are a few basic concepts to get your creative juices flowing. It should also be noted that other design elements like color, layout, and photos can also be utilized in your web design for this same purpose. However, this page simply focuses on written content.
Attach deeper value to your product or service.
This is a powerful marketing concept used by the majority of companies. The idea is to explain what your product or service does for them, instead of just listing a bunch of features.
If you’re selling furniture, you will definitely want to list all of the features that make it a quality product and a good value. But before listing your product’s features, you should identify its benefits. The deeper value of furniture lies in its connection to the home, your family, your personal tastes, your desire to entertain, and your comfort.
The emotional appeal of Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family around your brand new oak dining table is far more appealing than a commentary on the techniques used to build it. Both certainly have value, but the emotional connection is proven more effective for making sales to many markets.
Your product or service alleviates fear and/or pain.
This is another powerful marketing tool that requires you understand your customer base. The idea is to present your product or service as one that will help the consumer overcome their fear. Effectively using this kind of marketing in your content requires that you identify the fear in an ethical way, and then show how your product or service offers a solution.
If you’re an auto mechanic then you are probably aware that many consumers are afraid of getting ripped off by an unscrupulous mechanic. In your content you could identify this fear and then provide testimonials from your clients that highlight your honesty and integrity.
You commonly see this marketing technique used by companies that offer financial relief from debt, or that address people’s fear of obesity by offering a diet product. Just remember when using this marketing technique in your content that a little goes a long way. You don’t want to scare off your clients; you want to motivate them to reach out to you for a solution.
Eliminating buyer’s remorse before the sale is made.
This concept be tougher to implement than the other two, but it is no less powerful. The number one way to eliminate regret is to effectively establish the value of your product or service. Again, understanding your market is key, because every demographic will have a unique trigger that appeals to their sense of value.
A middle-aged housewife’s sense of value will be far different from a single bachelor. When buying furniture, the housewife’s sense of value may be satisfied if you can attach a story to the piece that can be retold during dinner parties for the next 20 years. For the bachelor, style, function, and economic value may be far more appealing.
Your sales often rely on your ability to effectively prevent the customer from worrying they will regret their purchase. What better way to accomplish this than making emotionally investing them in your product until they just can’t live without it?
- Identify your market to create better content - December 12, 2016
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