March 19, 2024

Content Marketing - Attracting CustomersContent Marketing

Finding Customers with Content Marketing

Here is an example of a way to attract customers using a content marketing approach.

Let’s define a situation where your business is an existing business but now is moving into the realm of content marketing for your new product launch. Since you are an existing business you have a solid customer and prospect list. If you are a new business or an established business but without a solid contact list then you may not be able to follow this process for every step but it can still serve as an example of what you can do to attract customers with content marketing.

Also, let this be a message to those businesses without a list and know that there are things you can do to build one.

Establish Your Position: Use your blog to provide valuable content related to the product. Be informative and engaging. Also, use your blog to position your company as an expert on the topic and on the product. Use your blog to get people ready for the product launch and to build up a body of content that supports your positioning.

Your content on your blog should not be designed to sell your product directly, but to offer value to existing and prospective customers. Demonstrate your expertise and inform existing customers and potential customers about the new product and how it can help them.

Develop Foundational Content: Before opening the blog to the public develop some valuable foundational content. For example you could create a “how to” guide on your new product. You might develop a multi-part tutorial series on how to take full advantage of your new product. Your foundational piece needs to mesh with the product and the product launch.

Make sure that you optimize this content to be found in search for the keywords you have defined as the most valuable. Search engine optimization has to be a part of your foundation.

Another idea is to have someone interview you on the merits of your new product. Interviews give you the chance to answer the exact questions that need to be answers in the exact order they should be answered. Interview content also helps to establish your expertise.

This depth of content will help to convince first-time visitors that you are a worthy business to do business with.

This foundational content will also be search engine optimized and this will help to build a strong body of work on your topic that the search engines will love to present. Content helps in search and helps to gain visitors which lead to customers.

Create an Incentive: Create a short eBook, White Paper or Case Study that can be delivered for free to gain names and e-mail addresses to help build your contact list.

This is where you have to know your target audience so that the incentive piece is designed specifically for them. It will provide special insights designed just for them. It will show the target audience the full value of your product.

Product Launch Email: Deliver a product launch e-mail to your list. Make it compelling and to the point. People may not work through a long e-mail so make it concise (perhaps less than 100 words).  Use an HTML e-mail format and include a nice graphic in the e-mail.

Do not try to sell the product with this e-mail. The objective is to get people to visit your website or blog and to request the eBook, White Paper or Case Study.

Set up a Landing Page: A landing page for your product launch adds a huge value to the content marketing process. Use best-practice landing page principles and get the target audience to take one more step with you. Use a simple form so that you can collect their name and e-mail address so that they can download your free content marketing piece (eBook, White Paper, Case Study . . .). Be sure to make and offer and have a clear call-to-action.

Be willing to conduct content experiments (A/B Testing) of your landing page.

Continue to Blog: Post launch continue to build on your momentum. You are now positioned to become the preeminent voice related to this new solution to your target audience. Now the real work begins. Once you’re perceived as an authority, you have a

Special Considerations:

  1. If you have done some product testing in advance of the launch (most likely) then you have the chance to gather some testimonials from people who have already used your new product.
  2. If you have the type of product that can be offer via a free trial then factor this into the product launch plan.
  3. Always be sensitive to feedback. If there is a content piece that people seem to want to help them to understand or to help them to decide then create it (quickly).
  4. If someone else who is an authority on the topic associated with your new product could endorse your product then factor this in the product launch plan.

Content Marketing – Finding Customers Summary

People need content to help them to understand and to help them to make decisions. Provide this and your business will do better then if you do not provide this content.

Content helps you to position product, services and you and your business. Be the voice of authority on your topic by producing authoritative content.

Do you have content pieces to help you to launch new products or services? Do you have content that positions your business as the “go-to” business for your target audience? People want to do business with a business that they know, like and trust. Content marketing gets people to know your business; it gets people to like your business (if they like your content); it establishes a level of trust that you know what you are doing. Do you have content that gets people to know, like and trust your business?

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