Pull in prospects using irresistible content

Like a movie trailer, great content has the ability to entice audiences into wanting to see more.

Your objective with content marketing is to give website visitors a reason to check out the feature-length film that is your business website. The more time a visitor spends on your website checking out your products, services, background, and team, the more likely they will be to reach out to you and become a customer.

That’s the magic of content. It’s not about selling, it’s about educating and nurturing. It’s about giving advice and information before you get a sale. It’s about being a thought leader instead of a salesperson.

So what goes into irresistible content? You might be surprised how easy the process can be to create information people want to consume.

Consider these three suggestions.

Who is your ideal customer? Take the time to revisit your target market definition within the marketing section of your business plan.

To create engaging content, you’ll want to be clear about who it is you want to reach. In other words, determine the best type of customer for your business before you go to the trouble of developing any content.

For example, your target audience might be coffee lovers who buy gourmet coffee beans online. 

Knowing your audience will help you with the next step: figuring out what they like in terms of content.

Don’t make any assumptions here – reach out to your target market through a survey or individual discussion to get a sense of their preferences for topics and content formats. Identify which topics interest them and how they prefer to consume information.

For example, gourmet coffee lovers might be interested in learning techniques to grind their coffee beans for maximum flavour. And they might prefer to receive that information in the form of how-to-articles and short videos.

Make sure any communication with users, visitors, prospects, or customers complies with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) for electronic communications, and the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) rules for telemarketing calls. Learn more about CASL requirements by visiting the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and rules about telemarketing at Canada’s National Do Not Call List.

To create quality content, you may need to enlist the services of a professional content developer, writer, or agency. You may also have existing talent in-house to produce these content pieces.

Do your best to combine substance with style when creating your content. Content should feel special and personalized, as if the reader is joining an exclusive club.

Give it substance by presenting original, insightful, thought-provoking information, and give it style by making it easy to consume.

The style of your content is equally important because the best information won’t resonate with your target audience if it’s difficult to access that information.

So remember these suggestions:

• For blogs and articles, make the font size large and readable. Don’t use fancy background colours or weird text. Just stick to the basics.
• Videos should be lightly scripted so you can present your advice clearly. Try to limit your video to two minutes. Use on-screen text to communicate key points.
• If you are producing lengthy content pieces such as e-books or whitepapers, avoid large blocks of text where possible. Break up text into chunks of information that are easy to scan. Bulleted lists and subheads work well for this reason. Remember, most of your audience will consume your content on mobile devices so the more white space, the better.

One of the reasons you’re creating content is to position your business as an authority on a particular subject that is relevant to what you are selling.

Don’t shy away from a clear call-to-action at the end of each piece of content.

For example, the owner of that online coffee bean business might insert a link to a product page at the end of each article or video.

When you’re finished with the content development process, not only will you have something you already know someone will enjoy reading, but you also will have something that someone is probably going to share on their own social media channels.

People who share your content are helping you to reach more viewers – and that’s good for business.