How does great content help you out? More importantly, how can great content ever solve any problems?
We talk about this a lot here on The One Forward. In fact, here’s a good post from Romack on how to cut through the noise and really improve the content you put out there, as well as this post on diving deep with your message – but what are we saying? And how will this help you?
Well today, I want to give you three practical reasons for consistently putting out great content for your online audience, and how it can help you solve problems for your brand or business. This isn’t the end of the discussion, and I welcome your thoughts on how great content will prove a truly valuable tool to help your brand solve problems online – but these are the three I’ve come up with for today. Give them some thought, and ask yourself if you’re seeing these results with your content… If not, you may want to consider your methods.
- You’re Building Authority
When you write content (and I mean everything from your blog to your status on Twitter), do so with intentionality. Care. Provide content you think others may want to know, and do your best to only speak on those things that you know well. Topics relating to your brand and your industry. When you do this, over time if you truly do know what you’re talking about, people including your potential customers will come to you expecting the consistently helpful information and insight you give. You will establish in their minds a perception of authority on the subject at hand, and if you as the authority, can then turn around and inundate those who respect you with your gratitude – you can bet you’ll be swimming in a sea of loyal fans, anxious to buy whatever it is you’re selling. - You’re Ranking Higher
The second, and not-so-obvious added benefit of writing consistently great content, is that you’ll start seeing your brand rank higher in search results. Really? Really. After all, what is it guys like Google are really looking for (I mean, aside from total world domination)? They’re looking for pertinent, relevant content. But what about SEO? Am I saying you can achieve the same results through great content that you could with traditional SEO practices? Well… In a way, yes – but let’s not focus on that today. I might just so happen to talk about that with my next post. The bottom line though, is this: When you put out consistently relevant content that is pertinent to your industry and your brand, and to the consumers out there looking for it – Google/Yahoo/Bing will find that content, and you will rank higher as a result. - Do the Math: You’re Converting More
If the first and second points are true for you and your brand, then this third point becomes true as well. If you are the perceived authority, or at least have some perceived authority in your field of expertise; you inundate your fans with gratitude and caring; plus you’re driving more traffic to your site thanks to this great content that search engines are finding that makes consumers want to buy/subscribe/whatever it is you need them to do – then you will convert more, plain and simple. Yes, there are other factors in conversion, such as how easy it is for a consumer to follow your call to action, but if you are their trusted authority in your industry, and you’ve been regularly putting out great content to earn and keep that trust – your customers will do just about whatever it takes to buy your products. Making it easier for them to do so, then becomes an afterthought at that point.
What content are you building right now? Is it for yourself, your boss, or someone else? How do you establish authority for the brand you represent? Let us know by leaving your comment below.
For this special Friday post, I want to start off talking about something near and dear to my heart – my daughter. Just the other day, this beautiful, 16 month old little girl started really, truly walking for the first time! Yep, she’s a late bloomer, and although she’s been taking some steps for about two months now, she’s finally actually putting two-and-two together, and realizing, “Hey, this really IS the best way to travel!”
But the funny thing is, that just the other day, when it all started to “click” for her, you could read it all over her face that there was still some uncertainty in her brave decision. You could tell she was still contemplating whether or not it was really worth the effort to make the transition from crawling to walking – I mean it’s so much easier to just keep crawling than it is to learn how to walk, right? It was like she was just teetering on that edge, and it really could have gone either way at that point. One good push forward, and she’d be walking in a flash – but one good bit of doubt, and she’d be back on the floor again, maybe to try again another day.
And that’s the way it seems to be with most kids, even though some, like my son who was walking at around 9 or 10 months, are simply more eager and ambitious than others, and don’t seem to take as long to “catch on” to the concept. Either way though, it’s a BIG deal to start walking. It’s unknown territory for us at that age, and even though we see everyone around us walking, there’s no tangible proof that it’s actually going to make our lives so much better when we do it ourselves. Plus there’s the actual hurdle of taking those first few steps, getting our coordination down, and well, learning how to do it. Why make the effort to jump into something you’re not even sure is going to make your life better (you can’t possibly imagine how it will change your life, forever for the better), when it’s so much easier to keep crawling? We all have to realize that for ourselves, and for some, like my daughter, it simply takes a little time.
So it is with social media. More often than not, when a brand or business, and those individuals who represent those brands, take a look into social media they think, why do I really need to make the effort to get into that? I’m already advertising, I’ve already got a marketing strategy, and who’s to say this is really going to make my life that much better? Sure, we here in the industry retort with our own and even other “expert” opinions, but again, it’s like watching everyone around you walk – you can see that others are doing it, and have made it work for them, but your quite comfortable right there where you’re at on the floor, and you just might not feel like it’s worth the effort!
To take that one step further, there are even brands and companies out there who’ve “tried” the social media thing – and it just didn’t work for them. They took a few steps, but then that surge of doubt rose up and they just decided they’d probably rather wait it out, until the pressure to walk was off. But much like we all have to realize when we’re oh so young – we all have to learn how to walk! If you’re capable, you will learn how to walk – it’s just in our DNA to do so. If you have a brand or a business these days, you WILL have to learn to incorporate social media into what you do. Why? Because it’s in the DNA of every single one of your customers to look for brands that at least attempt to make a connection with them. It’s in the DNA of your customers to want genuine communication from their friends, family members, and even the brands they look to do business with on a regular basis. Communication and social interaction is so deeply integrated into who each of us are as humans on this planet, that even a natural introvert like myself can realize that if you hope for your brand or business to succeed and continually attract the attention of your customers, then communication and social interaction has to become part of YOUR DNA as well.
The ship has sailed on whether or not social media is the best way to travel (and communicate your brand online). So don’t let the train leave the station! If you’re out there wondering whether or not social media is worth the investment, remember your DNA. Your current and potential customers are all out there waiting to hear from you, and pretty soon they’ll make the choice whether to go back to your brand, or to your competitor based on which of you were able to create that personal connection with them that their DNA craves. Commit to going social – and never look back! It’ll be the best step forward you’ve ever made.
Thinking about going social, but not sure where to start? Maybe you’ve “tried it”, and didn’t get the ROI you were hoping for? If so, let us know about it – we’d love to help get you moving in the right direction! Happy Friday, and have a great weekend!
