What is the goal of your web content?
The quick, off-the-cuff answer may simply be “more:”
- Traffic
- Attention
- Fans
- Customers
- Money
The bottom line is the bottom line, right? You’re in business to make money, marketing is a means to that end and the content you publish is a cog in your marketing machine.
So you set out with this in mind, looking for tactics and tools you can leverage to engineer your content into the best magnet possible (with the least amount of investment possible).
We all want content that’s going to have our readers tripping over themselves to hire us, subscribe to our newsletters – whatever your desired action is – and we want them doing it in droves.
The problem: you’re starting with the wrong mindset.
The “more” mindset points you in the wrong direction
The first problem with starting from “I need more” is it focuses you on the wrong set of needs: your own.
We’ve all seen content that’s written from this mindset. It talks a lot about the features and merits of a business and the people who run it, seeming to completely ignore the people who really matter: the customers.
We all secretly (or not-so-secretly) look for content that speaks directly to us. Content that highlights our problems, promises a solution, alleviates our fear and then delivers. When we find it it’s magic.
And then, because we’re egotistical by nature, when we set out to create our own content we do none of the above.
It’s not about you. Yes, you’ve heard that before. So have I. But it’s a basic psychological pitfall that we need to teach ourselves, again and again, to step around.
Focus your content on the needs and problems of your ideal customer. She’s the one with the power to grow your business.
1. Magnetic content has stand-alone value
The value of your content is not in its ability to drive more sales or sign-ups. (At least, that’s not the primary value).
The core value of your content is to solve the needs of your reader. When you create content with this goal in mind, you attract the right readers (potential customers).
Of course, it doesn’t hurt if the need you address with your content lines up nicely with the need met by the product or service you sell. Doesn’t hurt at all.
When you consistently produce content with serious value your reader gets used to the idea. You become one of her good habits. She’ll keep showing up, and every time you deliver you gain her trust. And it’s trust that breaks through the noise every single time in the online world.
2. Magnetic content tells a story
Stories show us reflections of ourselves. They remind us of our struggles, fears, aspirations and hopes. We insert ourselves into them, slaying the dragon and saving the day. It’s fun and therapeutic all at once.
When your content tells the true story of how the product of your business helps your customers live and work better, your reader has an easier time imaging those benefits for herself. She’s one step closer to buying from you.
3. Magnetic content makes magnets out of your readers
I love introducing people to Copyblogger. Even as I’m surprised to still find people who market online who haven’t heard of Brian Clark, it means I get to share a valuable resource. It’s a gift.
I link to their content (twice in this post, in fact). I share it on Twitter. I mention it when I give local workshops on online marketing.
When it comes to spreading the word about Copyblogger, I pitch in on a regular basis – and without even a drip of reciprocity from Brian & Co.
And that’s cool with me, because I’m not doing it for reciprocity. I do it because I know, beyond a shade of doubt, that the person I’ve sent there will get tremendous value from the content.
That’s trust. And the Copyblogger gang built it by consistently providing me with phenomenal content over time.
Thanks for the kind words, Mike (and the sharing)!
Hey, I’ve found huge value in what I’ve learned from CB. I know others will too. Thanks for stopping by.
Love the story telling aspect, Mike. When it comes down to it, we are all living stories, and spending our days telling stories. How many do this with intention?
Thanks Dennis. No doubt: we live for stories.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
mike,
good stuff. couldn’t agree more. just wrote about stories myself and how we see common threads in each other’s tales. copyblogger has been my mainstay as well!
Thanks Jorja. I like your blog. That “I need to be lonely” post is beautiful.
Mike- excellent article my friend. I just recently started following you on twitter and found this article through your tweets. As a student of Internet Marketing I appreciate your rich blog and look forward to reading feature posts. All of this is due to your ideology that we live in a consumer centric marketing world thanks to the Internet.
When writing content my number one problem is how to make it helpful to my readers. It’s a known fact that readers want something that will benefit them. Perhaps I will be able to develop this aspect over time. :-)
I would suggest that helping readers is the core reason to write/publish content. If another goal is at the heart of your motivation it will shine through.