Content Marketing: The Down and Dirty

As an executive coach, I've seen firsthand the transformative power of well-executed content marketing in the entrepreneurship journey. I’ve also seen the train wreck that can happen if you don’t have your content marketing right. In today's digital age, understanding and leveraging this power is more than a strategy—it's necessary. If you’re an entrepreneur, here are some essentials for maximizing online business promotion through content marketing.

The beginning of an effective content marketing strategy is not crafting content itself but understanding to whom that content is addressed. This understanding reassures you that you speak directly to your core audience's unique needs, preferences, and challenges. It gives you confidence in your marketing approach, knowing you are on the right track to connect with your audience.

Consider this: a company aimed at captivating a demographic of men but with new clarity found that their audience was thirty-five-year-old women. With that knowledge, we changed all promotional materials and marketing products to fit the appropriate audience. Realigning their content to reflect and accurately speak to their target audience, they saw their business grow by 42% in a year. This underscores the profound impact of personalized marketing—it builds trust and credibility, essential foundations for any entrepreneurial endeavor.

Effective content marketing is not about bombarding your audience with messages but crafting those that resonate and drive engagement. The growth potential is significant when your narrative is concise, addressing 'what's in it for them' in a clear, friendly manner. Offering proof and evidential support solidifies your claims, making your value proposition undeniable. This potential for growth, and sometimes huge growth, should inspire and motivate you to take the extra time to get it right. 

The bottom line is that you must have a clear value proposition. Without a solid call to action on every message, the prospect will have no reason to take the next step. If you don’t ask your prospect to take the next step, and your competition does, guess where your prospective customer will go? In today’s crazy digital marketing battleground, it is imperative for you to ask your customers to do something and take the next step to get them to walk in your doors or buy online. It’s funny and scary when you start looking at the advertising and promotions you might see. Check it out sometime, and look at all the ads you see or receive. Look for the calls to action that should be embedded in the copy. It’s wild how many bazillions of marketing dollars are spent(wasted) on promotion and then never ask the consumer to act. 

The real lesson here is that consumers are fickle. If you don’t ask them to respond In some way, they will replace you in a flash. Yes, you can be replaced, so get over the idea that you can’t. It’s as easy as asking Google or Alexa. Loyalty is hard to find in prospects and customers these days. 

So, get as much clarity as possible on who your consumer is. Do some research. Check your sales records. Ask your industry, but never, ever, ever guess. Successful content marketing is all about focus, clarity, and targeting. 

Protect your money and target your actual consumer as early as possible.