Making the Most of your marketing Content’s Value: An Eight-fold Approach
Did you know that 95% of those selecting a vendor make their choice because the vendor provided the most relevant content of the vendors they were considering? That’s right – 95%. As you can see, the relevancy of content can be an extremely important consideration in the selection process.
But it isn’t just relevancy that is being taken into consideration by today’s buyers. More than half of buyers surveyed replied that they are taking more time researching and considering which vendor to hire. In fact, over 48% said that they are not only taking longer, but they are using a broader spectrum of sources during their initial research and 59% said that they are sharing the information that they glean in their research with other people who are researching the same vendors.
In addition, 66% of buyers reported that consistent messaging by vendors was a big consideration in the buying decision and 77% said that they did not follow traditional approaches when going through the buying process.
Putting all of these things together means that, for marketers, not only will you need to improve relevance and provide your prospects with adequate information during their research phase, but you will also need to be able communicate effectively and provide alternatives to traditional purchasing methods. To help you make the most of your marketing content’s value; there are eight methods that you can follow for the best results.
The Eight Approaches to Increasing Your Marketing Content’s Value
Approach #1: Scanning the Blogs
The increased popularity of blogging in today’s online communities means that there should be a wide variety of blogs active regarding your particular industry. By following these blogs, particularly by paying attention to customer comments, you can glean much useful information regarding what your potential customers expect from someone in the business.
Approach #2: Explanatory Webinars and Podcasts
There is a great deal of technical and explanatory information on the internet regarding issues of importance in your particular field. Much of this information can be found in Webinars and online Podcasts of different organizations. Paying attention to these sources can help you to pinpoint important issues and how that particular organization is addressing them.
Approach #3: Watch Your Language
Make sure that you are talking the same language your potential customer is. Using too technical – or for that matter to simple of language is not going to attract them to you. You need to pay attention to how your potential customers are describing their problems and issues and be prepared to address their concerns in the same manner.
Approach #4: Using LinkedIn Groups
It is helpful to be able to have a baseline of your particular prospect segment. By tracing their participation in different groups you can get a handle on their views on specific subjects. Participating in this way however, should never be in a way that will show that you are selling something or are in any way looking for information on them, it should be totally innocuous.
Approach #5: Getting the Most out of Twitter Streams
By using a hash tag search for keywords through programs like TweetGrid or TweetDeck you can use a full two –three columns to fine-tune your search. These keywords should be pertinent to those searches made by your prospective clients.
Approach #6: Using Bit.ly Links
A good number of Twitter’s links are created by Bit.ly, the URL shortener. By cutting and pasting the link into your browser, tacking on a plus sign at the end and hitting enter a scrolling feed of users who have Tweeted the link (including any comments they added) will be visible to you. This can be an invaluable tool in determining how much interest a particular topic or link is generating.
Approach #7: Metering Metrics
One of the best ways to determine the effectiveness of your email campaigns is by tracking the bounces to and from topic-specific Website pages. This, together with the amount of time a prospective client spends on specific content can help you to determine keywords that can help you in developing content that will attract your prospective clients.
Approach #8: Using Feedback
One of the most effective methods of getting prospective clients reactions to your services and opinions regarding your products are by collecting and analyzing direct feedback. How many comments have you received regarding your services? How many people have filled in your surveys? How many Webinar viewers stay for the entire webinar? What are the top complaints registered by your customer service representatives? Collecting feedback from a number of sources can help you to determine the effectiveness not just of your products and services, but of your advertising methods as well.
Putting it all Together
As you can see, by combining the eight approaches we’ve discussed you can develop a far richer and fuller view of where your organization stands, how effective its methods are, and be able to fine tune your methods to best suit the potential clients you are striving to reach. By increasing your marketing content’s value to potential customers you will also increase your effectiveness and number of potential customers who will desire your services.
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