9 Ways To Ensure Your Content Builds Thought Leadership.
There is one mistake which keeps showing itself over and over again – on websites, in blog posts, on social media and in the real world. It can be quite a difficult nut to crack because it is inherently tied in to human nature. BUT break the habit we must in order to succeed online!
So right here, right now, stop talking about you! Instead, focus on your target audience and your content marketing will help establish thought leadership. Even better, it will deliver the right results.
- Find the balance between providing important information about you for your audience (such as location, product descriptions, expertise) and demonstrating clearly how your products/services/company will benefit your soon-to-be customers.
- Whether it is your business, how good you are at your job, how great your products are, how long you have been providing the service, how big your new building is, or the latest technology you have adopted, the majority of this is ego-boosting. It is however, of little value to your audience. (Unless they are planning to buy you out or go head to head in competition with you!)
- Be the expert in understanding precisely what your leads and prospects want. What will trigger the decision to follow up with a call to your sales team? What benefits are they seeking and can you deliver? What job are they trying to complete that can be done more easily, quickly, cost-effectively, efficiently with your product or your help?
- Offer comparisons of your products with others so that your potential customers can see what they get if they give you their money. What issues can your product overcome that others cannot? What features does your product or service have, and why have you designed those features?
- Show that you understand clearly what problems your customer is trying to deal with and that you have considered them when setting up your solutions.
- Explain the benefits of this product or service. Offer added value with free tutorials, shared wisdom, opportunities to learn more, such as with webinars or events. Assign a mentor if the product or service is complex. Give them the name and contact details of an account manager. Make every encounter with your company personal and useful, finding answers where perhaps the prospective customer did not even know yet that there was a question to be asked.
- Dig deeply into, and understand, your audience. Provide information and insights that go beyond the call of duty and help lead them into the world of your expertise and experience. Educate them, even if they then do not commit to purchase. Listen, carefully, even when rejected as the supplier, because it may be there is a hidden niche for your business that you were unaware of, a feature you could add, an additional service you could offer.
- Take a look at your website with a fresh view to the content being all about the customer. Does it answer What's In It For Me? (WIIFM) from their point of view, or have you been too busy relating what's happening with you and your business? What about their business? Ask satisfied customers for feedback – critical and constructive – so that you can improve the experience for the future. Share contactable testimonials so that prospects can discover for themselves the benefits you can bring to a business. “Mr T from Ottawa...” is not a valid testimonial – give name, job title and company, with permission, of course.
- And most importantly,…GIVE and keep giving. Share what you have learnt, encourage people to become as good as you are, with secrets, tips and tricks, lessons learned, case studies, and examples of best practice.
Respect for you as an expert and for your company will grow if you prove that you are one of the best in the business. This will happen simply because you listen and care about your customers, and are willing to help them to achieve their desired outcomes.
For more advice on content marketing and how to establish thought leadership online, call MintCopy at 888-646-8003 or send us an email.