How does a business find its clients these days? There was a time when all you needed to do was advertise in the press, on the radio or on TV. These ‘push’ messages carried just one message: buy our product. That’s all changed now, with today’s customers wanting a lot more information before they decide to buy.
- Portfolio: what do you offer?
- Vision: what is your perception?
- Knowledge: what is your expertise?
- Mission: what is your approach?
- USPs: what sets you apart?
- Practice: what did you do for others?
Nowadays, a business’s image, its accessibility (contact options) and track record are almost as important as the product itself. Research published by the International Newspaper Marketing Association supports this:
- 80% of corporate decision-makers indicate they prefer to get their information about a business through editorial content rather than advertising.
- 70% of those surveyed said they felt more engaged with businesses that produce and publish the right kind of content.
- 60% indicated that the content provided by businesses was a factor in their decision-making.
Tips & Tricks in content creation
Great content creation is the production of stories that addresses the interests of your readers, viewers and visitors. They could be existing clients, prospects or partners. So, besides telling the world what your business regards as important, it’s also essential that you know what your readers want to know. Think, for example, about people who may want information about how you treat your employees, or whether or not you work with any suppliers that rely on child labor, or maybe whether you sponsor your local football team, etc. This means:
- Showing the world that your vision and concerns extend beyond the bounds of your own business.
- Trying to find out what interests your clients – and then writing about those things.
- Being open and honest – the hard sales pitch is a thing of the past.
- Not using terms which only those in the ‘know’ (your colleagues or other insiders) are likely to understand.
- Sharing information, your views, vision and knowledge with your readers.
- Maintaining contact with your readers by, for example, specifically asking them to comment or respond.
Writing content requires a certain degree of discipline. At a minimum, any business blog, social media or YouTube channel or website probably needs to be updated with new posts, videos or article every month; a lower frequency could undermine your SEO status. After all, Google indexes your site as being ‘active’ on the basis of its supply of new content, and this ultimately brings more visitors to your site. In turn, your search ranking also gets higher.
Do you want to have access to great content all time, without worrying about where to find the inspiration or time, and which pitfalls you need to avoid? Deliver your content creation to the capable hands of Code Red Benelux.
