Why Your Content Matters

What is Content?

Content is what you’re reading right now. It’s the social media posts you liked, shared or hearted today, it’s the YouTube videos you watched or the ads you saw in your Instagram feed. We all use content daily – to learn something new, to be entertained and to feel connected with others.

Content is defined as “the topics or matter treated in a written work” or “the principal substance (such as written matter, illustrations, or music) offered by a website.” I would venture to say that we could quite easily add “and through social media” to the second definition.

Content is the mainstay of your social media strategy and overall marketing plan. From social media posts, blogs, whitepapers, digital and print ads … it all comes down to content and how all the pieces work together to create a cohesive brand feel.

Your content provides information to your audience, it conveys a story, a feeling and helps define your brand – the tone and voice. Great content provides valuable and relevant information and shows your audience that you’re a trusted source.

Content Matters

Content, both the words and images we share through websites, blog posts and social media is truly powerful. It has the potential to bolster your business and brand or it can harm your reputation and credibility. What does your content say about you or your business? What does it convey about your brand?

Having great content helps you in several ways:

Builds a stronger loyalty from your customers/audience
Extends your overall reach
Creates brand awareness
Drives deeper engagement
Increases sales opportunities and revenue
Shows you as a thought leader

“Every piece of your content should be excellent, enough that customers are compelled to share it.” Joe Pulizzi

Content and Social Media

People use social media for 3 main reasons:

Information
Entertainment
Connection

Notice “for ads” or “being sold to” didn’t make that list. I don’t know about you, but I dread going to a car lot or walking into a department store and watching the salespeople start to hover and make their way towards me. Just let me look and browse and I’ll come to you when I have questions. It’s likely your audience will feel the same way.

Don’t invade your customer’s social space throwing sales pitches at them. Instead, be there to meet their needs by providing relevant information while being engaging and entertaining. This is your chance, as a business, to create meaningful conversations and connections. And that’s what social media is about – conversations.

It’s good to keep in mind that these social assets are incredibly important in the larger content strategy, acting as pathways to drive your customers or potential customers to your larger pieces of content like blogs, whitepapers, reports, just your website in general.

But not all content is created equal. It’s quality over quantity. You need to be strategic and purposeful.

Things to consider with content creation:

What is the purpose of the content?
Who is the audience you’re writing to?
What does my audience want or need to know?

Know Your Audience

With social media, your content can be read or viewed whenever and wherever your audience chooses – not just when and where you choose. This means it’s important to know your target audience. Who are they – age, gender, education level, where they live? What social channels are they using and when? What other brands might they follow? It also means having a deep understanding of your own brand and what message you want to convey through your voice, tone, words and images. Define your target audience, speak directly to them on the channels they use and in a voice they connect with.

To help, begin with thinking about your own preferences. What businesses accounts do you follow and why?

Here’s personal example. I don’t eat at Wendy’s. I’m a vegetarian and absolutely do not recall the last time I ever went to a Wendy’s. However, I follow them on Twitter. Why? Because of their personality. From a social media strategist’s standpoint, I love what they’re doing, how they have truly tapped into their audience while maintaining a consistent brand voice.

To better understand your target audience, you’ll want to create a buyer persona. You’ll have more than one. A buyer persona is a fictionalized characterization of your best or ideal customer and is based on information about them and how they use whatever it is that your company offers. Go back to the notion of what your target audience is, who they are, their characteristics. The idea of creating buyer’s personas can seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be, and it’s important for you to consider in order to create great content.

Part of the development of your buyer’s persona will include understanding where they are along each stage of a buyer’s journey. To help you get started, simply think back to your own experiences with social media, with brands and with how you make purchasing choices.

Buyer’s Journey

According to research, 67% of a buyer’s journey begins online. This make sense considering that 62% of the U.S. population gets their news through social media. And by news, that means any general information, including advice and awareness about products or businesses. And, according to Neilson, “83% of online respondents in 60 countries say they trust the recommendations of friends and family.”

What does this mean for you, for your business? Plain and simple: you need to be the credible, trustworthy source of information for your potential customers throughout their purchasing journey and then afterwards to retain them as a customer and brand advocate. Understand why someone may be searching for a product or service, offer education around what your business does. Help them in their decision making process by offering relevant content.

So, what is the buyer’s journey? The buyer’s journey is the progress each of us take when making purchase decisions. I think it’s important to remember how you start your own purchase decision making. Use your own experiences and don’t be afraid to just ask others what they do, their approach. And, To be fair, often we’re just going to a grocery store to get the basics. You’re probably not doing any research online, but you might be checking out coupons, discounts or a new product you saw your friend comment about.

3 Steps in the Buyer’s Journey

Awareness
Consideration
Decision

Think about what your content might look like along each of those stages. Big hint: it’s not a hard sales pitch. You’re introducing your brand, your services, yourself. You are giving people solutions to problems (even if it’s simply trying to choose soap A over soap B) and convincing them why they should choose you over your competitor.

Content Takeaway

Your content is more than a sales pitch, web content or social media posts. Your content makes up your brand. It tells a story about who your company is, what they offer and why they should be trusted. Yes, you want to make a sale. But you always want to create meaningful interactions.

Ultimately, you want to be engaging, authentic and timely. Talk to them in a conversational manner with a consistent brand voice. Give them something they begin to recognize and trust. Again, personal experiences can truly help when getting started. What do you like to see, what don’t you like to see, what would move or engage you. Humanize your brand. Share meaningful content. Engage with your audience.

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