In today’s episode, we’re going to be talking about how to create a plan that grows your business using the content that you create. If you struggle with finding the time to create content and knowing what content to create that will move the needle for you in terms of growing your business or helping your existing customers, you should have a listen and grab our free resource to help you get results with content.
Transcript
Welcome to the Get Digital Marketing Results podcast where we give you information and actionable tips to grow your organization.
Bob: Hi, I’m Bob Clark.
Donna: And I’m Donna Botti. We’re with Delos Inc and we make the web work for you. Last week on Tech News Tuesday we gave you some ideas about things that you could post for content, but I have to tell you that if you’re just creating content without a strategic plan of how it’s going to help you grow your business or give your customers a better experience you could be wasting your time and your money in doing so. So today we’re going to be talking about how to create a plan that grows your business using the content that you create.
Bob: It all starts with first identifying who is your customer and what’s important to them. There’s so much noise out there it’s really easy for us to ignore anything that we feel is not relevant to us. I know if you asked me what ad appeared at the top of the last web page I visited or in my social media feed, I wouldn’t be able to remember it unless it was something that really spoke to what concerns me right at this moment.
Donna: You really want to take some time and dial in on who you’re talking to and direct your content to that person just as you would in a one on one conversation with someone who has a problem or need that your product or service answers. You have content.
Bob: The next thing you have to do is to ensure that you are using the channels where your audience is. We 100% recommend that you are always growing your email list. Once someone is interested in you it is one of the best ways to continue to build a relationship with them. The deliverability and ROI from email is better than any of the social media channels. You’ll want to use social media to help extend your reach beyond people who already know you and this is where understanding what platforms your ideal customer uses will help you focus your efforts. You can’t be on every platform and do it well without a large team and budget.
Donna: So when you know who and where, you can create a plan for content creation that is sustainable for you and is also strategic content. Let me explain what I mean by strategic content. These are answers to core questions that your audience has about your products, services, and also how you work. Think about the things you tell people over and over – people are searching for this information every day. Think about the content you are already creating, whether it’s for a presentation, documenting a job, or for a specific client, what can that be repurposed into general content.
Another example is resources you might have for existing customers – do you have this available for everyone? What if you could just send them a link? For our WordPress customers for example we do a tip of the month. If you call with a question about your site, and we already have a tip on that we can direct you to the video and that provides good customer service. If we don’t have a tip for that, and we think it might be useful to others, then that goes on our list of topics for future tips.
Bob: You don’t have to create multiple pieces of strategic content a month if that’s not sustainable for you. One piece of content can go on your website, to your email list, on social media, and if it is video or audio, on YouTube and as a podcast. The important thing is consistency.
If you do one a month, at the end of the year you have a dozen core pieces that will help people find you and get to know you better, and can be reused again later too!
You can fill in the rest of your social media calendar with what we call a social media mix. Holidays, celebrations, fun facts, short tips and polls might be some things in your social media mix.
Donna: Great points Bob, and don’t forget that batching your content and scheduling ahead of time is a great way to save time, but still have a good presence.
To help you with this process, my team and I’ve created a short training program on how to create a content plan that grows your business and gives your customers a better experience.
If you struggle with finding the time to create content and knowing what content to create that will move the needle for you in terms of growing your business or helping your existing customers then this free training is for you. You can find it at delosinc.com/contenthelp.
