There are 6 Key steps to generating success any content marketing campaign. Following these in this exact order will insure you make the sales of your product or service that you know are possible.
Identify Your Niche
The first step is to identify your target market – your Niche. All too often companies and marketing departments think every company or person is a potential buyer of the service or product they offer. This is a big mistake to make.
The reason is no one can market to the universe successfully. Marketing materials would be too general. You cannot be all things to all people.
Build A Profile of Your Ideal Customer
The second step is to build a profile of your ideal customer. Success will elude you when you don’t have a clear picture of the customer most interested in what you offer.
What are their interests? What do they want? What keeps them up at night? The more specific you can get in identifying your ideal customer and the companies they work at, the easier it is going to be to build the marketing pieces to catch their attention and want to know more about you and the product or service you offer.
Build Trust with Your Ideal Customer
Your third step in Content Marketing is to build trust with your ideal customer and their company. Your initial marketing efforts should be geared at giving them an overview of you and your company and why you can be trusted.
Some companies make a mistake here and start promoting themselves and why they are great. This is rarely successful. You start by showing them you know what they need and how you’ve worked with other companies like their’s to overcome problems they have had and to become more successful.
Introduce Your Service or Product
to Your Ideal Customer
Step 4 – When you have built trust with your customer and their company, you introduce your service or product to them. You do this through a series of emails, blog posts, white papers or video sales letters. In these you show them how your service or product will help them eliminate a problem they have and generate the increase in sales they desire.
Make It Clear to Your Ideal Customer
Why They Need to Buy From You
The fifth step is to show why your company is the best one to provide this service or product to them. In case studies, blog posts, emails and video sales letters, you now show them why it will be far better to buy the service or product from you than any of your competitors.
If your service or product is superior, you highlight that.
If your customer service is better, you highlight that.
In your marketing you key on every reason your customer would make a mistake not to purchase what they need from you.
One caution here – Don’t criticize or put down any of your competitors directly.
Turn Your Ideal Customers over to Your Sales Department and Their Reps to Close the Sale
The next and last step is easy. After you have finished step 5, your ideal customer and their company is ready to buy. All of the marketing you have done right along will make them eager for what you offer.
At this point, you should turn them over to your sales department. They can turn them over to their sales representatives to make contact, give presentations and make the sale.
Here again are the steps:
Step 1 – Identify Your Niche.
Step 2 – Build a Profile of Your Ideal Customer.
Step 3 – Build Trust with Your Ideal Customer.
Step 4 – Introduce Your Service or Product to Your Ideal Customer.
Step 5 – Make It Clear to Your Ideal Customer Why They Need to Buy From You.
Step 6 – Turn Your Ideal Customers over to Your Sales Department and their reps to close the sale.
For the greatest success you need to take each step in this order. If you introduce your service or product before you build trust, the person or company you’ve targeted will question you and your objectives.
