The most effective way that businesses can increase sales and customer engagement is by providing amazing content. Content is information from your business that serves your target audience. A target audience is the group of people that you want to appeal or market to. The online world is a huge networking space that allows users to promote information to different people all over the world. Business owners must take advantage of this to create enticing content that attracts potential customers and clients. But before your team starts generating ideas, remember this golden rule for your content strategy: Create content that makes your target audience’s lives easier. Because in order for businesses’s to gain customers they must create brand messages that show that their target market, not themselves, are their priority. Here is three different types of content that every business should try at least once to build their target audience:
1. Blogs
Blogs are online platforms that publish information that can be easily read. The best ways to take advantage of this content is by writing blog posts about your industry that can benefit your audience.
Business example: Panera Bread is a bakery-cafe restaurant chain that sells baked goods, sandwiches, and salads. They have their own blog called “stories” that display interesting information related to their industry. There are posts that about nutrition, lifestyle management, recipes, and records of their charity efforts. This blog is helpful to the restaurant chain because it increases brand awareness and audience engagement. When a visitor lands on their page they will see more information that will improve their life than product promotion from Panera. This shows visitors that their needs are Panera’s top priority.
2. Videos
Videos are visual content that has proven to successfully increase more brand and customer engagement than boring text. You can create a YouTube or Vimeo account to publicly produce amazing videos to your target viewers.
Business example: Sephora is a chain of cosmetic stores that provide women with affordable, high-quality makeup products that they can use for any occasion. They post makeup, hair, and nail tutorials on their YouTube channel that can help the women who watch it. Sephora practices an interesting marketing strategy by not forcing their products on customers but by showing their products in action. They use talented market artists to apply makeup on fresh-faced women with their own products in the hope that viewers will buy them in stores.
3. Podcasts
Podcasts have been in and out of style for a while, but it seems today that they are totally IN now. Podcasts are audio recordings of conversations and interviews about interesting topics. I don’t recommend this for every business because they might not have enough interesting topics to talk about, but if you have a business that provides counseling or services in an intriguing niche then I say go for it! Make sure you have engaging personalities to be the face of the podcast.
Business example: The Fizzle Show is a very popular podcast that provides advice, videos, and exercises to entrepreneurs and startups on how they can build their online business. They provide online business training for $35 a month. To attract new members to their online community, they produce hilarious and informative audios answering their audiences’ questions. Because their content is so helpful, they have seen a growth in membership.
By making interesting content that follows the golden rule of helping your audience, you can change how people think of your brand or business and boost sales. Creating amazing blog posts, videos, or podcast episodes are a few amazing ways that businesses can take over the internet world and build a following that will always support them.
