In an age where content is king, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of it we’re inundated with 24/7. Did you know that of 2021, the average person sees between 6,000 and 10,000 advertisements every day? Creating content people care about isn’t easy.
So, how does your business stand out among the millions of brands, advertisements, and content that is constantly in motion? Keep reading to learn some strategies for making your product or service stand out in a marketplace that is racing to win your audience’s attention.
1 – Implement the StoryBrand Framework
Dr. J.J. Peterson, Head of StoryBrand, talks all the time about how the market doesn’t honor the best products, it honors the clearest message. When people do research to find a new product or service, they’re often not sold on the product itself, they’re sold on what is going to solve their problem. With StoryBrand, the name of the game is clarifying your message so customers engage.
“Without a clear message, customers will ignore you. When you clarify your message using the StoryBrand Framework, orders and revenue increase.” If someone goes to your website and they can’t tell what you do in less than 15 seconds (realistically, only a few seconds) you’re going to lose them.
You might be tempted to talk all about what your business does, how you were founded, and why your product is the best product, and don’t get us wrong, those things have their place, but that won’t make you stand out; it’ll only make you blend in with all the other brands who are doing the same thing.
Position yourself as the guide and your customer as the hero. Be the Yoda to their Luke. The Haymitch to their Katniss. The Fairy Godmother to their Cinderella. Make it your goal to solve their problem, not add to their stress and overwhelm!
2 – Create content that adds value to your audience
If you sell natural beauty products, would you post content about the best vacation spots in the United States? Probably not, because that’s not what your audience is looking for when they come to your website and social media channels. You would publish content like “harmful ingredients to avoid when shopping for makeup products” or “how to maintain a sustainable makeup routine.”
Your content should add value to your customers and provide them with information that informs their decisions. You might not sell to them in that moment, but you’ll be top-of-mind next time they are looking for new bronzer or mascara.
Here are some ideas for value-add content:
- Three tips for… [tips in your niche]
- How to posts, blogs, and videos
- What to do if… [situation that happens in your niche]
- Why you haven’t… [something related to your niche]
- Don’t do these things… [something related to your niche]
3 – Optimize Your Content
Why is keyword research important? Optimizing your content helps improve your ranking on Google. It tells Google that your content is answering the questions that people are searching for. However, you can’t just jam your content full of keywords anymore. You have to create valuable, informative content that answers people’s questions, build backlinks, optimize your website’s speed, and more.
So, using the example from our last point, if you own a natural beauty product company, you wouldn’t want to rank for content about best vacation spots. You’d want to rank for things like “natural beauty products” and “beauty products with natural ingredients.” There are a lot of keyword research tools you can use to optimize your content:
Some of these tools are free and some are paid, but they are all great tools for creating valuable content that will answer your audience’s questions and solve their problems.
4 – Take advantage of analytics
Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and other social channels have fantastic analytics you can reference when creating content people care about. The best way to create content your audience values is referencing what has done well in the past and reusing it for the future. If an Instagram post of yours did really well one month, there is nothing wrong with reusing it! Same with your video and blog content. Recycling your social media and blog content is an excellent strategy and doesn’t involve any guesswork since you know it has done well in the past.
5 – Create video content
Video content is increasingly popular, with more than 60% of companies using it in their marketing strategy and more than 50% of consumers saying they prefer it over static posts. It sounds daunting, we know, but it’s more doable than you might think. Gone are the days where you have to hire a production team and create a super formal, cinema-quality video. On Instagram, you can create short Reels with tips in your niche, take advantage of trending sounds, or talk about evergreen content from your blogs. On TikTok, you can create fun, educational, and valuable videos using trending sounds or talk to the camera and use background music. Not sure what to talk about? Here are a few prompts:
- Three misconceptions about [your niche]
- Share a tip that relates to your niche
- Use trending audio
- Three things you should know about… [your niche]
- Friendly reminder to… [something that relates to your niche]
Don’t let video content scare you! Be yourself and talk about what you know. Now more than ever, people appreciate imperfection and can tell when you’re not being real with them.
8Bend Marketing Can Help You Create Content People Love
The idea of creating consistent content that your audience will find valuable can be a challenge. It’s time consuming, and if you’re new to content creation, it can feel like a huge task to sit down and write blogs, social media posts, and film video content. The experts 8Bend Marketing are here to make sure your content, no matter what industry you’re in, is consistent, fits your brand, and connects with your audience. Ready to get started?
Sydney Waddle is 8Bend Marketing’s Content Strategist. Responsible for content creation such as blogs, social media posts, eBooks, emails, and more, Sydney helps clients distribute entertaining, informative, and quality content on a monthly basis.
