If you are in the know when it comes to the content and content marketing world, it is highly likely that you will have heard of the Content Promotion Summit that has been taking place over the last couple of weeks.
If not, worry not.
Hosted by Cody Lister, blogging enthusiast and avid content promoter, the Content Promotion Summit is an online conference taking place over a period of a couple of weeks. Marketing professionals (namely in content) can listen in on a series of interviews with renowned and hugely successful entrepreneurs and content professionals to learn lots more about the world of content promotion.
Interviewees ranged from Jeff Bullas – number 1 global marketing influencer 2016 according to onalytica – and Larry Kim, founder of Wordstream, with topics based around content strategy, content creation, copywriting, content writing, content outreach, earned media, podcasting, paid media, search engine optimisation, social media marketing, influencer outreach, online communities and video marketing. That’s a lot of stuff!
I was far too busy doing all of my ‘contenty’ bits here at Anicca Digital to be able to catch the whole thing but let me share with you a few insights from my personal content favourites, Mary Jaksch and Barry Feldman.
Mary Jaksch @Mary_Jaksch
Any influential content should really address an urgent need, or rather encourage somebody to take action. If you are a customer desperately looking to replace a big lawn that is a nightmare to maintain, you might, as an artificial grass company, want to produce a piece of content that focuses on how your artificial lawns are the answer to your customers’ problems and how quick and easy it is to maintain and install. Get to the root of the problem. How can you make your customers’ woes disappear? So how do you know what your customers’ pain points are? Aside from the many other research methods available, look at blogs surrounding your subject matter. Often any pain points are addressed in the comments boxes. I also find reviews extremely helpful to refer to, particularly competitor reviews. So this is a potential double whammy here….Find out what your competitors are doing ‘wrong’ and reward customers by demonstrating how you can make the wrongs a right.
‘Customer Marketing’
I think content marketing should be re-named customer marketing. That’s essentially what content marketing is, like Mary says, putting the spotlight on the customer. What does the customer want as a pose to what you think the customer might want or has yet to discover. Speaking to customers like a dear friend and getting on their level. Being vulnerable and showing humanity. Using the ‘you’ with a light sprinkling of ‘I’. In the words of Brené Brown;
‘Vulnerability is the bridge to connection’
Barry Feldman @FeldmanCreative
I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to understanding why our brains work the way they do and that comes in really handy for writing and content marketing. Get into the minds of your customers and you are set? Well, us humans are predisposed to like a bit of the ol’ instant gratification and Barry talked about how that can work really well in the marketing world. Familiar with the Maslow hierarchy of needs by that clever chappy Abraham Maslow?
Well, we’ve reached a world of connectedness where instant gratification has become the norm and we can get almost anything we want when we want it. Social media is a fabulous example. Feeling a bit down and want to tell the world? It’s quite possible you’ll get some responses from friends telling you ‘it’ll be okay’ or asking what’s wrong. Dangerous you might say, but extremely addictive. If you can respond to your customers’ needs in the flick of switch, the more likely you will gain their trust and loyalty. Examples such as live chat, customer service via social media or written articles with titles such as ‘Lose a stone in 7 days’ all have the potential to convert due to instant gratification.
Relating to this, Barry speaks about the 7 Common Causes of Discomfort;
- Confusion
- Distraction
- Apathy
- Boredom
- Friction
- Lack of trust
- Mystery
He explains how being aware of these seven feelings can be a fantastic opportunity for content marketers. We all like to be in our comfort zones, sometimes we step out, to challenge ourselves and to move forwards, but given the choice, we’d all like to stay ‘in the zone’. If we can solve or even demonstrate how we can solve at least one of these discomforts, chances are ‘solve it and the customers will come’.
So there you have it, wisdom imparted.
If you’d like some help with your content marketing and don’t know where to start, take a look at our content marketing services here at Anicca or give us a call on 0116 298 7918, we’ll be happy to hear from you.
