How wonderful it would be to see a healthy level of organic traffic coming your way daily regardless of whether you’re spending hundreds of dollars on various marketing campaigns or not.
Well it can be done! And here’s the secret – you need to pander to your clients and create contact marketing that they simply can’t resist. The effectiveness of this so-called strategic content marketing approach all hinges on knowing your clients inside out and from top to bottom. Only then can you develop content which will appeal, using keywords they are bound to use.
- Know Your Client
Firstly consider the type of person you want to attract to your business. Then dig deeper and create a profile of your ideal customer based on the demographics of your existing client database:
- age
- gender
- level of education
- income
- job role
- hobbies
- city or rural dweller
As you gather information, you will begin to create an image of your typical client which is essential to help you develop the appropriate content.
- Know Your Product
If you’re not the expert about your product, who is? Make sure you know how your product compares to the competitors’ and what its Unique Selling Points (USPs) are. Get prepared to create content that is specific about your product.
- Think Like Your Client
Put yourself in your clients’ shoes. Think about what they are searching for and how and where they search for it. Create some long tailed keywords to reflect search terms they are likely to use when they are surfing the net looking for products like yours.
For example if you’re a private college in Toronto, some of your potential clients may be searching using the following term: How to choose the best college in Ontario.
Once you have defined the words your potential clients will use to find products like yours, you can start to develop specific content that would appeal to them. Remember your content doesn’t have to be all about the hard sell: you can appear as an authority in your field and may attract organic traffic that way. For example content that would appeal to those looking for advice on choosing a college could be: 6 Steps To Choosing the Best College in Ontario.
- Provide Content in the Right Format
But before you get writing a blog for the content you have defined, think about how your clients like to find their content:
- Blogs – always popular with most people who like to read them to get an in depth understanding about a particular subject or product.
- Instagram – for those that like their visuals, use Instagram at its best by posting images or infographics
- Webinars – these won’t work for all target markets but some customers simply enjoy learning information in real time where they can pose their own questions.
- Videos – again well suited to those who like visuals and who aren’t prepared to read a blog from top to bottom. Well made videos are a great way to spread your content via your website and video channels such as YouTube.
- Emails – when you have some good contacts on your database, send them regular emails to tell them about your recent blogs and promotions – all nicely delivered directly to their inbox.
- Social media – so many people are on social media that it provides an excellent forum to share great content.
- Podcasts – it’s easy to create audio files which can be downloaded by your clients and listened to at their leisure. Particularly attractive to people who spend a lot of time driving who can listen and drive at the same time
- Let Your Personality Shine Through
You might have all the right content going out via the formats so loved by your target market but you still need to stand out from your competitors. Clients need to understand the real you so they can decide if your company is one they wish to work with.
One clear way to do this is by flaunting your style and personality. Make sure your materials are all clearly branded and have a consistent tone of voice. For example if you want to promote your college, merely showcasing your course programmes may fail to make you stand out from the crowd. Blend in a little fun by sharing photos of students enjoying social activities. Add in some inspiration by using former-student testimonials to explain what jobs they now hold. Then your potential students will see all that you have to offer and how you run your college – helping to decide if you are the right place for them.
- How Much Is Enough?
It’s unlikely that you would want to or could manage to post a new infographic daily nor host a webinar every morning. It just wouldn’t be feasible and would in fact be overload for your target market.
However short easy-to-digest communications such as a Twitter Tweet or website update are easy to do, help keep your customers informed and hopefully more engaged with what you are doing. So share content via these channels regularly.
So once you have your content ready and raring to go, make sure you clearly plan exactly how frequently you will share it via the different channels you intend to use.
The Result?
If you follow these key ways to increase your organic traffic don’t be disappointed if you don’t see overnight results. Building organic traffic takes time – so persevere. And regularly review the content you share to see if you are pandering to the right clients – easy to measure if new business keeps coming your way.