Knowing how, and where, to attract your dream clients can feel elusive to most entrepreneurs. The “if you build it, they will come” philosophy doesn’t always hold up and, unfortunately, most entrepreneurs learn this the hard way! However, there is one strategy that does work when applied correctly and that strategy is: content.
Crafting the right content for your audience is critical to your overall success.
Engaging blog posts, videos, live streams and downloads can draw your potential clients in and help them feel as though they are in the right place. Aligned content can provide them with the “taste test” they need to move from prospect to customer confidently.
Let’s take a look at the steps required to take your content from boring to soaring.
Step #1 - Cozy Up to Your Customers
The first thing you need to do is understand who your prospects are and what they want. Not all people are created equal so what works in your business may not work in mine and vice versa.
The best way to figure out what people want, content-wise, is to look at your audience and do some research to figure out where they are. If you already have a content strategy, use data from your current content systems to determine which is performing the best. For some, that may be your blog or newsletter, for others, it’s social media.
Jot the following platforms down on a sheet of paper and rank them in order of most engaged to least engaged:
Blog
Newsletters / Monthly Content or Broadcasts
Videos
Podcasts
Audiobooks
Social Media platforms
The second best way to figure out what works is to survey your audience. You can use a survey tool to send a questionnaire to your list and your social media networks. Keep the survey short and sweet and ask questions like, “Where do you do most of your online content consumption?” or “Where do you spend most of your time online?”
Understanding your prospect’s behaviors, and their preferred consumption style, will help you to narrow your efforts in on what works.
Step #2 - Determine Your Own Level of Commitment
Creating content is hard work and is incredibly time consuming. Since we can’t create content for every platform, every day and maintain a high degree of quality, we need to be much more selective about where we spend our time.
Ask yourself the following questions:
How many hours can I, realistically speaking, put into content creation?
Which mediums are the easiest for me to create content for?
What am I willing, and able, to create on a regular schedule?
Because consistency is key in content marketing, the most effective content to share is the one that you will consistently create. Consistency is how you build trust with your potential clients and generate the connections necessary for business.
Step #3 - Figure Out Your Posting Schedule
Once you know the platform you’re going to create for, based on your prospect’s preferences, and you’ve created a schedule that you can easily commit to, the next step is to jot down a posting schedule so that you can stick to it.
In most cases, a weekly schedule works best for most people (i.e.: 1 blog post per week, 1 newsletter per week, 5 social media updates per week, etc.) but you need to find the balance that works for you.
Also remember that different platforms have a shorter shelf-life for content. Choose the platforms where you are able to remain consistent in order to gain traction.
Prioritize your content schedule so your potential clients get in the habit of hearing from you — and get excited about what you are sharing!
One of the ways to get them excited is to ensure that your content is valuable, inspiring, relevant, actionable and specific (VIRAS). Read more about the VIRAS approach to content marketing here.
Step #4 - Determine Your Content Focus
What are the top struggles your perfect-fit clients have right now? Those solutions are a great place to start with content creation.
What are the problems people are coming into your practice with —and how do they feel after they’re resolved? That’s a great way to feature the transformation your services provide.
What are the results that your clients and customers have received from your signature offers? Divide those results into how-to articles and create content that walks them through the process of getting those results.
If you are just beginning to create a content strategy, you may need to get a high level overview of your existing content. Run everything through the VIRAS test and eliminate anything that is off-brand or irrelevant to your current work.
Questions + Taking It Further
If you have any questions about the first four steps, please leave them as a comment below or pop on over to join the discussion in the Kula, an incredible group of Conscious Female Entrepreneurs.
