You need to create content that’s unique-enough to create thought-leadership and compel organic sharing, but also make it relevant-enough to improve key marketing and business metrics.
Step #1: What are Your Customer’s Problems and Obstacles?
The best business content is focused on addressing your customer’s problems, while positioning (explicitly or implicitly) your company, product and service as the solution.
What’s in it for them? Why should people need your widget at all?
The best way to get this information is straight from the customers themselves. Start with short surveys that ask people what their main objectives are and what’s stopping or preventing them. Then follow up personally to dig deeper and find out their existing process for improvement, or other struggles they’re experiencing.
People don’t purchase features or deliverables — they’re purchasing an outcome or end result.
The key here is to be as specific as possible. Don’t stop at the general cliches like “waste time and money”, because that’s what everyone else says. And the more potential customer segments you have, the vastly different motivators you’ll need to uncover.
These categories relate to how your product specifically improves customer’s lives. And it establishes thought leadership while improving your brand positioning without directly referring to your product.
You need a fluid, flexible way to keep track of new topic ideas, responsibility and projected dates.
Hook/Lead: Build interest and anticipation through using an anecdote, intrigue , a surprising fact or humor.
Keep paragraphs shorter than 5 sentences, and don’t be afraid to write informally with simple words.