How to create content your target audience will love

You have to create content your target audience enjoys in order for your marketing platforms (i.e. emails, social, website, blog, search engines…) to attract viable leads for your small business. 

It’s not enough just to have a growing following. Within that following needs to be a target audience of people who are likely to buy what you offer. The stronger and more focused on your ideal customer your content is, the more likely it is to bring in quality leads. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you’re developing your content marketing strategy. 

Your content should reflect an authentic version of you and your brand

Honesty attracts honesty. If you want honest clients, you have to be an honest business owner. Especially if you’re a service provider. I can’t stand the overly hyped, too-perfect results content I often see from entrepreneurs. Sure, you may be amazing at what you do but no one is going to believe you’ve cracked the code on ultra awesome results without some struggle or learning along the way. 

It’s tempting in content marketing to filter everything with a level of flashiness or pretension that isn’t a true reflection of how you actually do business. Or a process of growth. Or what it’s actually like to work with you. Your audience can pick up on inauthentic or puffed up displays very easily. 

Even if you’re new to small business ownership, to content creation, or you are a couple years in and still trying to figure everything out, that’s OKAY. Being real about the stage you’re in is far more appealing to a genuine client than if they get the feeling you’re trying to cover up weaknesses. 

Rather than create a false image of your business or hype up results you can’t always guarantee, show the imperfect process alongside the occasional ideal scenario. Show your audience all sides – the wins and losses, the victories and defeats – and your admirers will appreciate you more. 

If you’re competent at what you do and showing the wins most of the time, a little vulnerability about failure or figuring something out isn’t going to dissuade a client that appreciates the full picture. And those are the clients you want.

Whew, sorry for the tangent but this one gets to me!

Start wide, then narrow it down

There are lots of types of content – educational, inspirational, behind-the-scenes, product-based, personal, etc. But as a busy entrepreneur who is likely doing a lot (or all) of this content creation yourself, who has time to cover all these buckets and do them well? Plus, your audience will probably like certain types more than others. 

This is where a 6-month plan can come in handy. It’s a great amount of time to do several types of content and see what resonates best with the types of followers you want for your business. 

Start with multiple types of content and after a few months of consistent posting and tracking data, you’ll see clear winners emerging. That’s how you know what your ideal audience wants and what you can eliminate (praise hands!)

Content marketing doesn’t end once you’ve posted

It’s important to have a gauge on what’s popular or what is falling flat with your core audience. In order to do this, you have to watch the analytics over time. Nothing is more informative and helpful than data. 

No, you don’t have to understand or crawl through mind-bending numbers to get a feel for performance. Simply track the basic numbers on your social media accounts, paid ads and website to learn what content is most popular and other helpful insights like popular post days and hours. An hour a week putting these results on a spreadsheet will save you loads of guessing and wasteful marketing going forward. 

Not everyone following you is going to love your content

I go into this in a recent blog but it’s okay to have followers leave you. The point of content marketing is to attract that smaller group within your following that’s most likely to buy from you and become loyal to your business. 

You are allowed to be picky about the content you post because you want it to resonate most with the types of followers who you want to work with or buy your product. Don’t plan your content around popularity with everyone – plan and create it according to what’s popular with the target group. And don’t spend a single moment of energy worrying what the outliers will think or if you’ll please everyone. This is key! 

In summary, content creation is about you and your perfect client. Take some risks, track the basic data, be patient enough to learn what’s working and fight the urge to please the broader audience. This is how you create content your target audience will love. 

If this helped you, I’d love a like on this post or a quick shout-out on your social platforms. Or if you have a question you’d love answered in a future blog, let me know by commenting below. I’m here to help!