Know Your Enemy; it is a disinterested buyer
I had never conceptualized content marketing as a war. Its not the first metaphor that comes to mind. But it makes sense, as marketing is about fighting for mindshare.
The disinterested buyer: Its a simple truth that marketers know and work from, regardless of the strategies that are being employed to achieve a particular goal. The problem of navigating Google is largely technical. Dealing with your competitors is strategic. But the lifeblood of any company is moving prospects and buyers along a spectrum from a state of complete indifference to one of enough desire to take action. Content marketing is a very effective tool for doing just that.
What causes indifference to brands?
In order to understand why were combatting the disinterested buyer archetype, its helpful to take a closer look at why buyers are indifferent in the first place. Some of it is common sense. Were bombarded by messages all day long. Most of them are poorly targeted, and by aiming to be cute, simply succeed in being annoying (this is the classic Madison Avenue vs. direct mail argument). By failing to make a connection between what viewers care about and the solutions that they offer, marketers have, in large part, contributed to this sense of noise that happens. Its the endless noise of advertising that obscures the high-quality and relevant messages that are out there, and that consumers would actually be interested in.
As a result, instead of being on the lookout for helpful solutions or products theyll love, most consumers approach advertising from a defensive position. Youre up against conceptions like:
Stop interrupting my day
You have no right to contact me
Selling is bad/smarmy/dishonest
All advertisements or other vehicles for selling contain lies
This product has nothing to do with me
Even if it has to do with me, how do I know that it has the right quality?
Businesses that sell arent to be trusted
And so forth. When considered in this context, potential buyers are at best indifferent and at worst downright hostile. Its up to a smart marketer to develop a strategy that takes this context and reality into account, and then brings to bear the best strategies for persuasion to help reach your target audience.
Overcoming indifference
There are multiple factors in overcoming buyer indifference. If taken in opposition to the objections listed above, you quickly develop a short list thats a pretty good proxy for what consumers care about:
The art of building relationships with prospects and customers
Permission marketing, or always getting their permission before interrupting their day (to a point)
Always acting with integrity, and becoming a trusted and valued resource
Focusing your content on providing value in a truthful way
Staying relevant, by knowing your market and relentlessly getting in front of the right people
Using proof such as testimonials, social numbers, and other factors to consistently demonstrate your high quality
Branding and Indifference
Building a brand is all about overcoming indifference. A solid brand moves your product or service from a position of invisibility to one thats front of mind. A brand is simply a shorthand for the qualities that I listed above. If a product or service comes under the umbrella of a brand, it carries a stamp of trust. The trust can imply anything products of good quality, excellent customer service, a luxury experience, quick turnaround times, or anything else that the customer values.
Content marketing plays an important role in helping to build your brand. Specifically, content marketing is one of the most effective ways to both expand your audience and create a body of reference material that helps position your brand. Whatever your unique value proposition might be, that can become front and center for your audience for the materials that you create.
If youre new to content marketing or just looking for resources on how to get started with a content marketing strategy, here are some resources I recommend:
So what are the implications for content marketers, with these tenets of good content marketing in mind?
Bold and Hold Grab and Keep Your Readers Attention
With the idea of the white noise of advertising in mind, it quickly becomes clear that even the best relevant and well-branded product needs to find a way to grab the customers attention. There are many ways to do this with content marketing. Here are some approaches to consider:
With great copywriting, and headlines that are so on point that they kick the prospect in the gut and wont let go
By being in exactly the right place where your prospect goes to get information related to his or her problem, issue, or desire
With great design, graphics, videos, and other visual elements that stand out in a way that speaks directly to your audience
By clearly and crisply demonstrating its unique selling proposition or value proposition to the reader, immediately.
So Whats In It For Me: How To Speak Directly To Your Audience
One of the core facets of great inbound marketing is knowing your audience. Its true of any kind of marketing, but especially critical when youre creating content thats speaking directly to your prospects. There are a number of different ways to get to know your customers. Mine your existing data. Talk to your sales people. Conduct customer surveys, focus groups, and one on one interviews. Develop a list of the websites, publications, experts, podcasts, and other resources that are central to your audience and follow them. Employ social listening. If alls fair in love and war, consider that its okay to dig deep to get to know your customers. Heres a quick list of the basics of a good customer profile:
Demographic info: gender, age, marital status, income, location, etc.
Buying data: what they buy, how much they spend, how frequently they buy, if they buy online or in person, are they researchers or impulse buyers, etc.
Biggest issues, problems, concerns, or desires: What underlying problem or desire is driving them to seek out a product or service similar to your solution?
Language: What terms do they use to describe their issue? How do they frame the solution? Can you uncover a micro-vocabulary of terms that will resonate with your ideal prospects? This alone can be gold when crafting your SEO strategy.
Where they spend time: What channels do they use to get their information? Do they like to read books, skim blogs, or listen to the radio? What do they do for fun?
Who do they trust: Where do they go to get information on this topic? Who do they trust? For example, if its a health product are they talking to a Harvard-trained physician or to a local energy healer? Who they trust is a key differentiator in how youll select, position, and present your proof elements.
The more closely your audience profile aligns with your actual prospects, the more effective your content will be. Test your ideas against this profile. Would this resonate with your most important customer? If so, youve gone a long way toward cutting through the noise. For further reading on gathering information about your target audience, see these articles:
Deliver the Highest Level of Value Possible
Many advertisers fail because theyre asking for something without creating any value for the customer first. A major pitfall that many ads and content falls into is talking about the business in a generic We have 10 years of experience with XYZ, etc. etc. The focus moves from establishing credibility, to the content equivalent of the cocktail guest that talks about himself for an hour without coming up for air. It fails to talk about the customer, and as a result is quickly relegated to the noise category. Creating value is a bit of a buzzword, but the central premise is spot on. If you give value to customers and prospects, theyll come to trust you. When theyre interested in a particular topic, whether its the latest Kardashian gossip or how to grow a green lawn, youll be their first stop.
Its a fine line for many businesses to walk between delivering value and not giving everything away for free. You shouldnt be afraid to charge for your products or services. But you want to make sure that your content strategy supports your efforts to get the word out there about your quality and expertise. This could be done through interviews on a podcast, a blog, or any of a number of different content channels. Spend time determining how your audience defines value and find creative ways to give that to them.
Back Up Your Claims with Solid Proof
Building trust relies on the ability to show people that you deliver what you promise. Many advertisements and gurus make bold claims without offering anything to back up that assertion. The trick then is to give your audience the kind of proof that speaks to them. Some of the most common types of proof include expert endorsements, independent evaluations, testimonials, and social media numbers. The more that you can show prospective customers that other people trust your business, the more likely you are to stand out to a disinterested customer.
Theres another layer or level to the proof discussion, however. Many marketers make the mistake of simply piling on the proof in a way thats impossible to really sift through. Some customers may be impressed by 200 testimonials, but theyre unlikely to read them, as I covered in-depth in my article Why Testimonials are Important for Online Marketing.
Its important to determine what kinds of proof truly motivate your prospects. For some people, a brand or expert endorsement may be critical while others will respond only to testimonials from customers like themselves. Investing in understanding this subtle but important detail about your customers will enable you to rise above the noise with a truly persuasive pitch.
Build Relationships Over Time and Nurture Leads With Content
Another advantage of content marketing is that it focuses on building relationships with prospects over time. Instead of being an intrusive voice in their day, youre someone thats been invited into their life through newsletters, podcasts, social media updates, or some other format. By regularly producing content that showcases your expertise, you cultivate both trust and relationships. Since I think this is a fairly obvious point, Ill just say two things to bear in mind about crafting your content strategy:
Think about content as a drip: its better to send a smart newsletter once a week, than to bombard a prospect with too much information in a single day. Build content strategies that roll out over time while maintaining their quality and focus.
Think about your content vis-vis your sales funnel: Customers at different stages of the learning process require different content types. As a result, youre likely to find that the most effective strategies build content for customers ranging from the loosest prospects in the research phase to returning customers that you can upsell. Make sure to look at your content strategy through this lens.
As Milanovic wisely says, the content marketers biggest enemy is the disinterested buyer. What steps has your company taken with your content strategy to win over this important, yet daunting demographic?
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