7 Worthy Ambitions Every Content Marketer Should Live By

Content marketing has provided a paradigm shift for traditional marketers.

Gone are the days when all they do is stuff keywords and optimize their sites for search – now, they focus on content as the major driving force in attracting and maintaining a following.

But it’s more than just writing how-to articles or adding infographics on conventional blog posts. Content marketing must be executed with a much deeper goal than content itself, to separate those who genuinely using content from those who think they are.

A true content marketer aspires to achieve most, if not all, of the following ambitions:

1. Put the customers on a pedestal.

It’s high time that marketing content would focus on the customers more than the product – explore their pains, acknowledge their needs, and see things in their points of view.

2. Make customers smart.

Companies in industries such as telecommunications and computer hardware aim first to educate their customers on how to make their user experience become more productive. Through content, you can help overcome objections and complaints, as well as illustrate the benefits of using a product or service.

3. Bridge the gap between buyers and sellers.

It is one of the tasks of content marketers to find a common ground between companies and consumers to help them better understand each other and work out a healthy, giving relationship.

4. Attract new people.

Aside from catering the existing customers, it is also an objective to bring more people in the loop.

Prospective customers sometimes do research before deciding to buy something, and through blog /articles they can be provided with an easier path in decision making.

5. Developing new ideas.

If you’re contemplating on new business propositions or re-positioning your key products, you can use content to see how people would react to them.  

Content is a breeding ground for innovation and reaction analysis, giving you a low-risk avenue to “test the waters”.

6. Build reputation in search engines

The right way. Google no longer rewards sites that use traditional SEO tactics to gain high rankings.

They now focus on originality, relevance, and credibility. This leaves marketers with no choice but to use high quality content to build a search reputation.

7. Tell the right story.

The effectiveness of a story relies mainly on the type of audience, the timing of the post, and the approach used in conveying the message.

Whichever way a content marketer chooses to walk on, the story must be able to sell the idea. To do this, paint a picture of their lives would change by using your product or service.

They should be able to “mentally try your product on for size” to facilitate them in their buying process. Harness the power of storytelling and use it effectively.

Is Your Website Too Stiff? It May Need A Heart Transplant

As a marketer, you need to know what visitors really think when they land on your company or brand website. More often than not, these people go there looking for something, usually a solution for their problems or something else they haven’t figured out yet.

But one thing is for sure: they’re not always there to get your product or service.

It’s like going into a barber shop. You’re not there to take a look at their scissors or their combs or shampoos.  You’re there because you need a haircut. Or maybe you need to chat with the barber. It’s the emotional need of the customers that must be addressed, and if your site doesn’t manifest emotions, then it needs a working heart.

Be results-based, not features-based

When we arrive at a website, we typically see a list of amazing information about the brand. If you’re on the landing page of, say, a website for a fitness center, you might see something like this:

• Experience our new state-of-the-art treadmills made from Germany, with precision machine rollers and a 7-inch touch-screen interface!
• Work with our professional mentors trained with the most current fitness programs
• Check out our equipment corner and enjoy incredible discounts for members!

While these statements are definitely alluring, they focus more on all the good things about the gym but they do not address the customers’ primary need: to stay fit. The website must display information that encourages them to see the results – things they could benefit from using your product or service.

With the same bullet points, see how they can be rephrased based on results instead of features:

• Make your workout more efficient and fun with our new treadmills sporting precision machine rollers and a 7-inch touch-screen interface!
• Achieve optimum body fitness with the help of our highly-trained and up-to-date mentors!
• Find out how you can bring your workout to your home with our self-help equipment, with great discounts for members!

Now, doesn’t that show more heart?

Use graphics that trigger emotions, not logic

Aside from re-wording some of the words on your site, you can also change the way graphics and other visual aids are presented. Instead of simply relying on charts and infographics, you can also incorporate photos of people actually doing something, like a snapshot of your daily operations, or of people enjoying your product or services.

Doing that makes people think of the very reason they ended up on your website in the first place. Facts and numbers can only do as much as impress them; showing that your company values emotions create longer-lasting impact.