Did you know that your audience (i.e. your target market) is made up of 3 types of people? Therefore your marketing needs to cover 3 types of content so that you can properly sell to the whole of your target market.
Or you could just post any old thing and see how it goes (winky face)
So what are these 3 types of people and what content do they need? ..
Your 3 Types of Content Explained
This is a marketing strategy I have stuck to for 2 years now and it works. It help you keep your content goal orientated and it gives you direction on what you should be posting month to month.
HOT AUDIENCE: Purchase content | Conversion time: 0-30 days
This should include:
Sales posts about your service
What you do
Who you do it for
Why you are the best
How much you cost
Promotions, offers and launches
These are the people who know, like and trust you (i.e. your current and previous clients, friends and family). These guys will take very little convincing buying from you, if they need what you've got, so you can shower them with sales posts and they will love you for it.
WARM AUDIENCE: Consideration content | Conversion time: 30 + days
This should include:
Portfolio and latest work
Reviews
Case studies
Stats on your business success
Tips, advice and quick wins
Your story and why you started your business
Latest business news, promotions and launches
These are the people who already like you and know your an expert, which is why they follow and subscribe to you, but they haven't committed to buying from you yet, so they need more convincing on the trust. So you need to demonstrate other people have loved working with you and you are actually successful at what you do. It makes you more desirable - but always come from a genuine need to support your target market.
COLD AUDIENCE: Awareness content | Conversion time: 90 + days (expect up to one year)
These are the people who have no idea that you exist yet (i.e. the rest of your target market who you are yet to find you). So you need to make it easy for these guys to find you and get your business in front them with awareness content.
Answer specific FAQs from your target market in blog posts / podcasts / videos and most importantly make sure your content uses long tail keywords for SEO to get found on Google. This is content is not about selling your business but showcasing your knowledge and expertise. Knowing your target market, niching down and using the exact language your audience would use is essential to get found online and grow your audience.
Check out my 15 Awareness Content Template Titles to get you started ..
What does this tell us?
So this tells us that when we have a HOT audience we can sell more easily than if we are starting from scratch and have only a COLD audience. (i.e. no one at all).
And if you are feeling a dip in business or if you are launching a new service or product, approaching your hot or warm audience will be the first thing you should be doing.
MARKETING TIP: continuously grow your mailing list, which is your WARM audience, to make selling easier in the long run
How to Approach Each Audience and Market your Business
Hot Audience (one to one)
Direct emails, phone calls, meetings, texts and WhatsApp
Warm Audience (one to one or one to many)
High value social media content, email marketing, blog posts, podcasts, webinars, lead magnets, speaking, press, re-targeted ads
Cold Audience (one to many)
High value social media content, blog posts, podcasts, networking, email marketing, guest content, speaking, books / publications, Google / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn ads
Personal Content: should you or shouldn't you?
You don't have to share personal stuff - in fact, I wouldn't advise it because I think it's irrelevant. But I do advise that your content has a personal 'feel' to it. What I mean is to put your personal spin on your content:
your brand voice and how you talk to your target market
your brand vibe and how your content looks, including using photography with your face in it
This will help people get to know you and trust you more quickly.
Other personal content ideas that are good for business can be:
Share a business win or loss for support engagement
Prepare something for an Awareness Day that means something to you
Share a 'day in the life' of your business
Share a photo of where you work
Post your business related opinions or a relevant quote
Talk about your personal journey as a business owner and your 'why'
Share 'personal' content that resonates with your target market but make sure it has relevance to what you do in your business.
How to Plan Your Content
Sorry to say but there is no set ratio of Type of Content / to Days of the Week (i.e. it's not like, 1 post of Sales content, 2 posts of Consideration content and 3 posts of Awareness content per week, every week for infinity).
This all comes down to what type of audience you have and what you are trying to sell. If you are a new business and only have a cold audience, then a majority of your posts will be Awareness and Sales content. But if you have a hot audience and you are launching a new promotion, you can go ahead and just post Sales content.
Your business is fluid, and so is your content.
TOP TIP: don't get hung up on one type of content for too long because you can freeze yourself out if you focus too much on your cold audience or you can get people hot with anger if all you do is SELL! SELL! SELL!
Take your strategy month by month. It's all about balance.
WHAT NOW?
If you like what you've just read, this is your personal invitation to join my newsletter mailing list for more tips and advice about web designs, brand design, marketing and my honest experience on what it's like to be a small business owner ..
BIG KISSES
Claire x