OK people, it’s time for some real talk. Never in the history of business has content creation been so important. Gone are the days where you can simply create a cracking product and send it out into the world.
Customers want to engage. They want a real story, they want community and they want connection. So as business owners, we need to stop asking, “Why is content creation so important?” Instead, we need to ask why authentic content creation matters.
First, let’s go back to basics for a moment. Before we can address authenticity in content creation, we need to talk about why content is necessary. In short, your website needs content for three reasons:
- to tell your brand’s story
- to be found by search engines
- to create good customer experiences.
Let’s oversimplify and call these reasons Storytelling, SEO and Experiences. Here’s why each of these activities is essential in your business, and the role content plays in each one…
Today’s customers want to connect with the brands they support. It’s as simple as that. Have you heard the term ‘decision fatigue’? It’s what happens when people have so many options that variety turns into overwhelm.
To help your customers avoid that overwhelm, you need to think about creating compelling narratives for your products.
If you tell it well, your interesting origin story or sustainability pledge can become the main factor in helping your overwhelmed customer to make their decision.
To ensure this outcome, your storytelling needs to:
- firstly, make your customer feel like they’re part of your brand’s story
- only then convince your customer to buy from you
There’s no point in creating a great product and writing fantastic content if no one will ever see it. That’s why you need to keep search engine optimisation (SEO) at the front of your mind when you create your website content.
You could read for hours about SEO – and if you’re creating content for a website, you absolutely should! But optimising for search engines is actually quite simple when you boil it down.
You basically need to:
- identify the keywords or phrases your potential customers are searching for
- create a bunch of great content that features those phrases
- rinse and repeat – the more content you create with SEO in mind, the higher you’ll rank in your customers’ related searches.
If you’re serious about creating content for SEO, check out these articles:
When we talk about content marketing, what we’re really talking about is creating a great customer experience.
For example, if you sell baby products, offering a newsletter or blog post about parenting hacks creates a positive experience. And your subscribers will start to associate that experience with your brand.
Winning, right?
One of the main reasons that content marketing is so important right now is the amount of platforms brands are expected to be present on. From social media to newsletters, there have never been more opportunities to connect with your audience; but that’s why it’s overwhelming for them and for you.
So now you know why creating content is necessary. The problem is that you can’t just create any old content and expect it to tell your story or generate great experiences for your customers.
To do that, your content needs to be authentic. Here’s why that’s so important…
Authenticity is essential because today’s consumers want more than just a great product. They also want a relationship with the brands they buy from.
That’s why creating and fostering positive relationships should be your single-most important factor as you consider your content creation strategy.
We’ve found that the most effective way to create lasting relationships with our clients is by having authentic conversations with them. And having authentic conversations starts with finding your brand’s authentic voice.
So how do you find your authentic voice? Start with three simple questions.
- What’s your brand’s ‘why’?
- What problems can you solve for your customers?
- What type of content do you do well?
In business, it’s easy to focus so much on strategy and growth that you stop thinking – let alone talking – about WHY you’re doing it all in the first place.
Keeping your ‘why’ at the forefront of your content marketing strategy will help to ground everything you create in that ‘why’. So, for example, if your company exists to provide busy mums with healthier meal options, make sure all your content works towards that goal too.
Are the people who buy your offerings searching for entertainment, information, transformation, community or escapism? Or do they perhaps want some combination of those options?
Regardless, once you identify how what you sell helps your customers, start creating content that reflects what they’re looking for! If this sounds simple, it’s because it is.
From recipes to printables to daily stock market summaries: there’s no limit to how your content can strategically help your customers in their day-to-day lives.
What kind of content are the people who work for you good at creating? It might be designing a What Potato Chip are You? quiz, or writing a weekly spotlight column on local artists. Whatever it is, as long as you’re confident you can do it well, go for it!
If something feels unnatural or like a stretch, however, chances are that it’s not the right direction for you. As a result, it’s likely to come across as inauthentic.
So, for example, if you’re a great photographer, then by all means, run your own Instagram. But if your pictures are pretty average, either outsource or choose a different type of content.
Your customers want more than just a great product from you. They also want you to connect and build a genuine relationship with them. Content creation can help you to do this through:
- brand storytelling
- SEO
- customer experiences.
However, if your content is going to do all these things, it needs to be authentic, which – in turn – means it needs to:
- reflect your ‘why’
- solve genuine problems for your customers
- be in a form you do well.
And if all of this seems a little too much to get your head around? Let us create your content for you.
