The demand generation process is largely driven by content. The adage of “content is king” still rings true today and will likely continue to ring true for decades to come. However, it is the subtleties of content that shape ensuing demand generation or lack thereof. Let’s unlock the power of online content to generate demand.
Effective Content Addresses Needs and Demands
The best online content provides solutions for problems as well as desires. Whether the target audience is a business or a person, the manner in which the online content expresses the solutions to those challenges matters most.
Highly effective online content is presented in an artful manner, articulating how the solution in question solves the target audience’s problem. Communicate the merit of the value offering in the context of the customer or business’s hurdles and you’ll generate ensuing demand.
Focus on Customer Education
Demand generation requires customer education about the product, service or other value proposition. In some cases, the customer is unaware of the problem. In other cases, the customer acknowledges the problem yet is unaware of how the product or service helps overcome that hurdle, carving out the perfect avenue for the introduction of the product/service.
Content marketing communicates the value of the offering with captivating language, embedded videos and outbound links, helping the customer understand how the product or service makes life or work better. Ideally, content communicates a story that the reading audience can relate to.
Invest some time and effort in creating thematic elements for the presentation of information in story form with a clear beginning, middle and end that the target audience identifies with and it won’t be long until that content spurs demand.
Comprehensive Content Generates Demand
A brief snippet or abbreviated blog post will only partially engage readers. Demand is generated through a multipronged approach including:
- Blog posts
- Editorials
- Social media
- Statistics
- Reports
- Whitepapers
Inundating the audience with information has the potential to overwhelm them. Rolling it out piece by piece in a measured and strategic manner makes the optimal impact. Continue to slowly expose your target audience to diverse content and you’ll gradually gain credibility, fortifying relationships for mutual benefit.
If you don’t have the financial wherewithal necessary to conduct studies or create content on your own, don’t give up. Citing outside studies or tapping into the expertise of an affordable content creator will help engage the audience and generate demand.
Expand the Audience to Generate Demand
Publishing content with your existing audience in mind will only take your business so far. Continued demand generation requires expansion to new audiences through diverse channels. Do some research to pinpoint the location of your audience on the web, target those places of congregation and continue to roll out new content to create organic demand generation.
Ideally, points of exposure will extend from social media to online discussion forums, your own blog, editorials and even other blogs where you contribute guest posts.
Embed Video Into Your Online Content
A combination of content including the written word, infographics and video is more effective than text alone. Nowadays, video content extends well beyond TV. Though the ongoing analysis of TV viewership statistics is certainly important, airing the occasional commercial or even frequent commercials will likely prove ineffective.
Recognize the rapid rise of video, strategically embed videos into your blog posts, social media posts and the remainder of your online footprint and you’ll develop a rapport with that many more people. It is also in your interest to create a YouTube channel with regularly updated video content for maximum exposure.
Focus on Content That Converts
Not all online content is equal. A blog post that touches on a local event with a loose connection to your business or value offering will only slightly engage your target audience.
Alternatively, an informative look at industry innovation that focuses on how advancements have improved the value of your product or service will prove quite insightful, possibly even to the point that it motivates the reading audience to learn more about your business, industry or product/service.
Evergreen Content is the Gift That Continues to Give
Evergreen online content is timeless, meaning it continues to engage a target audience and provide value across posterity. Opt to create online content that stands the test of time as opposed to content that is unique or relevant to a certain period of time and that content will continue to drive conversions for years to come.
The best evergreen content is still relevant a decade or two after the date of publication. Timeless content drives that much more traffic to the business’s website along with the rest of its online footprint for ongoing demand generation.