Did you know 90% of mustard is left on the side of the plate? Today, if your content isn’t relevant, you could be left there too. In this webinar, we crack how people consume and snack on information so that your content will hit-the-mark and your brand won’t be forgotten.

Another great turnout, and a terrific subject. Much thanks to Nick Kellet of List.ly for presenting the three-webinar series, and to the attendees for participating.

When people search for information, they aren’t looking to learn anything new. They are searching for a solution to their immediate problem. The adage is true that it takes 15-20 touches to convert a customer. So wouldn’t it be faster to create those touches by distributing your content through different social-media platforms?

In A Nutshell, It Works Like This:

If you think of the subject you want to be seen as an authority and expert in, then creating a “body of work” around that subject matter is what will help you earn that “authority” reputation. Oftentimes, this starts as an overall “guide” that lays it all out. But as we learned on the webinar, it will be way too much for anyone to consume. Sure, once they understand the basic ideas and have digested some of them, they may want your definitive work on the subject (and you’ll happily provide it in exchange for their information). But how do you garner interest in the subject on a broad scale with your audience?

One really great way to do that is by creating “bite-sized” chunks of information that can be distributed across social media platforms, including your blog, and webinars that you can host on individual subjects. The more places you have small focused pieces of content for consumers to snack on, the more they will keep coming back to you, and likely eventually download your overall “guide”, and perhaps even become your customer.

Understand WHO Your Customer Is – Then Give Them What They’re Hungry for.

Remember, people are only “snacking” on the information out there, so you want to create the content they choose to snack on. If you put out content that focuses on the problems you solve in the words your consumers use, you’re going to be the one that is found first. This means they will circle back to you as a trusted source.

Social Proof and Curation – you don’t have to author everything

One important note is that people today rely mostly on SOCIAL PROOF, instead of Google. This means that instead of worrying about where you come up on Google rankings, focus on becoming a trusted industry expert by creating and CURATING content. By doing this, you will generate a body of work that will position you in the consumer’s mind as more credible and reliable.

So how do you start becoming a trusted industry expert?

Step 1: Solve beginning, early-stage problems for your target market. One of the problems companies have when developing content for their consumers, is they assume their consumers are more sophisticated about their product than they actually are. YOU’RE THE EXPERT! Remember that. You’re the brand expert and your consumer is not. So when you set out to solve beginning problems, keep them simple and basic.

Step 2: Don’t be product or “me” focused, aim to be educational. “Search is a mind game.” You must get inside their heads and understand what they are looking for. Ideas for content that might serve your audience could include how-to information, tips & tricks, quickstart guides, a list of competitors, and many more. The key is that your content must be useful. Seek to answer the questions that your potential customers have, and become a reference for them.

Step 3: Utilize all of the social networks and media platforms at your disposal (there is a detailed list on the webinar at 16:14 minutes in – check it out). The key to being found content-wise is through distributing across a wide array of media platforms.   Don’t forget the power of being referenced and shared by others!

This can be the most daunting step in the entire process. 

Step 4: We live in a self-service world. By the time people are ready to buy, they have already done the research and made their decision. Isn’t that they way you buy things? We research to equip ourselves with the information we need to make a decision.

Think about an example in your life. When you find something that matches a conversation you’ve got going on, you pull it up and read it. So remember, your content needs to reflect what your consumers are saying or thinking. Use their language you’ll be able to get found by them before your competitors. Check out our blog post on Personas– we’ve got a quickstart guide that will help you get inside your consumer’s head.

We have had such a great time hosting these webinars, and listening to Nick’s thoughts throughout these last few weeks. We encourage you to watch the videos on YouTube (also embedded on this blog), or listen to the audio from the webinars that we posted on Soundcloud. And of course, if you like them, give us a thumbs up or a like – or follow us on these media platforms.  

If you haven’t watched the first two webinars in the series, you’ll want to check them out:

No Such Thing As Social Media?

Turning Lurkers Into Leads

I invite you to give us feedback about what has worked for you, and what you have learned from these webinars. I encourage you to explore. It never hurts to try out new media platforms or social networks (there are tons of options!) and see how they can positively effect the engagement of the people you would love to reach.