You’ve probably been hearing all about online content creation strategies for the last few years, and you might be wondering if that’s still a crucial part of promoting your business online. The internet's high rate of change continues to disrupt marketplaces. And daily, new technology advances how we do just about everything.
But here’s the thing: content still works best.3 Ways You Can Use Online Content to Boost Your Business
Content doesn’t just power your marketing strategy. Content helps your sales team to close more deals. In addition, your customer service department can use online content to more quickly and thoroughly help current clientele.
In essence, content is the master key to growing all facets of your business. Here's how you can use it:1. Create Consistent Content for Marketing Purposes
Content is the fuel for your inbound marketing strategy. Carefully copywritten blogs, email series, social media posts and website sales pages help to attract potential customers to your website through the use of search engine optimization (SEO).
Publishing content on all these platforms multiple times a month is what keeps your brand front and centre in the minds of potential clients. When you write a killer blog post, it’s important to promote it through email and social media, because although SEO will do some of the heavy lifting, you need to use the other channels to drive traffic to your website.
But most importantly, content marketing allows prospects and customers to self-serve information. Gone are the days of guarding your sales tools and presentations. Nowadays it’s all about being transparent. Because just like customers need the option to have a self-check-out in brick and mortar shops, you need to have all the questions and options online for a customer to make their way from the entrance to your metaphorical shop, to the check-out.
And to that point, don’t just think about content that helps people make a decision to use your product or services. You need to be answering the questions they have before they’re even AWARE that they have a problem. How do you do that? With detailed buyer personas and buyer's journey maps. Don’t know how to do that? Ask us.
2. Help Your Sales Team Sell More, Better, by Providing them with Content
Not only does a content strategy get your company and brand out in front of a greater audience, but it also continues to work for you well after it has been written. Quality content can educate and solve problems for your ideal clients. Blog posts and social media content can even act as the top of your sales funnel, warming up your leads for you.
When you are selling in a B2B environment, your clients are going through multiple life cycle stages before they consider a purchase:
- Awareness (Lead)
- Consideration (MQL)
- Decision (SQL)
Do you have online content that your sales team can use at each of those stages? Simply having access to pieces of content that help a prospect work through the life cycle stages can dramatically speed up your sales cycle.
In particular, if you have a longer sales cycle (most B2Bs or products that retail for $500+), content will help your potential clients progress closer to a purchasing decision.
Most sales teams are doing this leg work manually, and spending 68% of their time on administrative tasks, rather than connecting with potential clients that are ready to close. You can use a CRM like HubSpot to put systems and software in place that keep track of where leads are in the sales pipeline, and let your sales team work with warm leads, operating in their zone of genius.
FYI: automation can help you to send out information in the correct order and at the right time, as buyers make their way through the process. Don’t know how to do that? Contact us.
3. Create Content Specifically on Customer Service
Help current customers feel the love with service-based content. Going back to our self-serve concept from marketing, customers expect to use the internet to address common issues with your product or service instead of having to ask someone else and wait for a response.
Your customers want to search online for a question and find an answer that helps them solve their problem, rather than calling a customer service line. When you have all the content ready to go on your blog and FAQ pages, or on a Knowledge Base, you’re making it easier for them, creating better brand trust and loyalty.
Save customer service lines for more detailed and unique problems so you don’t clutter the lines. Avoid people waiting on hold for answers that could have been quickly found through search engines.
Creating content that helps to gather your customer’s feedback not only helps you to improve customer service in the future, but it can also be used to write case studies, award applications and content that allows you to celebrate your clients. It’s a total win when you can promote your company and your clients at the same time.
Word of mouth referrals are powerful. Turn your customers into raving fans by valuing their feedback, providing excellent customer service, and continuing the care with content tailored to them.
Bonus Tip: Use Online Content to Measure Your Success
When you’re creating content and using intelligent user-approved tracking tools, you can also leverage that content to measure your success.
Want to know if a Closed Won deal took up too many company resources to deliver operationally? You can track that with content.
Want to know what tools your customers are most interested in so you can help them make a better purchase? You can track that with content!
Want to know which sales tools resonate most with your customers and help a client choose you over other options? You got it! Content is your vessel to measure, learn and improve.
Are your competitors doing that already? Ask us, we’ll tell you how to sharpen your sword faster. And yes, we’ll do that for free.
Make Sure Your Content is Working For You
Content is critical to the bottom line of your business. If you aren’t sure where improvements could be made in your content strategy, consider reaching out to an expert growth agency for an assessment and a proven plan to move the needle on your business.
