“Stop Selling Start Helping”
Zig Ziglar
The most obvious solution is often overlooked in life. The words of noted motivational speaker Zig Ziglar “ stop selling start helping” could easily be the motto for content marketing. Creating helpful content is about solving customer problems not trying to sell products or services they don’t need.
The Customer is in Control
“Our head of social media is the customer”
McDonalds
In a time where social media controls most of the online conversation brands struggle to find their voice. It is obvious brands need to listen to their customers. The customer now decides how they interpret your brand message and whether they will engage with you and more importantly buy from you.
Create Relevant Content
“What helps people helps business”
Leo Burnett
Brands need to make this decision easy for their customers. They do this by creating relevant, helpful content. Think about the journey your customer takes when deciding to purchase content. They will need to create different types of content for each stage of the journey
Show Your Brand Personality
“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”
Seth Godin
When creating helpful content a brand should also reveal its unique brand personality. You may not be able to verbalise it but you know when a brands personality appeals to you. It may be as simple as Apples stylish, creative, and people driven product design or Go Pros rough, outdoor and adventure based lifestyle. Hard to put into personality types, you do however assign a brand a definite personality in your mind.
Create Unique Content
“The secret to humour is surprise.”
Aristotle
So your brand not only needs to help your customer solve problems, it also needs to show your customers why it is unique. One way of demonstrating your brand personality is by sharing content that is both helpful and entertaining. Audiences are more likely to share content that solves problems and entertains and delights simultaneously.
Speak With an Authentic Voice
“Be Yourself. Everyone else is taken”
Oscar Wilde
Fundamental to creating helpful content is that you create an authentic online voice for your content. You will fool nobody by trying to imitate the latest trend. At best you will usually end up being a pale imitation of the original. Discover your own brand voice that reflects your brand qualities. Work with it until you are happy it will resonate with your online audience.
In a Nutshell
A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.
Michael LeBoeuf
Setting out to help your customers is critical to any online strategy. By creating content that helps those who generate your income you will inevitably find they will engage with your content. There is a reason why phrases such as “the virtuous circle”, “givers gain” and “what goes around” resonate with people. Despite being slightly cliché they do however highlight one of life’s great truths “being helpful nearly always pays off in the long run”. Brands that create helpful content inevitably get positive results.