How to Create Value Based Content Marketing

Business

There was a moment during Thanksgiving dinner when I dropped my fork, wiped my mouth with a Pilgrim-inspired napkin, and closed my eyes.  It was all I could do before giving into the urge of climbing across the table to strangle my brother.  

Sounds dramatic, right?
Well, when you hail from a large, crazy Latino family, the urge to drop-kick a sibling is the norm.  Yes, we drive each other bananas, but we allow love (and Pilgrim-inspired napkins) to calm us.
juarez-96
I hope your holiday dinner was just as memorable.
 
Last week I shared How to Become a Social Influencer, and received a flurry of emails asking to outline how to create value-driven content.
 

I believe the best type of marketing is helpful content that shows off your perspective/insight/knowledge.

So often I see marketing that takes the form of…

  • I am a photographer, these are photos I capture.
  • I am a graphic designer, these are my designs.
  • I am a baker, these are cakes I bake.

But I suggest creating content less about your business, and more focused on your customer’s needs.

But HOW?

The goal is to create valuable content for your customers. So who is your customer?

Put yourself in her shoes and think of what she might be searching for.  What does she need help with?  Now it's your job to write helpful content to answer her questions.

For example, if you're a graphic designer, valuable content might be:

  • How to design a business card
  • The best fonts to use in a logo
  • Three tips to design your first website
Let's take this example further: if you wrote a blog post/hosted a podcast/created a video for How to Create a Business Card, you’d create content that is helpful, content rich and valuable (proper size, leaving room for printing, common mistakes people make, etc).

You’re not going to walk customers through step-by-step, but you’d be able to show off your expertise as a graphic designer, as as well as examples of your past client work and talk about what makes cards really special (this just highlights your work in an educational capacity).

The goal of creating valuable content is to position you as a professional.
Content marketing is all about educating customers in good faith and highlights your business along the way.
Customers don’t feel SOLD to…they feel guided…they feel like they can trust you.This type of marketing is precisely what you need to attract the right customers and builds your business in the process.
Now it's time for an assignment: create a value-driven blog post/podcast/video this week to start building your marketing efforts.
I can't wait to see what's in store!