If you've ever been faced with an endless list of content marketing topics and wondered where to start, you're not alone. The abundance of choices can make it difficult to decide where to focus your energy.
Your content marketing strategy, as well as the topics you select, can either propel your business to success or leave it stagnant. We have helped numerous businesses develop content marketing strategies that establish them as the authority in their industry, while also teaching them how to leverage their content to drive traffic, build trust with their audience, shorten sales cycles, and ultimately increase revenue. Some of our clients have generated millions in additional revenue using this approach.
In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about choosing high-impact content marketing ideas that attract the right leads to your website, shorten your sales cycle, and generate revenue for your business. This includes understanding the main goal of your content marketing topics, tips for selecting the right topics, and common mistakes to avoid.
By following these guidelines, you can stop guessing which topics will benefit your business the most and avoid wasting time on unproductive content creation. Instead, you can select topics that drive the most traffic, leads, and sales for your business.
To ensure that your content marketing efforts are highly effective, every topic you choose must have one specific goal: to educate potential buyers.
Whether it is a blog post that explains your services or a video that demonstrates how to make a purchase on your website, there are several reasons why your content needs to educate buyers in some way:
When your content utilizes subject-matter experts who showcase their industry knowledge, your business establishes itself as a thought leader in your field. This builds trust with buyers, who only purchase from businesses they trust. This is why we advise companies to leverage the SMEs they already have on their team to educate buyers about what they do.
Creating content that educates prospects about difficult topics that your competitors avoid discussing (such as cost or your competitors themselves) shows that your business is comfortable tackling any "elephants in the room." This also builds trust with prospects.
Educated buyers tend to buy more than uneducated ones. They are easier to guide through your sales funnel and are more likely to close deals. Moreover, the way you educate them can even shorten your sales cycle.
Too often, people write content about their industry that attracts an audience who have no intention of making a purchase. Although interesting and entertaining topics are fun to read and write about, they rarely drive revenue.
Instead of publishing generic topics about your offerings, focus on topics that help people make informed purchase decisions.
Money talk
Most businesses tend to avoid discussing costs on their websites for various reasons:
They think that custom matters only.
Even if your solutions are customized, they still come with a price. If you cannot provide a definitive cost, provide a ballpark estimate. Any information is better than none.
They afraid to inform competitors.
Chances are your competitors are already aware of your pricing. Furthermore, do not let your competition dictate what you share with your prospects online. Focus on your buyers and their needs exclusively.
They don't want to scare custom.
Sharing information about the cost of your products or services does not scare away customers. However, withholding such information might. Your prospects know that you have the answers, and if you do not share this information with them, they will perceive it as withholding information and lose trust in your business.
If you are not willing to address cost-related questions and explain how factors such as materials, production, and location affect your pricing (in essence, explaining the marketplace to your buyers), they will never comprehend what goes into your process and will always look for the cheapest option.
Problem questions
All companies face inquiries about issues with their offerings. While it would be ideal to present our business as flawless, that is never the reality. Customers are already aware of this fact.
To remain competitive, we can either choose to address any concerns that customers may have about our products and services, or we can let our competitors handle it. By proactively acknowledging any potential problems that our customers might encounter, we become part of the dialogue, and this transparency is appreciated by our clients. Ultimately, building trust is paramount.
Competition is what they want
As consumers, one of our favorite activities is comparing our options before making a purchase.
However, many businesses feel uneasy discussing their competitors as it requires them to acknowledge their existence. Nevertheless, your potential customers are interested in how your offerings stack up against others, so it's crucial to address them.To effectively discuss this topic and foster trust with your buyers - which is ultimately the goal of any business - it's essential to remain impartial and present both the positives and negatives of each option.
To avoid appearing biased and losing credibility, it's essential to list options and discuss competitors without including your own business on the list. Creating a "best of" list might be tempting, but your prospects can easily tell that you wrote it, and including your own business makes you seem untrustworthy.
Instead, provide information about your competition without going into too much detail. You can end with a brief mention of your own offerings, such as, "By the way, we offer these pools as well, and here's what sets us apart."
Articles that take this approach demonstrate a genuine interest in helping customers and prioritizing their needs over making a profit. Few things in business are as trustworthy as this level of transparency and customer-centric focus.
