Business Growth Blog

The hardest part of implementing a content marketing plan is figuring out what to write about. Companies usually begin in the self-promotional phase: they write about upcoming trade shows, new hires, case studies, and press releases. The content is very company-centric.

While it’s great to showcase the company culture, products, and services, it’s kind of boring stuff. It’s not likely to pique the interest of many new potential customers.

The most successful content marketing strategies are customer-centric. The content is written to teach, inspire, and motivate. Prospects find it interesting and helpful and become followers and evangelists for the brand. Good content helps companies build a following, generate leads, and increase sales efficiency.

Here are eight steps to help you start developing a list of relevant, highly valuable topics for your content strategy.

When I evaluate an organization's blog, I scan through their titles, topics, and articles to find out what they think is important to discuss or share. It's easy to spot company-centric content, which is information about the organization (who they are and what they do), vs. customer-centric content, which pertains directly to the concerns of the target buyer. Here is an overview of each approach, and how they relate to the sales process.

One of the biggest problems businesses face is figuring out what to say to take a prospect from “Who the heck are you?” to “I want to do business with you!”

How do you get on your prospects’ radar and capture their interest? The first step is to clearly understand your buyer journey. The second step is to create and promote the type of information prospects need at each stage.

Most organizations understand who they're trying to sell to, at least at a high level. But it's often pretty vague and centers around company information like industry, revenue, # of employees, and geography. The problem with that approach is that sellers and marketers aren't trying to talk to companies; they're trying to talk to people.