By Cathy Fyock, The Business Book Strategist
Our businesses are changing. And as we change, business owners need to educate and inform our clients. One of the best strategies for keeping our customers informed is through content marketing.
Content marketing can be defined as those strategies that tell clients about our products and services. It involves sharing our knowledge and expertise with our clients so that they are better able to utilize our products and services to create value.
What are the methods to deliver content marketing to our clients? We deliver content through product literature and marketing copy, and also through blogs, articles, workshops, podcasts, webinars and other content pieces that allow the customers to become better consumers.
How do we begin to consider what our clients need to know in order to embrace change? Outlined here are several questions to answer that may lead you to developing your next content marketing strategy.
What are the questions that your clients ask?
Last week, I received a call from a client, asking me about whether or not she should share content with her prospects. “I don’t want to be stingy with my intellectual property (IP), but I also want to own what is rightfully mine.” Great question! As I thought about it, I realized that her problem was one that many of my clients (who are authors and speakers) often ask. So I sat down and wrote a blog post to answer her question. I shared it with her, and she thanked me profusely. And better yet, I placed that post in my newsletter that goes to my database.
How has your industry changed?
In my work as a book coach, my author clients need to understand the latest issues in self-publishing and editing services. No longer is “traditional” publishing the logical choice. So I continually need to educate my clients on the changes that may impact their role as solopreneurs who need to establish their expertise. What are the changes impacting your industry, and how can you better prepare your clients for current trends?
What are the newest tools that your clients should know about?
In my world as a writing coach, my clients are always interested in the latest apps for writing (Scrivener), for dictating (Dragon), for finding great graphics in the public domain (Pixabay, Unsplash), for book launch promotion (Thunderclap) and for delivering content (Facebook Live). I regularly read up on these issues, query my colleagues about the best tools that they recommend and provide content pieces to my clients on these issues.
How have your clients’ needs changed?
If you’re like me, in order to be responsive to the crazy schedule that most of my solopreneur clients maintain, I have to listen to them to know what works and what doesn’t work. For example, when I began my new Blog2Book coaching packages, I offered 15 minute recorded webinars designed to spark their creativity and inspire their writing. When I realized that most weren’t taking advantage of this benefit, I queried them and realized that many were too busy to take 15 minutes out of their week (when they really should be writing instead!). I’ve now reformulated my service offerings, and I’ve needed to inform them through newsletters, Facebook posts (we have a closed Facebook group) and through monthly virtual meetings.
Yes, the business world is changing. And you will need to continue to educate your clients through effective content marketing, delivered through the posts and articles you write, the webinars and podcasts you offer and other print and social media platforms.
Cathy Fyock is The Business Book Strategist, and works with professionals and thought-leaders who want to write as a business development strategy. She is the author of eight books, including On Your Mark and Blog2Book. To learn more about Cathy, click here.