There’s an old copywriting adage that was a favorite of master copywriter Gary Halbert.
What does it take to have a successful restaurant?
Great location? No. Superior service? Nope. Good prices? Nope. Ambiance? Not even close.
Amazing food? Actually, not even that.
To have a successful restaurant … you need a starving crowd. Everything else is a means to serve that crowd a little better — to get their attention and give them what they want.
Every business has its own version of the starving crowd. Which is why you don’t create great content marketing in order to have a bunch of great content.
You create content to build an audience
Your greatest business asset isn’t your website, and it isn’t your products or services. It isn’t your email list either, at least not exactly.
Your greatest business asset is your audience. It’s the universe of people who are paying attention to what you have to say.
Why do we create content? Because that’s what the audience wants from us. They want interesting, informative things to read, listen to, or watch. They want something that makes them look smarter for sharing it. And they want to solve their problems quickly and efficiently.
If our content supports those audience goals, it’s good content. If it doesn’t, it’s lousy content.
We’ve all heard that content is supposed to be “relevant,” or “useful.” But it’s only relevant or useful if the audience says it’s relevant or useful.
They decide. Not you.
The world shifts when you put the audience first
You’ll notice a few changes when you start putting the audience’s needs first, instead of your own.
- Your content will get much easier to read.
- You’ll focus on things like formatting content so it’s incredibly reader-friendly.
- You’ll quit trying to sound like a giant business and start sounding like a smart, friendly human being who has the answers to important questions. (In fact, you’ll do this even if you are a giant company.)
- Your site design will immediately improve when you stop trying to make it “impressive” and start trying to make it clear and useful.
- You’ll probably answer the core, basic questions more often, even if you personally find that kind of content slightly boring. It’s not there to serve you, it’s there to serve your audience.
- You’ll quit using “clever” headlines and start using benefit-rich ones.
- You’ll start to see your search rankings improve as you create content that’s actually being used and acted on.
- Your sales cycle will become more efficient as prospects begin to know, like, and trust you to solve their pressing problems.
Authority — the real kind, the kind that builds businesses — comes from service. When you serve your audience honestly, consistently, and well, your business will be rewarded.
We have more for you
This is a big topic — big enough that we’ve got a much more comprehensive resource for you. Check out our ebook on Content Marketing: How to Build an Audience that Builds Your Business.
You’ll learn more about:
- The elements from classic copywriting that will make your content work harder
- How to position yourself for success
- Why “cookie content” keeps your audience coming back
- 47 ideas for profiting from content marketing
- The types of content that work best to capture prospect attention
- How content works in conjunction with social media to grow your audience
- A 10-point content marketing checklist to ensure your content is firing on all cylinders
It’s free with your MyCopyblogger membership, and it will help you get more specific about how you’re going to serve your audience, and how content is going to help you grow your business. You can grab the ebook here.
– The Copyblogger Team