There is a lot of noise out there, with blogs becoming the norm for every company to reach their target audience, and also to boost traffic to the website. There is also a lot of noise originating on social media, with every company making claims and with people talking about these companies too, without much basis or evidence. Some rate certain products and services highly and some, poorly. Yet, one can never tell if these reviews, blogs, or social conversations are unbiased or if they come with certain shady intentions.
Nevertheless, if you are selling genuine products and services, there is a way to reach new customers amidst all this online noise. The main modus operandi is to persist. Persistence pays off very well, especially when it comes to remaining online, and remaining relevant. Companies that are looking at making a quick buck will usually lose interest in blogging or in social media campaigns, which need to be ongoing and relevant throughout.
These companies often tend to be erratic and sometimes even dramatic, when it comes to posting online. Much of online noise is from companies like this. On the other hand, genuine companies that really want to inform their target audience and still reach new customers tend to be persistent with their content marketing efforts. This is because; they truly have something lasting to contribute. To reach new customers online despite the noise, here is what you should be doing:
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When it comes to content marketing, you need to be slow and steady. What does this mean? Should you post 4 blogs a month or 8? Or should you post 20 blogs a week? The answer really depends on your ability and also, what you can provide to the community. If you run out of topics or information related to your product or service, you will not have much useful content to write after a while. So, probably, it is a good idea to remain slow and steady, and publish as much content is required. This could be anywhere between 4 and whatever number you would like to publish. Just ensure that you can blog for years, and not weeks or months.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Likewise, your content marketing strategy cannot be solidified within a month or two. It takes time to get the strategy going, and it takes even longer to see the results. However, when you start seeing organic traffic coming your way, you will realize that your efforts are well worth it. However, you need to be patient and persistent in your approach. With patience, you will research better, publish more often without feeling pressurized and you will be able to publish regularly, instead of going on an overdrive and then not publishing at all.
Before publishing any blog or post, you need to research your topic well. Most blogs published today are not well researched, and they are simply published to generate traffic. You should not publish anything with traffic in mind. You should consider every content piece of yours to be a sales document, which will last for a long time. This requires a lot of research. Put together resources, studies, numbers etc before you publish a post.
You cannot possibly publish blogs on all topics related to your field. You should not be doing that anyway, as that will likely seem like noise to your readers. The more general your topics are, the more chances of your message getting diluted. You need to find that sweet spot where you do not come across as a person with an obsession for topic specificity, and at the same time, you do not become so vague that your message is lost.
There is nothing worse than inauthentic messages and blogs. You need to develop your own voice and provide content that is engaging. Engage with your readers in a manner that is authentic and honest. Do not communicate in a manner that does not come across as genuine. Being genuine helps you to connect with readers, and they will be more amenable to receiving your sales message. After all, you need to be making those sales happen at the end of a content marketing campaign. And, content marketing campaigns do not end. They go on.
The take home message
As you can see, online noise can be a very annoying problem to handle. There are a number of companies out there, all trying to create a buzz about their own products and services. With so much of noise online, it becomes difficult for you to stand out, yet, all is not lost. Most of the companies tend to be either creating noise for the sake of attention or for the sake of grabbing as many customers as possible. The good news is, content marketing is not something that will pay off dividends overnight.
It needs a slow and steady approach. If you have a genuine product or service, you can be persistent with your content marketing strategy and remain relevant for a long time. The take home message is that you should be slow and steady with content marketing efforts and that you should not look for quick results. You must be patient and persistent, and always look towards creating content assets that will last for years and that which will remain relevant even after a long time. Before publishing anything online, do your research.
Ensure that all your content is backed or supported by research. Do not create content that is only remotely connected with your actual product or service. Find your niche and develop content that is relevant. In other words, develop a niche. Most importantly, be as honest and genuine as you can be, when you communicate with readers and followers. This will help you to stand out from the rest of the noise online.
