Creating content can be daunting for many business owners (marketers included!), but it’s crucial for generating leads, building relationships, and increasing visibility. That’s why having a balanced content marketing plan is key. With a balanced plan in place, you can alleviate the stress of creating content and ensure that you’re reaching your ideal client.
What is a content marketing strategy?
A content marketing strategy is a plan that assists service providers in generating leads, establishing credibility, building relationships, and increasing visibility among their ideal clients. The aim is to create content that highlights their expertise, builds connections, and encourages potential clients to move through the marketing funnel and become leads.
To build a successful content marketing strategy, the foundation of “like, know, and trust” is crucial. It involves creating content that introduces your brand to potential clients, helps them get to know you, and establishes trust through credibility-building content. Keeping this foundation in mind helps to create a balanced content marketing strategy that caters to your target audience’s needs.
Building a balanced content marketing plan
Visibility
Visibility content falls into the “know” or “like” category. This is content that will get you in people’s faces so they know you exist.
You want to create visibility content that has a short lifespan, is quick to create, and quick to digest. The goal is to say “this is who I am, this is what I do.” This is great because you’ll be able to create a lot of content in not a lot of time. Tik Tok and sometimes Instagram are great places for this content.
The point here is not to give someone all the value in the world. You want to be able to whip something out of your back pocket and leave your audience with a newfound sense of who you are.
Credibility
If you listened to “How to Sell Without Feeling Sleazy” episode of the podcast in season 2, you may know that when we are talking about credibility we are talking about the sales psychology principle of authority (even though we don’t love the word ‘authority’).
Content designed to boost credibility, often has a longer lifespan than content created strictly for visibility. This could be like a Tik Tok that’s made its way through For You Page circulations, a podcast episode that cann be discovered over time, or a LinkedIn post. The content is a little more in depth in terms of the topic and talking about the “how” and “why” surrounding it.
Credibility content is more easy to digest because it’s more subtle than visibility content. It’s still more in depth and provides your audience with great takeaways, ultimately establishing you as a voice of authority in your niche.
Relationship Building
Once you’ve established yourself as an expert with credibility content, it’s time to deepen the connection with relationship building content. The purpose of this type of content is to understand who your audience is, what they stand for, and determine if they are a good fit for your business.
By sharing personal content, your audience will feel more inclined to open up and engage with you. This relationship building aspect is crucial for small businesses and referrals. It’s a powerful tool that is difficult to replace with any other marketing strategy.
How to Build Relationships
A great way to do this is to highlight and celebrate people you already have relationships with online. This can mean someone you’ve collaborated with in the past in some way. Doing this will keep you and your skills at the forefront of people’s minds.
Another way you can do this is by reaching out to that someone you’ve maybe been putting off reaching out to and checking in or even going to a networking event. When you’re in the mood to really build those relationships, lean into that feeling and make it a fun part of your marketing effort!
Why do you need a balanced content marketing plan?
When you lead with a balance of visibility, credibility and relationship building, you’ll be able to create a marketing environment that is conducive to inquiries. This means you can make more sales and spend less time creating sales content.
Are you ready to create a balanced marketing plan that feels amazing to both you and your potential clients? Check out the Marketing Roadmap™ and book a call if it sounds like a good fit for you.
