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Let me entertain you! Your guide to entertaining content

Do you ever struggle to figure out what kind of information or content you should be sharing with your  audience?

If you are looking for lots of interaction, the absolute best type of information to share is entertaining information.

Top three things to know about entertaining content that gets you new leads:

  1. It helps you connect to your audience at an emotional level .
  1. It needs to be shareable. People like to share things and they’re more likely to share something if it’s entertaining in some way.
  1. It helps create brand awareness and loyalty among your audience. And that’s good for you because the more people that share your content, the more new leads you will get.

Here are the different types of entertaining content you can test with your audience: 

Informational Content

Some informational content is not especially entertaining and can be seen as very academic. So even if you’re sharing something informational, it must be engaging as well as useful. It should be something your audience can use, apply and learn from. Make sure it has some entertainment value!

The four parts that make up informational content are:

  • It must be relevant – It needs to be relevant to your audience’s personal experiences
  • It must be engaging – It must hold their attention
  • It must be valuable – Which means useful or educational
  • It must be inspiring – You want to inspire them to take action

Beautiful Content

Photographs are the easiest way to present beautiful content, but it could be a video or even an audio. Generally though, photos – and infographics – are easy to share. And “cute” can also be counted as part of this category. How many cat gifs does it take to be cute ? I don’t know; I’m a dog person myself but you get the picture. 😉

Funny Content

Think of the Dollar Shave Club. They share really valuable information about why people would want to buy their razors, and they’re very funny in the process. What other funny content have you come across lately? It’s usually pretty memorable, isn’t it?

Sex Sells

Sex! You know if you talk about sex you’re going to grab people’s attention. Sex sells! You may consider including sexual allusions along with at least one of the other types of entertaining content.

Inspirational Content

Tell stories of heroes or compelling events. Include pictures or videos. Inspirational content makes people feel good and gives them hope. Give them the idea that they can do something on their own. You want them to think, “If somebody else can do it, I can do it too!” This is why inspirational content is really valuable. Inspirational content also “inspires” your audience to take action.

Shocking, Weird & Scary Content

Entertaining content can also be something shocking, weird or even a little bit scary! The whole point is you want people to start talking about it and to create some buzz! That makes it shareable. It makes your audience connect with it at an emotional level.

Nostalgic Content

Do you have pictures from a reunion? Or from your home town from long ago? Something from your business’s history? Or even some world event that happened decades ago that’s really powerful that people connect to and is relevant to your audience? Remember, your goal is to connect with your audience at an emotional level. Nostalgic content can help you do that.

Combine several of the above!

You can look at something funny and weird. You can look at something that’s inspirational and beautiful. You could even look at something that’s weird and shocking. Think about all the different images and videos that you’ve seen out on the internet or on your TV. Under which of these categories does that content fit?

Often you will see that one piece of content actually employs three or more of these elements! Now you are really connecting with your audience!

So I hope this has been a valuable way for  to take a look at content and figure out how you can use it. If you’re interested in getting 30 days of great content to a flood of new leads then I invite you to join the course that I’m offering right now. Click the link below and tell your friends about it and I look forward to seeing you there.

Sign up for 30 days of great content to a flood of new leads!

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Why you can’t sell to someone who doesn’t trust you. Part 2

In part two, I’m going to reveal how to present your unique solution that will solve your audience’s problem. (See part 1 here)

The second step is to show them how it’s possible to solve their problem.

You can do this by giving your audience a series of steps they need to take to solve it. Or, you could give them a case study of somebody else who has solved it already.

Now the person isn’t just problem-aware, they are solution-aware

So we’re moving up the ladder in awareness, simply by providing them with great educational material. You become their go-to person for this problem, and now they are even considering doing something about it!

Don’t stop there though. You continue to not only tell them the why and the what but now the how too. You provide them with hope. They don’t have to live with this problem forever.

As we discussed in the previous article, first describe why this problem is an issue for them and how it’s making them feel.

It’s very likely they can’t even identify it themselves yet. Use powerful words and powerful language that speak for them: “This is a real problem, I must do something about it”.

I emphasize this again: educate your audience about their problem. When you educate them, you become their go-to person

Because you become the authority regarding this problem in their life, you become “top of mind” for them.

The material you provide for them can be in print, digital, social media or videos. Almost anything! This is content marketing and you need to keep doing it to stay top of mind for your audience.

So they’re now both problem-aware and solution-aware. The final step is where we hit the jackpot…

That is when your prospect becomes aware of your product or service.

Now, a word of advice.

Do remember that they have multiple ways of getting a solution. You’re not the only person or company out there who is trying to help people with this issue.

You need to be fully aware of what your competition is doing. Identify for yourself how you are different from your competition, and what is unique about what you’re offering.

This will establish you as a brand they want to keep coming back to over and over again.

What does it mean to have a “unique solution” to their problem?

It could be a number of things…

  • You have a unique system that solves the problem.
  • You have unique resources to solve their problem.
  • You have a special guarantee that nobody else offers.

Think about Domino’s Pizza…

“Hot Pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free”

Their pizza wasn’t anything special but their guarantee was out of this world.

A lot of people loved that they were going to get their pizza in 30 minutes and it was going to be hot… even if it wasn’t the best pizza.

Have some way of differentiating your service or product above everyone else’s. Otherwise, you won’t stand out in the market. If your product or service is not unique, you’re going to lose your prospects.

And if you aren’t unique, and you aren’t educating them, you will lose your prospects’ trust

If they don’t trust you enough, they’re not going to pull out their wallets and give you their money. It’s that simple.

Let’s summarize:

Step One

You start out with the prospect who is not fully aware of what their problem is. You put out content to make them problem-aware. You help them articulate their problem. You tell them WHAT the problem is and WHY they have it.

Step Two

You let them know that there is hope for solving this problem. There are other people who have solved it. You tell them what the SYSTEM is for solving the problem.

Step Three

The final step is product or service-aware. This is when you have to stand out from the competition. You show them that you are able to solve their problems in a way that no one else can.

Until they’ve gone through this prospect-awareness journey, they are not ready to buy.

So don’t try and sell them when they first meet you. They need to develop a relationship with you. You need to develop a relationship with them. Only then do they want to pull out their wallets and give you their money in a mutually-beneficial relationship.

Where have you jumped in too soon to make an offer? What was the result? What do you think would be a better result if you had waited to develop that relationship?

I’d love to hear a little more about it, so please comment below!

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How information clutter is ruining your chances of being seen and remembered by your best prospects

Will your ideal prospective customer remember you when they are ready to make a purchasing decision?

Seriously.

While there is some question about the accuracy (and origins) of the numbers, we are often told that 20 years ago, consumers were exposed to 2000 messages a day, and that number is now around 5000 messages a day.

Regardless of the true number, I am sure you know it’s pretty high! We really are completely inundated with information. All day long.

It’s hard to remember!

Because of this constant bombardment of information and messages, we have trouble remembering what we did at 2:15 three days ago. And many people also have trouble remembering the name of the notary who helped them sign an official document 3 weeks ago.

So when your prospect is really ready to buy a product or service that you provide, it’s very likely they won’t remember you, your company, or your brand.

Whether you are an online business, focusing mostly on coaching and/or education, or a brick-and-mortar business, counting on lots of foot traffic, if prospective customers don’t remember you, what can you do about it?

Stay top-of-mind

You must focus on creating the brand recognition that is the lifeblood of any viable business. Because your prospects are not all ready to buy at the same time.

Some will be ready to buy today.

Some need a little more time or information.

Some need to develop more trust with you and your brand.

Some are only beginning to look for information.

Be prepared for the fact that your message WILL get buried. Just continue to create valuable content. Eventually, that familiarity will build trust in the mind of your prospect.

When you post something, don’t add to the “clutter”. In addition to being valuable, your content must also be engaging, relevant, and inspiring.

Create text, video, audio, and interactive content that captures your prospect’s attention.

Post frequently on social media. Sponsor local events. Send out print newsletters that are 100% guaranteed to land in your prospect’s mailbox (you can’t say THAT about email!).

This is one of a series of articles about relevant, valuable, engaging, and inspiring content as part of a profitable content marketing plan.

It’s your turn! What did you find most valuable in this post? What action will you take now, to make sure you don’t add to the clutter too, but still manage to stay top-of-mind?

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The 3S Marketing System: SEO, Syndicated Content, and Social Media. Go from Relationship to ROI

It’s late Saturday morning. You are new in town and are ready to go explore.

You step out your front door, a little uncertain in which direction you should go, when you notice the neighbors on either side of you are also out in their front yards.

One family is playing with their kids on the swingset, and the other is preparing a barbecue. They both come over to ask what you are up to today.

“I’d like to find a really good coffee shop nearby.”

“You should definitely check out the shop at the corner of Vine and Maple called Coffee Dreams. It’s great!”

“Yes,” replies the other neighbor. “That’s my favorite coffee shop! Make sure you try their pumpkin spiced latte. You’ve never tasted anything quite like it.”

You thank them for their friendly recommendations, hop in your car, and after a short drive, find a place to park, and walk in.

There is a funky blackboard behind the counter with colorful names of coffee varieties, some sandwich selections, and delicious-sounding pastries. The chairs and tables are each unique, and comfortable for small group conversation.

You like the way it feels here. You start to chat with the barista, who is really friendly and helpful. The shop owner introduces herself and offers some great information about the unusual coffee flavors she offers.

Being a real coffee aficionado, you inquire about the origin of the beans and the different ways of preparing coffee, and the owner enthusiastically engages you in conversation. She also encourages you to join her newsletter list, so you can get more information in the future.

You finally leave about 90 minutes later, telling yourself that you’ll definitely be back. This is a good place to hang out.

Same story – Online

Now imagine this same scenario, but instead of in your neighborhood, it’s online. You are interested in a particular topic, like coffee.

You notice that your social media friends have been talking about a specific coffee shop, so you check the reviews online, and discover that the place has raving fans.

When you do a search for coffee shops in your town, it shows up on page 1 of the results, so it’s easy to click on the link to get to the website.

When you get to the webpage, you discover that they not only list their menu items and hours, but they also have a blog with really fascinating information.

After reading for a while, you get to the bottom of the third blog article and notice that you can sign up for their monthly newsletter to keep up to date with all the latest happenings at the shop.

By this time you are hooked, so you are happy to give up your email address.

Then you head out the door to try it out for real!

The 3S Marketing System

In this situation, just like in the real life situation, you have a vital intersection of content marketing, keywords (SEO), and social recommendations (social media).

In fact, the synergy between these three is critical for both the consumer and the proprietor. This is why I call it the 3S Marketing System: SEO, Syndicated content, and Social media.

The consumer (prospect) needs the content in order to become more knowledgeable about the topic, and can only find their way there through a combination of recommendations and keyword searching. The content also helps the consumer feel comfortable with the proprietor, desiring to come back in the future.

The proprietor first needs to decide which keywords will be most obvious for the service offered, and which will likely be most effective at drawing in their perfect customer (avatar). Then she needs to create great free content that speaks directly to that prospect, and his interests.

When the prospect visits, he has a great experience, and it isn’t long before he, too, is telling all the neighbors about how much he loves Coffee Dreams!

Is it relevant?

It goes without saying, of course, that people who don’t like coffee won’t be attracted to a place like Coffee Dreams, either online or in real life. And that is perfect.

The owner of Coffee Dreams wants lots of coffee lovers to show up! But she doesn’t have time for people who aren’t interested in coffee. So she provides content on her site and in her store that is relevant only to coffee lovers.

What do these scenarios really mean for you and your business?

It means you have to leverage the power of combined SEO, content marketing, and social media to build your business.

The first first key to this formula is to fully understand relevance.

As anyone who has tried to work with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) knows, search engines are constantly evolving.

And although it may feel as if that evolution is intended to harm marketers and make their lives difficult, the truth of the matter is that it is intended to provide the user with a satisfying experience.

So don’t take it personally. It’s not about you; it’s about your prospect. As it should be for you too.

Instead of being upset about the constant rotation of Google’s “zoo” (Penguin, Panda, etc.), if you keep in mind the PURPOSE of your marketing, you will be just fine, no matter what the search engines do.

That purpose? To create a relationship with your prospect that brings them on a journey. The benefit to YOU, of course, is that during that journey, they go from prospect, to lead, to customer, to raving fan.

prospect awareness, content marketing,

What is the intent?

To determine how relevant your content is to your target audience, you really need to know the intent behind their search.

While you, as the content person (yes, you!) may be interested in choosing the right keywords for your meta description and to sprinkle throughout your text, your target audience simply wants an answer to a question.

First, we need a couple of definitions, because people often tend to mix these up:

Keyword: A term used to describe something (for the marketer)

Query: What a user types into a search engine to accomplish something or to get an answer (for the searcher)

So ask yourself these questions as you search for keywords:

If my audience member is typing in a query, what is their goal?

Are they looking for information?

Are they comparing different versions of the same thing?

Are they looking to buy something right now?

What keyword(s) can I choose that will be the end result of their query?

1 – Enter the funnel through SEO

Since most traffic comes from people who are looking for information, leverage that search to drop them into your marketing funnel.

Where do they end up? On your website! Reading your blog, watching your video, etc.

Ideally, you will have custom content, specific both to you/your company and to your audience.

Although some businesses use generic content (and this may be just fine for businesses like doctors and attorneys and chimney sweeps, that are built entirely on local traffic), in general, you want to use custom content.

Custom content – that is, content provided by you and your team, specifically for your audience – helps preserve your “voice” and attracts exactly the right type of person to your business.

Besides, you know your audience best, and you know your solution to their problem best. So you are the best person (or someone on your team who knows how to articulate your voice is best) to share how your solution solves your prospect’s problem.

So don’t skimp on this critical part of the 3S System. Custom content, produced on a regular basis (it’s important to the search engine spiders that you produce new content frequently), and distributed widely over a variety of platforms (syndicated) is a key element in the SEO algorithm.

Ad – Want help with your content? Join Content Marketing Pro!

2 – Great content – syndicated

Of course, in addition to your content being custom-made for your audience, your content needs to be EXCELLENT to keep them there, and to get them to continue to engage with you.

And as we already stated, great content starts with its relevance to your audience. So you really, really need to know your avatar.

Once your audience knows that you exist, great content that meets their needs helps them begin to like you.

If they like you, they will keep coming back for more great content. Now they trust you!

Think about it: Do you trust someone you don’t know? Or someone you don’t like? Of course not!

Remember that trust means “absence of doubt”. Your prospect has to have no doubt that your intentions are to help them. If they think there is any chance of you not fulfilling your promises, that’s it; “gave over”.

So focus on this: RELATIONSHIP COMES BEFORE ROI.

Build that relationship with excellent custom content.

Brand recognition

So here is the process so far:

SEO brings traffic to your site → great content builds trust

SEO is the technical stuff. Content is all about building trust through relationships. You want to create brand recognition.

There is a LOT to creating brand recognition. For today, here are a couple of quick tips:

  • Know your avatar so well that you choose colors and symbols for your logo and other visuals that really resonate with them
  • Provide great value. Over and over and over. Exceed expectations.
  • Tell great stories about you and your company.
  • Tell great stories that highlight your customers.
  • Be everywhere. Syndicate your content so you are top of mind when your audience thinks of your topic.
  • Be all over the social media channels frequented most by your avatar. Again, become familiar through repetition.

3 – Social Media

And this leads us to the final corner of the 3S Marketing System triangle: social media.

96% of all web activity is now on social media. The search engines have recognized this, and now include many platforms in search results.

In fact, if you are not prolific on social media, you are probably not relevant. And remember what we said about how important relevance is!

Now we are ready for the final step in the process:

SEO brings traffic to your site → great content gets conversions to your list → social media presence

No matter how relevant your content is to your prospect’s search, and no matter how great the content is, the easiest way to convert your lead to a customer is through their friends’ recommendations.

This is why social media MUST be part of your marketing strategy.

Social media must be both engaging and inspiring: get your audience to think, to relate, to consider, to comment, to share.

When they share your content – short posts, images, videos, links to longer posts – they both feel like they are participating, and they are recommending you to their friends and followers.

Don’t you trust your neighbor’s recommendation for an auto mechanic more than you trust the mechanic’s marketing claims?

When you show up on social media, you are able to reach a whole new web of prospects, thanks to one person sharing to their friends, than one of them sharing to their friends, etc.

Social media is how you increase visibility and credibility. And, to bring it all full circle, the more people share your content, the more the search engines trust you.

So in the same way that you trusted your neighbors to find a coffee shop that is perfect for you, and once you were there, you fell in love with it, your prospects actually WANT to fall in love with a solution to their problem. They want to find you!

So through the power of the 3S Marketing System, make it as easy as possible for your perfect audience to find your perfect solution.

Great, relevant content, found through targeted SEO and a prolific social media presence.

Take care of these three corners of the triangle, and you have a solid presence online, that will help your business grow.

  • People trust their social friend’s recommendation more than a Marketer’s
  • Social media must be part of your marketing strategy
  • Get social media to do your marketing for you.
  • Create a graphic here
  • When on social media, you are able to reach a whole new web of prospects, based on one person who follows you. Friends, family, colleagues
  • Increase visibility and authenticity so both customers and search engines trust you

You need to have a relationship before you can count on ROI.

If you liked this post, join our 30 Days To a Flood of New Leads program! You will learn ALL you need to know to create engaging, valuable content, that inspires your prospects to take action!

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