Three Content Development Best Practices for Attracting and Engaging Audiences

Creating and delivering content consistently can seem like a daunting task, especially when resources and team bandwidth is thin. Something even more challenging than creating content consistently is ensuring the content attracts audiences and generates traffic and high engagement. Because content marketing is a crucial component of B2B marketing, it is important to focus on crafting content that attracts and engages audiences. When in the content development process for a blog, article, eBook or any other asset, it is important to speak to the audience the content is for, and the engagement will follow as long as the content is relevant and impactful. There are many tactics for developing engaging content, but following these three best practices in the content development process will help yield the most positive content marketing results.

Personalize Content to Speak to Audience Characteristics

Now more than ever is the importance of personalization. With so much content being distributed on various digital platforms, it can be hard for any singular piece of content to make a strong impact on someone, especially a prospect. Here are a few ways to add personalization to create relevant, effective content:

• Pain Points: Every prospective buyer has pain points they experience which results in them looking for a solution. Creating content, whether it be a blog, eBook or infographic, that addresses specific pain points can be incredibly valuable.
• Buyer Persona Characteristics: Buyer personas are made up of several characteristic types such as demographics and firmographics. Each contains information important to the persona which can also be leveraged when creating content. For example, if the primary industry the organizations of one of your buyer personas is in banking technology, then create content relevant to the banking technology industry.

Create Content Relevant to the Buyer’s Journey

Creating content following the buyer’s journey extends the idea of personalizing content. Each stage of the buyer’s journey should be approached with different types of content. In the content development process, consider these three key stages of the buyer’s journey:

• Awareness Stage: This is where people become aware of your offering and here, it is all about attracting prospects and attention to the product or service. Blogs, articles, social media posts and emails are the perfect content types to use here.
• Consideration Stage: At this point of the buyer’s journey, it is about nurturing prospects and furthering their knowledge of why your offerings are above the rest. Content such as eBooks, white papers and webinars are longer-form content types that include detailed information that blogs and articles cover.
• Decision Stage: This stage is about helping the prospect reach their decision on a purchase. Content types that showcase the product or service in action including case studies, demo presentations and trials are ideal here. It gives them a firsthand experience of what it would be like to use your product or service and see what types of results could be possible.

Get Creative with Topics and Asset Types

It can become mundane to read and view similar asset types talking about the same topics. While some of the more basic topics are still essential in an overall content marketing strategy, it is always a good idea to get creative! It might come from a spur-of-the-moment idea or unlikely source, but here are some ways to foster a creative attitude to deliver unique content:

• Hold a Brainstorming Session: Bringing together the marketing team and members of other departments together for a marketing brainstorming session and discussing ideas and more can be very beneficial. It can be unstructured brainstorming, throwing out ideas whenever or it can be worthwhile to pose a question and build from there. Whatever is decided upon, this can be a source of inspiration for content development.
• Conduct Research: Whether looking for new ideas or more in-depth information about a certain topic, research can be a promising avenue as well. Gathering statistics from research studies, taking information from credible sources and more can help form a new asset on a specific topic. New information and statistics can attract audiences.
• Interview Current Clients: Clients can give a host of insights into your product or service offering which can be useful in content development. Including information about your product or service offering in an infographic or even a blog can be helpful for prospects in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey. Information from clients can also be versatile for testimonial-type content pieces and more, which can help attract and engage audiences.

Content development to attract and engage audiences does not have to be complicated. Using personalization, new ideas and the buyer’s journey to guide content assets can yield positive results, increasing traffic and engaging visitors.

Looking for assistance with your content development efforts? Request a free marketing consultation with one of our content marketing experts or contact us today! We’ve helped clients plan, execute and generate results from content marketing efforts.