Your message is important. Getting it to the right people on the right channel can help you build a loyal community online. These strong relationships, if cared for, will turn shoppers into your biggest supporters! Here are several ways to develop these lasting connections using your content marketing efforts.
Live and Showcase Your Values
Customers are looking for businesses that are doing more than just selling products or services. 87% of consumers will buy a product because the company they’re supporting cares about a cause that’s relevant to them. Consumers want to see companies out in their communities supporting the people and businesses in those areas. Creating content that talks about how your company volunteers, donates, or even what your team is passionate about is a great way to connect with your digital community in a very real way. By sharing this mix of content, you show your customers that you care about more than making a profit. In turn, people learn to trust what you do and say.
Talk to Your Customers and Followers
Don’t just post to your followers; engage with them. Have conversations with both customers and prospects to better understand what they need from your business. This is a simple way to get insight on products or services you are currently working on as well. Starting and continuing conversations with your community is the ideal way to inject your company’s personality and demonstrate that real people work at your business.
Offer Exclusive Content
No matter what channel you use to connect with your audience, ensure you are creating valuable content. Your content marketing doesn’t have to look just like competitors. Create marketing elements that your digital community wants to engage with, talk about, and share with their audience. You can even use lead generation tactics like offering ebooks via social media to gather more information about your followers. Then, you can remarket valuable content to them later through paid ads and email marketing.
Partner with the Right Influencers
An influencer doesn’t just have to be an individual. Influencers can be other businesses or groups that also support your goals and values. Partnering with like-minded people in your marketing is a great way to reach a large audience and build relevant relationships with more prospects. Through these partnerships, you can also add more value to your audience by creating a new connection with a business or person they may be interested in. This tactic can be a win-win for everyone.
Share Stories of Real People
Testimonials and case studies are extremely important when building a loyal community online. These stories create a human angle of your business and can work to inspire your audience. Use this tactic to capture quotes, videos, audio clips, and photos of your employees and customers. Then share these stories in your marketing to build a valuable experience for your audience.
Creating a loyal community online doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and testing to develop the right marketing pieces that your audience will engage with. Start by identifying who your target audience is and then determine what their needs are. Based on these, you can work to create a content marketing strategy that builds the loyalty you’ve been looking for.
Only 19% of companies believe their content marketing strategy is effective.
CONTACT US to learn more about creating the results you’re looking for with an effective content marketing strategy.
