The Power of Content Marketing
Fresh, original content, seasoned with well-targeted SEO keywords is designed to generate high-ranking search results that, in turn, stimulates a wealth of organic traffic to a website / blog / landing page – for very little direct cost.
That is the idea, right?
Except when Content Marketing fails
However, in the face of encouraging inbound traffic numbers an odd analytic stat appears, an anomaly contradictory to all of those great traffic stats, which is an average “Time on site/page” duration of only a few seconds per visitor. Oh, and little to no effective response to Calls to Action or Convert to Purchase.
Translation: The visitor/buyer bounced after just a few seconds. Ergo, what they found when they arrived to read was not what they were looking for.
Why?
People typically “bounce” out of search-generated content for one or both of two important content-specific reasons: 1) a lack of EMPATHY, and/or 2) a lack of IMAGINATION.
In terms of Empathy, the writer of the high-bounce content failed to “connect” with their readers in any meaningful way. There is no such thing as “generic” Content. All content is (or should be) written with a target persona of an ideal reader in mind. This is why so much technology content fails to convert to sales leads – i.e. it is written by technologists, in the language of technologists, for the benefit of other technologists (whether the writer realizes it or not), and it is not aimed at business decision-makers, influencers, or recommenders.
If the goal is to sell a car to retail consumers, a discussion on the innerworkings of the combustion engine is most likely going to get very boring, very quickly, and have a high rate of reader “bounce.” More effective automotive content is more likely to appeal to those who are more interested in performance and styling, or to a completely separate prospect demographic who are more keen on safety and reliability. Messaging should be targeted accordingly.
Remember the old catchphrase of, “I feel your pain”? Acknowledging “pain points” and core buyer needs, along with solution to those needs, is what the online searcher is looking for. Give it to them!
For example, the person who goes to the hardware store to by a hammer, nails, wood, etc. to build a fence around their backyard has no great desire for buying tools and building materials – they want a safe place for their children to play. Hammer salesmen need to learn how to talk about safe backyards.
In terms of Imagination, even when the messaging is aimed at the right targets, and pain points are properly wed to the right solutions, the burden is still on the content writer’s shoulders to “tell a good story.” Everyone knows what it is like to hear someone try to tell a joke or an amusing anecdote, who just doesn’t have that innate ability or timing and articulation to pull it off very well and instead creates cringeworthy incidents.
True imaginative writing should create “moments,” specifically memorable moments. For example, in the paragraph above referring to the safe backyard for children to play, did you picture that image in your mind? Did you see a wooden privacy fence in suburbia surrounding a gassy yard with several carefree kids running around and cheerfully having fun? If so, your imagination was stimulated and perhaps even your memory of that idea.
The test for this critical content key is simply, after finishing reading an article: What did you remember about it that you are likely never to forget? If the answer is “nothing” – try again.
If you do remember something that stood out in your mind from a piece of content, then you might actually feel like you leaned something. You might even feel a greater sense of respect and trust for whomever published that information. And if what that publisher is offering in their Call to Action is relevant to you, you might even be inclined to thoughtfully consider it.
That is the definition of effective Content.
If effective Content is an urgent need for your marketing efforts, let’s talk.