Does your content put your audience first?

Audience-first marketing is a simple enough concept. It’s an approach to content that focuses exclusively on the interests, needs, and pain points of your audience. It puts your ideal customer in the driving seat, giving them an active role in determining what you write and publish.?

But while it’s an easy concept to get your head around, you’d be surprised by how many businesses struggle to make the shift in their writing. After all, it goes against a lot of traditional marketing principles. Back in the day, marketing yourself revolved around talking about your business, your skills, and your product. It mattered less about who your audience was or what they wanted, and more about how you were in a position to help.

Audience-first marketing requires a different mindset. It means leaving your ego at the door and realising your readers and potential customers are the star of this show. And today, we want to share four simple tips to make sure you’re always tapping into this mindset when creating your content.

Remember, your reader owes you nothing

Someone who stumbled onto your blog or clicks onto your Instagram feed doesn’t know you from any other company. It’s harsh, but true. No one is obligated to read what you have to say or pick up the phone and schedule a demo. And remembering this can be a powerful way to humble yourself and switch to a more audience-focused mindset.?

When it comes to your marketing efforts, you unfortunately don’t have the upper hand. In a sea of competitors and similar businesses, your audience has the power. So always remember it’s your responsibility to meet their needs, add value, and leave a good impression. You need to be talking to them about what they care about, not talking at them.

Help first, convert later

Readers will see straight through content that’s only pushing for a sale. You know the type: it’s packed full of “I”, ”me”, and ”we”. Your blogsjust read like a business patting themselves on the back. But content like this is incredibly common. 66% of customers say they’re generally treated like a number by businesses, when they actually expect them to understand their unique needs and expectations.

The most effective content isn’t selfish. It doesn’t back a reader into a corner and wax lyrical about how brilliant a business is until the reader gives in and purchases their product or service. Instead, it focuses on adding value and helping the reader. And if leads convert as a result? Well, that’s just an added - if intended - bonus.?

So when tackling your content, take the time to identify the needs of your ideal reader. What challenges are they facing? Why will they be searching for this particular product or topic? What is their intent when browsing Google? Push your desired outcomes to the side and focus on fulfilling their needs within your writing.?

Let’s say your business sells vacuums. Rather than spending a 500-word blog sharing all the reasons your product is the best, spend it comparing five of the top picks in the market. Put yours up against your best competitors. This way, you’re giving your readers what they’re looking for - finding a vacuum - and doing all the hard work of whittling down their options for them.

“So what?”

This is one of the best ways to keep your audience at the centre of your content. For every single sentence, put yourself in your reader’s shoes and ask “so what?” Why should they care about what you’re saying?

If we’re honest, we all love talking about ourselves. But this can often be to the detriment of your content. Asking yourself “so what?” is a powerful way to keep the self-indulgent waffle to a minimum. If your reader won’t care or will be neutral to something you’re saying, you’re probably best leaving it out.?

Imagine you’re marketing your bookkeeping services. You want to point out the accreditation your team holds. So what? What does that mean to the reader? Why is that an accreditation worth having? Or maybe you won an award last year. So what? Was it a national award? Why were you recognised in particular? The reader won’t necessarily know your industry in depth, so approach your content like a layman and answer their “so what” questions.

Ignore vanity metrics

To continue meeting the needs of your audience, you’ll need to evolve and refine your approach. The blogs or social posts that land right now won’t necessarily land in six months’ time. But when it comes to analysing the success of your efforts, try not to get bogged down with vanity metrics.?

How many followers you have or how many likes, retweets, shares, or thumbs up a post gets tells you very little about whether or not your content actually added value. While you’re patting yourself on the back for writing a post that secured you 1,000 likes, your audience could be wishing you’d switch things up and address different topics altogether.?

Instead, communicate with them directly. Set up polls on Instagram stories or LinkedIn, asking for feedback on what they want to see. Ask existing customers what they would have wanted to see in the early days. Set up a quick call so you can pick their brains. Both of these will be far better than relying on two-dimensional vanity metrics.

The success of your business depends on winning over your audience. So it makes sense that all your marketing efforts should revolve around them. But putting your audience first isn’t a mindset shift that’ll happen overnight. It’s a muscle you’ll have to strengthen over time. Luckily, keeping these tips in mind will help speed up the process.?

At The Four Pillars, we get under the skin of your business to create engaging content that puts your audience first. Or, if you want to strengthen your internal team, our coaching services give your staff the tools and techniques needed to always land the perfect message. To find out more, contact us on 0161 413 8418.