Want shareable content? Deliver an experience, not just information.

Your content marketing strategy needs more than just general information, a menu of your products and services, beautiful images or Rumi quotes. Your clients require an investment. They need you to meet them on their terms with an experience they can relate to.

Take a guess: how much content do you think is published every minute of every day online? 211 Million. Yeah, that much.

Are you really surprised? You shouldn’t be. According to ACI Research, Google receives more than 4 million search queries per minute. And where there is demand, there is supply.

In 2014, DOMO’s Data Never Sleeps 2.0 infographic showed how much content is generated every minute. Some of the highlights? Get ready for it.

Every minute:

• Facebook users share nearly 2.5 million pieces of content.
• Twitter users tweet nearly 300,000 times.
• Instagram users post nearly 220,000 new photos.
• YouTube users upload 72 hours of new video content.
• Apple users download nearly 50,000 apps.
• Email users send over 200 million messages.
• Amazon generates over $80,000 in online sales.

 With this much noise and that many marketing messages tugging at the consciousness of your potential clients, how can your voice – your small health & wellness business (read: brand!) – hope to intersect with your ideal clients? Amidst all those messages, images, videos, opinion pieces and value positioned content, how can your content strategy find a dedicated audience?

The simple answer: create a content marketing strategy that delivers an experience that’s unforgettable and necessary for your very specific (read: niche!) audience.

The truth is, there’s a gap – a great big opportunity for small businesses that are driven by passion and purpose to carve out a meaningful space in the online world for their unique voice. All the supply created to meet all that Google-directed demand, means that much of the content available is mediocre at best, downright ugly at its worst. Especially in the health & wellness industry.

The Great Equalizer (Sort Of…)

The Internet is the “the great equalizer”. In theory, that is. In reality, small business simply can’t match the resources or investment big brands wield in service of their online marketing strategy. Entire departments are dedicated to creating content, and new positions are being created to answer the needs of an online audience. Fifteen years ago there was no such thing as Director of Online Experience, Content Librarian, Director of Mobile Marketing, or CCO (Chief Content Officer). HubSpot did a great article in 2014 called “10 New Marketing Job Titles You Should Get Used To Seeing” that outlined the wave of new titles sweeping marketing departments. Big brands are invested in market research and mapping customer experiences. Its big business, and you can’t hope to compete. But you can leverage their knowledge. And what you lack in quantity, you can certainly make up for in quality. And that’s the key.

Back in the day, before the online explosion, local businesses struggled to compete with large corporations. Without the budgets to buy expensive ad space on TV, billboards, or magazines, small businesses had to find other ways to connect with their customers. So the smart ones made it personal and went local. They invested in their neighborhood, their community, their towns and districts. They created marketing campaigns that met their neighbors where they lived. They sponsored local sports teams, advertised in the local newspaper, held Christmas sales, thanked their loyal customers with special prices and gifts year round, and delivered an amazing experience that brought customers back year, after year. And they prospered.

We call it hyper-local advertising now. Back in the day, it was just good business for small business. And small businesses thrived when they made it personal, when they figured out what made their neighbors, their community, happy. It’s not complicated. But it does take thought, a damned good strategy, and the commitment to see it through.

Attract the Right Attention

Content marketing is all about attracting the right kind of attention. It should initiate a "two-way conversation." Not only should your content be shareable, it should trigger discussions and encourage your audience to comment. To do this, you have to have clearly defined goals and business objectives. Those goals must include generating as much online visibility as you can, while building your credibility, reputation and thought leadership at the same time.

And how do you do that? You deliver enough quality content for your audience to talk about and engage with. And then you monitor your progress. You dig into the metrics and refine your offering. That takes insight, consistency and a commitment to do more than just show up.

Back to Basics: Create the Experience

When you set up shop online, your small business is suddenly (and instantly) accessible to anyone with a smart phone, tablet or internet connection.  Right? Sure. In theory. But your website address is a little different than your street address. You’re not in a neighborhood of 10-plus business like yours or even a city of 1,000-plus businesses - you’re in a world of a million-plus businesses JUST LIKE YOURS.  Now layer on the shouty voice of every business with a content plan (no matter how good or bad), and now your competition has increased exponentially.

So how do you breakthrough? You get back to the business of creating an experience your clients and patients can’t live without.

Customers don’t come to your Website to appreciate its design or look at the pretty pictures. That’s just the esthetics – and it’s important that they resonate with your potential clients, but that’s just the beginning. They’ve found you because their need for information brings them to your site. They need to know your office hours, program details or the types of services you offer that deliver the outcomes they want, directions to where you’re located, reviews from your patients, or contact details—all content.

But your content marketing strategy needs more than just the content, more than just information or data or beautiful images or Rumi quotes. Your customers require an investment. They’ll respond when you meet them on their terms.

Here’s 4 ways to meet your clients or patients where they are and create an unforgettable experience with your content:

1.  Be authentic, be approachable. What’s your brand voice? How do you bring your unique practice approach and in-house customer service style into the virtual space. Your brand voice is key, and it’s all yours! Part of being approachable and being authentic is knowing who you are and how your unique approach resonates with your clients. Have you nailed down the voice, the tone, the style and the core messages of your brand that you want to share? You should. And it needs to be consistent.

Strategy: Uncover your value proposition. Invest the time and resources to uncover what your clients really want from you. This will inform every decision you make. Get it wrong and you’ll be spinning your wheels, wasting resources and missing the opportunity to serve new patients. Brand Your Genius can help you uncover your unique value and define the key messages that come from you. 

1. Take hyper-local online. Like I said, back in the day, small businesses invested in their communities, in their neighbors and in the everyday lives of their customers. Take that same ‘good business’ strategy and put it to work online. Connect with potential (and existing!) clients by focusing your content on what’s important to them in community you live in.

Strategy: If you know your Ideal Patients want to buy organic or local produce on a regular basis, take them shopping with you! This is perfect for video content, and it serves your focus on educational content. Walk your online audience through the doors of a local business looking for exposure and the two of you can create a co-promotion that reaches twice the audience. Its good business for you both.

1. Be seen, be heard. Create a wide range of content types – narrative blog posts, infographics, images, and video. The more media you create the greater the potential reach and the number of different distribution channels you can use to get eyeballs on your content.

Strategy: While you’re mapping out your favorite places to buy organic in your community, create an infographic that shows your Saturday shopping trip. Map out your favourite places to buy what’s in a professional's fridge. Next, deliver a narrative blog post that details the “Top 10 Places to Shop Organic.” Take that content and create a series of images from your shopping trip and brand them with key takeaways for clients about nutrition and your professional focus. Simple, right?

1. Bring in-house online. What do your patients encounter when they enter your place of business? Is it warm and friendly? Does it have the air of healing and rejuvenation? How did you achieve that, and how do you keep the experience going when you’re face to face? Your online space needs to convey the same feeling. Remember, people won’t remember what you said, but they’ll remember how you made them feel. Your job is to make your patients, your visitors, and your audience feel your commitment to their wellbeing. And you can do that with your content.

Strategy: create content that provides a look into the experience of your in-house space. Share your story with them – the “how you came to be” journey. Post images and videos that simulate your in-house experience. Showcase the vibrant community you’ve created, and share a glimpse into your treatment approach. Be innovative!

As you build out your content, keep in mind how your messages serve your specific customer’s basic, psychological or self-fulfillment needs. Meet them where they are, mentor and guide them along the path to incorporating your products and services into their life. Combine your helpful, authentic and human presence with strategic offers that position you as their healthcare partner. You might be pleasantly surprised that the process of connecting with your patients begins and ends with you.