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Build Great Backlinks has posted a new item, 'Attract Customers to Your
Community with Content'


Posted by Mackenzie Fogelson

Everybodys talking about content. And everybodys writing content. SEOs, social
media specialists, agencies, marketing departments, probably even your mom. And
a lot of it isnt pretty.
Hopefully, by now, you got the memo that if you want your content to grow your
business, it cant be crap.
And hopefully youre ready to do something about it.
There is a very tiny (yet very significant) theme a shift in perspective that
is important to embody when youre generating content for your website, blog, and
social media outlets (oh, and offline, too):
Its not about you.
Its just not.
Even though you may be one of your companys biggest fans, you are not your
target audience. If you want to attract customers to your brand and your
community, your content needs to reflect the fact that you understand your
customer. That youve actually thought about and considered the challenges they
face which make your product or service a necessity in their lives.
And you need to do all that without making it about you.

Try using foundational and community building content


In general, there are two types of content that you need on your website; we
call them foundational content and community building content.Foundational
content is the important stuff that permanently lives on your website. Its the
inherently self-promotional stuff that explains who you are and what you do. Its
your about page, your sales pages (products or services), and it tends to be
(but isnt always) pretty static.Foundational content is the stuff thats pretty
much impossible not to make about you because it is, in fact, about you. As a
result, in order to attract customers to your community with your foundational
content, youve got to pack it full of value.Community building content is less
about what you do and more about what you know. It usually lives on your blog,
is dynamic, and indirectly promotes your brand (and earns links). Its what
bolsters your online reputation as an expert. It builds trust, establishes
credibility, and naturally attracts people to you.Community building content is
most effective when its not self-promotional. It doesnt need to say your company
name. Instead, it needs to be completely focused on your customer and the value
that you can provide or point them towards.

Patagonia is a really great example of providing value in both types of
content. Whether its foundational or community building, they focus on the
customer, their needs, and the experience. Let's take a look at some examples.

Packing value into foundational content


In Patagonia's foundational content, they focus their message not just on how
cool their product looks or even how functional it is (though they dont hide
those things), but also on the broader concerns of their target audience.
This is an email marketing promotion that my husband just recently received
about the Encapsil Parka:



Notice how instead of just bragging about the fact that this is the best down
parka ever made (all about them), Patagonia is also going to show you what they
mean by providing value through video (all about the customer).
If you click through to the video, the content boasts how little is used to
make the jacket, something that is important to consumers who respect (and are
drawn to) the Patagonia brand. Patagonia is balancing self-promotion with
something that is useful and enhances the experience.



Even though Patagonias intention is to sell this product, they are committed to
integrating value into their foundational content so that they are serving their
customer. The page is also packed with additional videos, details, social proof,
customer testimonials, and the opportunity to live chat. All. Kinds. Of. Value.

What community building content looks like


About a week later, my husband also received this email from Patagonia:



This is Tommy. He climbs rocks for a living. Hes a Patagonia Ambassador (thats
code for bad-ass-rock-climber).

This email marketing promotion clicks through to a post on the Patagonia blog
about Tommy. Even though it lives on the Patagonia blog, it doesnt plug
Patagonia products, it doesnt even link to any associated Patagonia rock
climbing gear. Its all about Tommy, his (kind of scary) adventures, and his
drive to be a standup guy.



This is community building content (and it probably attracts a lot of links,
too). Its indirectly self-promotional. It speaks to the kind of people that
Patagonia wants to attract to their community. My guess (and presumably
Patagonias guess, too) is that people who like guys like Tommy resonate with
what Patagonia stands for as a company and they want to be a part of what theyre
doing (which means buy their products and join their community).

You can do this with a content strategy


You dont have to be a ginormous brand like Patagonia to generate the kinds of
content that will attract customers to your community. You just need to have a
content strategy that will get you from where you are to where youd like to be.
An ideal content strategy aligns the goals of your business with the
expectations of your target audience. If you want to build a thriving community
around your company, youve got to have a strategy that considers the people who
are going to be reading your content and the experience that you want them to
have.
The best place to start is with a content audit of your existing content. If
you want to attract people to your community with your content, youve got to
make it worth reading. That means over the first several months (and possibly
beyond) youre going to need to spend some time transforming what exists: improve
whats worth revising and ditch the rest.



Re-working your foundational content


When youre auditing your foundational content, pay attention to whether it has
any value or if its all about you. Certainly your content is going to be
self-promotional (it is, after all, your website), but you can communicate what
you do or sell and still be focused on the customer and their experience.
Even with your about or policy pages, you can use creative ways to improve the
experience and add more value. You should also put some thought into the
following:


Your whyâ¨
Have you figured out your why yet? Focus on your passion and what makes you
unique in your space. Why are you different from your competition? What is it
that you like to do? Get very clear about what you do well and why and then make
that what youre all about.


Your customerâ¨
Who exactly are you targeting (remember, the whole world is not your
customer)? Develop a persona around them. Get to know your semi-fictional
audience members and keep them in mind as you manipulate your content.


Their challengesâ¨
What challenges does your audience have? Define their pain points and then
make sure your content addresses them.


Where theyre coming fromâ¨
At what level in the conversion funnel might your customer be visiting this
page? In order to provide the best experience possible, your content should
reflect this.


Balance the all about me in your foundational content with the value that
better serves your customer. Instead of having a page with a couple paragraphs
of text and some bullets like this:



Supplement the textual information with things like video, blog posts, case
studies, infographics, and testimonials:



Making these simple changes can make a big difference in your lift:



Integrating value into your foundational content is really about two things:


Satisfying user intentâ¨
The purpose of your foundational content is to convert. If you dont provide
anything but a couple paragraphs that give your 30 second elevator speech, youve
just lost the opportunity for a sale. â¨


User experience
â¨Making sure that youre providing the best user experience and that
its consistent across your website, blog, and social media outlets, as well as
your offline efforts.



The more value you provide with your foundational content, the more desirable
you become, the more trust you build, the more you appeal to the person who is
on the other side of that search. Again, anything that is going to make it less
about you and more about them.
The key is to balance all of your foundational content with some community
building content and then youve won the internet.

The angle on community building content


First things first. Just because you have a blog, doesnt mean you always have
to write about the stuff you sell (remember the 80/20 rule?). Same goes for your
social media outlets. That gets old quick and can be pretty limiting in terms of
the audience you can engage. Its ok to promote your products or services on your
blog, but work to keep that to 20% of the time.
Focus on developing community building content on your blog. It's the
powerhouse that can help you reach the objectives you have for your business,
and also attract (the right) customers to your community. But again, same thing
applies: lay off the self-promotion.
Community building content can be blog posts like this one from SimpliSafe or
infographics like this one that SEOgadget lovingly created for one of their
clients:



Community building content can also be video like these tech product updates
from Grovo:



...or even more in-depth resources like this simple and free e-book from
Portent or these guides from Pippen's Plugins.

The bottom line with your community building content is that the focus needs to
be on your customer. It's not meant to directly promote your company. You want
to generate content that indirectly communicates your strengths and illustrates
your expertise and knowledge. If your customers can find alignment with what
they're searching for and the content you're providing, chances are, they will
be more inclined to not only be part of your community, but also purchase your
products and services.

Before you write your community building content, consider things like:


The goals of your (potential) customer
You know what your goals are for your business, but what about the goals of
your target audience? What are their intentions with your content?


Depth in your content
What can you help them learn or better understand? Can you change their mind
about an industry misconception or challenge their beliefs on a particular
subject?


Satisfying a need
How can you serve their needs? Can you provide advice, ideas, instructions,
suggestions, a guide? Your goal is to focus on providing quality content that
that people really want (and are searching for).


As youre creating community building content, consider following the 70/20/10
principle like Ian Lurie, Tom Cruise, and the dude from Coke do.



The basic gist is within your content strategyshould look like this:70% of your
content should be a mix of mainstream stuff (knowledge, advice, and how-to type
content); 20% goes along the same lines as the 70%, but with a little risk
taking (controversial or attempting to attract a new audience); and 10% is the
super cool stuff that may completely bomb but showcases your innovative side.
The thing about this approach is that it will help you to challenge the
direction of your community building content so that you avoid just creating the
same kind of stuff over and over (which will provide a more exciting experience
for your users). It will both satisfy your existing customers and community
members and attract new people who resonate with what youre putting out there.
Even more importantly, the 70/20/10 principle will push who you are as a
company which is really important when you're growing a community. Your
community building content needs to make a statement about your brand, showing
your community what youre capable of and what you believe in. All stuff that
will attract them to you (and keep them there).

Some final pointers


A couple (ok, three) more things to keep in mind:


There is no magic formula
â¨Its really important to have a content strategy that will assist
you in working toward goals for your business. And its also really important
that you create an execution plan that will help translate all of the stuff you
want to accomplish into actionable, chewable pieces. But keep in mind that there
is no magic number of posts that will attract customers to your business and
your community. Its the quality of your business, your content, and you.
â¨â¨As you work to develop strong content, keep in mind
that this is an ongoing process that involves constant iteration. Dont plan an
execution calendar for any longer than a few months. Let your strategy drive,
but listen to your content. Allow the freedom to be agile and change course
based on what happens when your content is actually released. â¨


Bring it back to your goalsâ¨
Allow your content to take you on unexpected journeys. Be open to new ideas,
consider the feedback youre getting in blog comments and from people who provide
input in real life. If a topic in your strategy suddenly becomes urgent, move it
up in your execution plan. Be flexible. Just always make sure that you bring it
back to your goals. â¨â¨When you ensure that your content is
always in alignment with your business objectives and what your customers need,
youre clearing the noise. Youre staying focused on producing whats important
which helps to reduce anxiety, workload, and keeps you on track.â¨


Good content is an investment in your business
â¨Quality content is an asset that builds value in your business.
Whether its a blog post, guide, whitepaper, case study, infographic, or video,
your content is going to attract people to your business and your community
(ongoing).â¨â¨
Creating content thats valuable is not always a quick and easy task. Whether
youre committing to this for your own business or youre an agency assisting a
client with content, its going to take some time.â¨â¨
Start small. Weve found with our clients that committing to two small
(quality) posts a month is a realistic frequency (but it really depends on your
goals and your strategy). If youre developing content thats more extensive like
an in-depth guide or an infographic, reduce the frequency that month. Instead of
spreading yourself thin on two, put all of your energy into one heavy hitter and
give it the attention it deserves. After all, its an investment in your
business.


Your content is meant to serve a purpose


Building and growing a community around your business can be done with an
investment in a good strategy, content, outreach, and a lot of hard work. But
keep in mind that your content isnt just meant to rank, its intended to serve a
purpose. Draw people in with your community building content, and then pack your
foundational content so full of value that making the sale is the natural next
step.
What interesting ways are you integrating value into your content, or have you
seen other companies doing? Id love for you to share your experiences in the
comments below.
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