One of the most powerful marketing techniques is using content and messaging to connect to your customer. Content comes in lots of different forms, from long-form articles to the messaging on your banner ads, but the message should always be the same. Use these techniques to connect more closely with your customers and build a message that brings in sales.
Start with your brand and messaging.
Before you start writing anything, it’s essential to have a consistent message that comes across in all your marketing efforts. A consistent message will help people create an association between the words and your business and service, with an excellent example of this being straplines like “Just do it” from Nike or “Because you’re worth it” from L’Oréal. These straplines contain the fundamental values that these companies want to get across and create the emotional response that they want their customers to feel, be it motivation for Nike or empowerment and beauty from L’Oréal. Take some time to think about what values you stand for as a company and what emotions you want your customers to feel, and start to create some ‘core messages’ you’d like people to associate with your company.
Create your content.
Straplines are the simplest way to understand messaging. Still, it’s also the most distilled version of your content library, so with values in mind, you can start thinking about how to use your messaging in different marketing assets.
Starting with something like Printmoz banners, you have limited space, so you’ll want to use your strapline combined with a clear call to action such as “Visit our store today,” and then clear information on where to find you. Similar content may be used in digital banners or your social media posts. Your website is another place where you can use content marketing that includes your values and messaging in a controlled way, as you own the media you’re posting on. Make sure that your values come out on the home page in the content, and then you can even include a ‘values’ section on your website that clearly shows the reason why you do business, and why people should feel good about purchasing from you or using your services.
Writing a column in a magazine in your niche will be far more informational rather than promotional, so you’ll need to be more subtle with your messaging. This is called ‘earned media,’ so you can’t be as overt with the messages you portray, but this doesn’t mean that you should forget them altogether. As you’re writing long-form content, keep your values in mind, and try to weave them into your article naturally without overtly using a call to action or strap-line. As you go through this process, and as people see your content in different forms, they will start to associate your business with the values you’re consistently portraying. The main goal is to create a consistent message that generates an emotional connection with your audience.
