Do This One Thing Competitors are not Doing
Do this one thing competitors are not doing. Build a blog focused on your industry and become the media outlet for your industry. If your business is growing because you’re providing a valuable product or service to an audience that appreciates it then continue to earn their trust and referrals by educating them about your industry with your own online industry magazine or blog. Unfortunately, too often companies hire a PR firm with experience in their space and then wait for interview requests and free publicity.
There are a number of problems with this approach:
1. There are only so many leading journalists in the space and they are approached by the same firms over and over again in the same fashion so it’s tough to stand out.
2. When someone researches your brand they often go first to the article in the media outlet that published the story instead of to your brand and may be distracted and head off into another direction.
3. Once a story is published it has a lifespan or news cycle. When that lifespan ends, interest wanes.
You can only go to this well so many times and it’s the same well your competition is going to. So, why not try to do this one thing competitors are not doing? Become the media outlet that shares updates about your industry, other related products and services of interest, and your brand. This is the core of content marketing.
There have been major changes in the world related to how people connect with brands and how messaging grows organically. The way that consumers, investors, and media outlets consume information is different. They often start with a search on their mobile device and then follow the ‘breadcrumbs’ or ‘cookies’ that you’ve already left for them. Because so many people use Google, Bing, and other search engines to gather information it makes sense that you should get into that funnel. And the best way to get into that funnel is to create your own. You can do this by writing, posting, and sharing information about your industry, product, service, and target audience every day. Yup, every day.
The fundamental change that’s occurred with the way we consume media is that we do it digitally and we select from the top answers provided. That allows your brand to create and manage the ‘trade magazine’ for your space. In many cases you’re already posting information to your social media networks that tell your story and other stories that you think are interesting and hopefully relevant to your brand. But let’s face it, that’s a minimal effort.
You are the absolute authority in your space and if you’re not you should be. When we build and manage your brand online we can do it in both a branded and unbranded fashion. We can monitor you, the competition, and the industry and alert your website visitors to the latest trends and developing techniques and technologies while being sure to include you in the messaging. This is key to building brand awareness, generating interest, driving traffic to your website, and building a database of interested parties.
For most businesses they’re making a few general posts, sharing some relative posts and then walking away from that process because:
- It’s not the core responsibility of the person making the posts.
- The person making the posts is not really into it.
- No one can really see any value to these posts even though they think they should be posting.
SEO, search engine optimization, is based largely on content and if you want to be found you have to let people know you’re there. Content marketing executed in a scientific and mathematical way will drive SEO and ultimately interest. And more often than not, it’s one thing your competitors are not doing.
Taft Moore is a 20 year veteran radio programmer and owner of the ten year old content marketing and digital asset management firm VOX Communications, LLC. Established on 2008, VOX has helped clients in digital health, opioid use disorder, bio pharmaceuticals, live streaming, crypto currency, blockchain technology, CBD and Cannabis, recognized non profits, and government agencies grow audiences and drive sales. Millions of people have engaged with messaging VOX has generated and managed for their clients and many millions more have been exposed to that messaging. Contact VOX so we can learn more about your needs and to see if we’re the right solution for them.