Recently, I’ve been discussing pillar content for your business blog, intending to show you why it is so important to understand how to create the perfect content plan (and how easy it is to do once you understand how).
Today I want to broaden the conversation and take you through consumer-led blog content because this is where you’ll really understand how to grow your website audience.
What do I need to have in place before I establish my consumer-led blog content?
It can feel a bit like the chicken and egg debate when you are new to content marketing, or you are establishing a blog for your business website. What comes first, the goal of the blog, or just getting content out there and figuring out key performance indicators (KPIs) later on?
Most of us will start with writing content off-the-cuff because we have so much we want to share with our audience. We post and post, covering all sorts of discussions, only to find ourselves wondering what it’s all for months down the line.
I often have new clients saying they feel like they don’t understand what they need to achieve with their blog content, or what their readers might actually read, let alone understand what pillar content is.
This is where I come in. I have been working in this field for some time and I understand how to structure your initial approach.
Here’s the secret.
You need to start by defining your goals, or KPIs.
Ask yourself what you want to achieve with your blog writing. The answer is a mix of audience and awareness-building stats and product, service, or email signup conversions. Your unique business and industry will give you more detail as to what the specifics of these target numbers might be.
If you are still feeling stuck, then start with small steps. Look at how your Google Analytics performance reports read and scale up your targets for key performance indicators, like page views, exit numbers, bounce rates (term and measurement changes under the new GA4) and best-performing posts.
Then you need to establish what your content pillar topics will be, remembering that you need to showcase:
Your brand values
Your products or services
What you want to be known for and are good at (expertise)
Your clients’ problems and solutions
So what is consumer-led blog content?
Consumer-led blog content is the concept of writing for your reader.
Every single successful blogger out there will tell you that no one is going to read anything that doesn't put them first.
Sounds selfish, right? The “what’s in it for me?” mentality.
The truth is that this is exactly what your website traffic is thinking as they hit your website and your blog.
They are looking for answers to their questions. It’s that simple.
Fail to fulfil that and they will be gone in seconds!
The 5 rules of successful consumer-led blog content
1. Educational content
If you are using something like Answer the Public to find common search terms for your favoured keywords, then you will notice that most results are questions or prepositions. These are great content ideas to build into the educational portion of your content plan.
From these, you can build out tutorials and FAQ-style answers in blog form.
But they aren’t the only educational tool you can use.
You can inform your reader about all aspects of your business, whether it’s directly in relation to your products and services, or using your industry knowledge to educate and even become thought leaders on how your industry works and its future.
Without a doubt, education is the biggest portion of your content plan and one that can help assist in SERP, backlink and domain authority aligned KPIs.
2. Inspirational content
Many of your buyers have a “What if?”, or “Do I really…?” question stuck in their head and it can result in a barrier to purchase.
“What if I buy ‘x’ and it doesn’t work?”
“What if I wait to buy this next month?”
“Do I really need this?”
“Do I really need to take all these steps to…?”
These are all hypotheticals that show a customer might not have the confidence to buy yet. There is a raw emotion there.
Inspirational blog content is about helping your buyer dispel this uncertainty by tapping into that emotion and reframing it.
“What if I buy ‘x’ and it doesn’t work?” becomes “What if I buy ‘x’ and it does work?”
“What if I wait to buy this next month?” becomes “What if I buy this now?”
“Do I really need this?” becomes “How is this going to help me?”
It isn’t always a SERP-winning piece, but if cleverly crafted it can be! What it actually does is help show understanding between brand and consumer.
Post content like this every month and you will find people start believing in you. As we know, gaining trust is a huge step towards KPIs we could measure in audience and financial growth.
3. Entertaining content
In every sector, people want to find entertainment, something that makes them smile, or laugh. It makes a business memorable.
Creating entertaining blog content isn’t about being a comedian, but about finding a medium to connect with someone in a way that keeps them reading. More importantly, if you hit the balance right, then people will come back again and again.
Crafted well and entertaining content can also be educational, inspirational and even promotional, allowing you to generate new leads.
KPIs might show an increase in email marketing signups, RSS reader numbers and things like social shares and word-of-mouth referrals.
4. Community content
Case studies and community interviews can be a great way to involve your audience in your blog content. They can also act as a great way to showcase the power of your products or services.
If you utilise user generated content (UGC) in your social media, think about how you can repurpose this in your blog content.
5. Promotional content
I’ve put this type of consumer-led blog content last because in my experience promotional content is for landing pages, sales pages, social media and email marketing over the blog portion of your website. But that doesn’t mean it should be missing from your blog entirely!
Regardless of your product or service offer, there are merits to talking about points of interest on your blog. Frame it in a way that helps the reader. Remember that “What’s in it for me?” question!
If you need a copywriter to create compelling copy, someone who understands how to reach your target customer, fill in the project brief form below!
