Content Marketing: Creating High-Quality Content That Converts
Content marketing is a powerful strategy to attract and retain customers. By creating high-quality, relevant content, you can establish your brand as an authority in your industry, generate leads, and drive sales.
Given that I’m a former English teacher, I love to use metaphors. For content marketing, I like to use the metaphor of planting a garden. Putting forth good content into the world is like planting seeds in your garden; over time, the seeds will grow and turn into flowers and plants. Do you want your garden to attract certain birds, bees, or butterflies? And like gardening, it is imperative to care for your garden - weed, water, and feed your garden.
Similarly with content, one must consistently tend to one’s content plan. What are you putting out into the world on social media, your website, your Google Business Profile, your e-newsletters? Who are you attracting and what value are you providing them?
Content marketing is a powerful strategy to attract and retain customers. By creating high-quality, relevant content, you can establish your brand as an authority in your industry, generate leads, and drive sales.
Given that I’m a former English teacher, I love to use metaphors. For content marketing, I like to use the metaphor of planting a garden. Putting forth good content into the world is like planting seeds in your garden; over time, the seeds will grow and turn into flowers and plants. Do you want your garden to attract certain birds, bees, or butterflies? And like gardening, it is imperative to care for your garden - weed, water, and feed your garden.
Similarly with content, one must consistently tend to one’s content plan. What are you putting out into the world on social media, your website, your Google Business Profile, your e-newsletters? Who are you attracting and what value are you providing them?
To create effective content, you must understand your target audience and their needs. Conduct thorough research to identify the topics that interest them and the questions they're asking. Once you have a clear understanding of your audience, you can create content that resonates with them. Create four pillars of content so your content is both structured and targeted. For small business owners, consider these content categories:
-Your Brand Identity- who you are, why people should care and hire you, your competitive advantage
-Your Products & Services - your offering
-Your Niche’s Interests - content that your audience gravitates to
-Shared Content - shared content that reflects what you believe in and support
Remember, quality over quantity. It's better to produce a few high-quality pieces of content than a large number of low-quality ones. Use strong headlines, compelling visuals, and clear calls to action to encourage readers to take the desired action, whether it's making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or scheduling a consultation. By consistently creating valuable content, you can build a loyal following and drive long-term growth for your business.
Why Create a Business Plan?
I get this question a lot from agents who have practiced for 10+ years and have been successful without one. Fair enough. But like everything in life, the more you cultivate a growth mindset and are open to new ideas, the more prepared you are to not only attracting more business but also to outsmarting your competition.
If you can answer all of these questions, then perhaps you don’t need a business plan. If you can answer only a handful, then consider hiring a business coach like us!
I get this question a lot from agents who have practiced for 10+ years and have been successful without one. Fair enough. But like everything in life, the more you cultivate a growth mindset and are open to new ideas, the more prepared you are to not only attracting more business but also to outsmarting your competition.
If you can answer all of these questions, then perhaps you don’t need a business plan. If you can answer only a handful, then consider hiring a business coach like us!
Do you have a steady lead flow and full pipeline?
Do you track performance, monitoring growth and setbacks?
Do you invest back into your business (eg. pay to play)?
Is your online presence optimized?
Are you nervous or fearful of hiring help since that would require time, money, and energy -three things you’re often short on but want to solve?
Do you have efficient workflow processes?
Do you have a concrete content and communications plan with prospects and past clients?
Do you implement consistency in your operations and marketing campaigns?
I can’t tell you how many agents are pleasantly surprised after creating a business and tracking progress quarterly (or monthly for those go-getters.) It’s not just putting numbers down. It’s about analyzing past production to reduce expenses, to pivot, or to dig deeper as well as forecasting the future and leveraging past success. Often times agents learn to spread their eggs across multiple baskets. I highly encourage agents to create a business plan each year and track performance quarterly, if not monthly. It also should include a stretch goal and backburner ideas that you can implement once you set more time or money aside.
It’s generally an effective exercise to understand the growth or decline of your business, and for the record, most top-producing agents I have worked with do create and adhere to one; it’s one motion that has helped them get to the top, and, more importantly, stay at the top.