The dream of every content marketer is to generate content that keeps readers coming back for more. But how exactly do you create a loyal following?
In this video, Peter Shankman, founder and CEO of social media company The Geek Factory (and author of Zombie Loyalists: Using great service to create rabid fans) talks about how to create a super-loyal customer base. While the topic is more service-oriented, many of his techniques can be applied to the content marketing realm as well.
In a nutshell, Shankman’s advice boils down to one simple principle: To create rabid fans of a business, you have to be just a little better than average. Not a lot better. Just a teeny tiny bit. So if you create content that’s better than your competitors’, logic would lead us to believe the same law would apply.
In some cases, this strategy can work. If your competitors don’t blog at all, for example, simply starting a blog will give you a significant leg up. If your industry is already deep into the content marketing mix, however, you’re going to need to do a bit more to get your voice heard.
Which takes us to another one of Shankman’s points—to create rabid fans, you need to recognize that every customer has a problem and your job is to solve it. Often, being above average from a content perspective simply means ditching the sales pitch and helping people resolve their problems. You can do this in a ton of ways—by writing feel-good client success stories, case studies, how-to articles, easy-to-grasp infographics. Whichever way you do it, however, your customers’ needs should always be at the heart of it. If you do that, the loyal following will naturally evolve.
Does your content marketing have a loyal following? How did it develop? Leave us a comment and give us the scoop.
