I’ve always been a big fan of companies becoming content creators to drive organic SEO around their brands. But, I’ve seen a trend recently with business content that is a bit unsettling. Many companies are so determined to stock the search engines with their videos and SlideShares and Facebook pages, they are forgetting about context. 
Fact is, if content is king, context surely is queen.
I often tell my clients, the key to a social media marketing strategy is to start with that first impulse that sends someone on the path to your brand; that first Google search; that question on LinkedIn; that initial problem they are trying to solve and then build your content around it. This is a sure-fire way to get your brand in front of the people specifically seeking you out.
It’s important to remember you are participating in a competitive marketplace and there are other people who provide similar services and products who can take market share away from you. The more relevant you can make your content to your target audience, the better shot you have at connecting with them in a meaningful way.
Consider these statistics:
There are 49,500 Google searches every month for “children’s clothing.” 27,100 monthly searches for “supply chain solutions.” And, 40,500 monthly Google queries for “executive recruiters.”
That seems like an awful lot of prospects right? It’s certainly a lot of search activity. So, if you create content tied to these terms, you will just be inundated with customers, right? Wrong. If you try to connect your content to these very general searches, you are going to get lost in a sea of online activity that may not be relevant to your business at all.
Look again at the above numbers and now consider this:
There are only 1,300 monthly searches for “infant clothing.” 720 monthly searches for “supply chain inventory management solutions.” And, only 3,400 monthly searches for “IT executive recruiters.”
The more specific the topic, the smaller the barrel of fish becomes for your lead generation. This is true for your content as well. The truth is, there is no excuse for broad-based content creation today. There are countless tools, many of them free, that allow you to monitor what people are saying, what questions they are asking, what terms they are searching and what problems they need solving. The more you can tailor your content to this context, the greater chance you will have connecting with your key audiences.
Use Social Mention to find the web sites with the most relevant activity and the Top Talkers in your category. Blog Pulse and Board Reader are also very useful to dive even deeper into those channels. Advanced Twitter Search will help you identify those top trending topics and Twitterers.
Content-driven marketing is an important piece of any online marketing or PR strategy. But, it’s no place for laziness. Take the time to really identify what your target audience needs and then give it to them. I promise you will see the results and rewards.
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