Does your content keep your audience wanting more? For your audience to stick around, you need to keep them engaged. Regardless of whether you’re a large or small business, content creation is critical for the success of your marketing efforts. 

While content is critical, content creation is not just about churning out as much content as possible. It’s also not only about trying to reach new audiences and gain new customers but about appealing to your current customer base. 

Creating custom content is key here. Let’s look into how your company can start providing your audience with quality content that will keep them coming back for more. 

The Difference Between Custom Content and Content Marketing 

Not all content is created equal. While the two terms may seem similar, content marketing and custom content creation are two very different things. They both involve the creation of content like blog posts, white papers, podcasts, and more. While the materials are the same, there are big differences between the messaging of the two. 

Content Marketing 

Content marketing is outward-facing and is mean to attract new audiences. It involves the creation and publishing of content with the purpose of getting new prospects and ultimately, customers for your business. Content marketing is also used to improve your rankings in the search engines. 

Custom Content

Custom content creation is a bespoke method of content that caters to your existing audience with the purpose of building a connection with your existing customers. With this technique, you know who you’re creating content for and why, so you’re better able to meet your current audience’s needs. 

Why You Need Custom Content Creation

Implementing custom content creation into your marketing strategy is essential for providing information to your customers that will keep them interested in your brand. The benefits don’t just stop at your existing clients. Your current customer base is your biggest advocate, and you can benefit from receiving referrals from happy customers. So while your branded content is targeted toward your existing customers, it plays a part in receiving new clients. 

Businesses that use custom content creation will benefit from building brand visibility through various platforms, building brand authority, and creating a community around your brand. 

What are the Traits of Effective Custom Content?

While content is one the most effective ways to market your brand, it’s important to make your content stand out from the crowd. Some of the leading traits of great custom content include: 

Value-Based Content 

Ultimately, customers don’t care about how great you say your products and services are—they care about how your products and services can alleviate their challenges. So when creating content for your business, you don’t want to focus on how great your business is. Instead, it’s important to focus on your customer’s challenges and show how you can help solve them. 

Providing value-based content will help your brand build a community that looks to you as a thought leader and a credible resource. 

Shareable Content 

Your custom content needs to be shareable to extend its reach (and your success). To ensure your content is shareable, you need to create high-quality content that attracts social shares. To do this, you’ll need to identify the topics that your current audience needs. Surveys are helpful in getting this information and will give you the insight you need to cater to your current audience. 

Competitive 

To create great content, your brand should also stay on top of what your competitors are doing. A competitor analysis will give you the information you need into how your competition is providing content to their audiences, and where. 

Check out the social media channels, their blog, and the downloadable content they provide on their website. This will give your brand the insight you need to go above and beyond and exceed your competition. 

Purposeful 

The content you provide to your audiences should help your company build brand awareness. To help this along, your content should serve a purpose for your customers, such as educating them on the latest industry trends and news in their niche. This will keep them engaged and will improve your chances of getting referrals. 

How to Create Effective Content for Your Business

To create high-quality content for your business, there are some steps to follow for success:

Identify Buyer Personas

Your buyer personas serve as a representation of your ideal audience. Creating buyer personas is the first step in creating great content because it will give you insight into what kind of messaging will resonate with each of your target audiences. 

To identify buyer personas, you’ll need to look into your existing customer challenges, demographics, and buying behavior. You’ll also need to know which social media channels they frequent so you can focus your social media efforts in those areas. 

Use Keyword Optimization 

It’s not only important to create content; you’ll also need to create content with the right keywords. This will expand the reach of your content and help you build brand awareness. Look for keywords that your target audience is searching for on Google and long-tail keywords that have high search volume and are less competitive. 

Create Compelling Content 

After you’ve got the data you need from your buyer personas and keyword research, it’s time to put that into action and create content that resonates. This information will give you the foundation you need to create content that will help you connect with your existing audience. 

Success with Custom Content 

Remember, quality over quantity. Custom content creation will help your business stand out amongst your competitors, and it will provide your audience with the value-based content they need. 

You don’t have to do this alone. Register with us today and see how we can provide you with compelling custom content for your business.