Your business growth toolkit might be missing one of the essential tools for building your consulting brand: content marketing, which involves creating and distributing online content like articles, videos, and podcasts to instantly stand out as an authority in your field and win your prospects’ trust.
Below, we’re exploring how you can harness the power of content marketing in your own consulting business growth strategy.
Why content marketing?
Content marketing helps you drive website traffic organically. Creating high-quality content demonstrates your consulting expertise and helps turn prospects into leads, and leads into customers.
An equally important purpose of content marketing is continuing to serve your clients after the sale and winning long-term brand enthusiasts who refer you.
Now that we know the why behind content marketing for consultants, it’s time to look at the many strategies you can use to your advantage.
Creating targeted communications for different audiences
No customer is the same, but you can attract, convert, and retain customers by identifying your primary target audience and creating tailored experiences for them.
Gearing your messaging strategy, stories, graphics, content, and offers toward these different customer segments can strengthen your appeal. Now is a great time to examine your communications through the StoryBrand Framework, if you haven’t already. It shows you exactly what your customer needs and expects at each stage of the journey and informs your content marketing strategy.
Brainstorm content ideas from training
Feeling stuck coming up with content topics? Consider brainstorming from training modules and other sources of authority. We recommend:
- Evercoach
- Udemy
- LinkedIn Learning
Of course, this list is very brief. You can expand your list of go-to resources by setting aside time monthly for content strategy and creation.
Stuck on writing? Record yourself instead
One of the biggest barriers to content marketing is the fear of the “blank page.” If you’re not a natural writer or have difficulty translating your ideas into finished content for customer consumption, use your voice instead.
Recording videos or podcast-style content is a great way to publish ready-made audio content to replace blog posts or written assets while still providing value to your customers.
If you go this route, consider diverse content that will serve your customer in every season of need. Include different types of assets, such as sound bites and quote cards.
Plus, you can get double the benefit with this strategy if you choose to transcribe your recording through a resource like Otter.ai, as you can use this to create additional assets later.
Do your competitor research
Staying on top of what your competitors are doing is inspiration for making even better content that will engage your prospects and compel them to take next steps. Your audience is likely “shopping” for solutions, and you’ll want to position your brand to win their attention and business.
The only way to do this is to conduct an honest assessment of your services and what you’re up against in the market—which is where competitor research can help.
Once the research is complete, you can address the competition directly, discussing the pros and cons of working with your brand versus the competition. Using this strategy effectively means tailoring your message to the expectations and needs of your current prospects as authentically as possible—not copying your competition but carving out a unique space for your brand.
Tap into your local audience
Content marketing isn’t just to boost your reach in new areas—it can sometimes be most effective at home. By creating content relevant to where you live, you’ll connect with an immediate and engaged audience, all of whom are seeking the transformation you can provide with your brand.
Learning local SEO and other content marketing strategies can help you clearly distinguish your brand as a top local choice.
Spend more time on long-form guides
Many are turning to guides and e-books to address their problems and jumpstart their transformative process. While creating long-form guides is time-consuming, it can get you incredible reach with organic SEO strategies and build trust with your audience.
If you’re considering this strategy, 2,000 words should do nicely. Also, you can easily repurpose this content into:
- Tweets
- Email blurbs
- Social media posts
- Podcast episodes
- Video content
You won’t regret developing a long-form guide. This single investment can give you months of short-form content and benefit.
Refresh your old content
Reviewing and refreshing your old content is helpful for two reasons:
- You’ll stay relevant. Innovation is a business constant. Staying on-trend and providing the most up-to-date information bolsters your credibility.
- You’ll get SEO points. Google appreciates timely and well-written content. Refreshes are a great way to prolong the life of already-performing pieces.
You can start by looking at your content library and seeing if an update could add value. Do your competitor research and avoid overlap or “fluff” for maximum value. Try to update at least 25% of the material when refreshing old content so Google recognizes it as new copy, not reused.
Use tools like AnswerThePublic to see what questions your audience is asking
If you’ve got writer’s block, consider using tools such as AnswerThePublic and the People Also Ask tabs in Google’s engine. Search histories will tell you exactly what your ideal clients want to see and learn more about—which you can use to your advantage to create five-star content.
Determine distribution channels & optimize
Determining which channels you’ll distribute content on can inform your optimization strategy. What works on Instagram may not work for Pinterest and TikTok.
Conducting micro research to determine which platforms your ideal customers prefer can determine which platforms you spend the most time creating content for, which are best for testing new approaches and offers, and where you should be most accessible.
Common channels include:
- Medium
- TikTok
- Native blogging sites (such as WordPress and Wix)
Ideally, you’ll want to have a unified brand presence across all your platforms. You can work with a social media strategist and content creator to bring your ideas to life and learn which ones get the best response from your ideal clients.
Take your consulting business to the next level with branded content marketing techniques
You can build your business organically with high-quality branded content marketing techniques. Taking the time to refine your brand strategy will help you get the most from your content marketing efforts. Doing this enables you to differentiate yourself from the competition, connect with your ideal clients, and scale in a sustainable way.
It’s time to rethink any “meh” marketing and transform your consulting brand into a client magnet. Connect with me, Dionne Kumpe, today to learn more about leveling up your strategy for showing up like the brilliant business you are.
