Written by: Shannon Housley
If you’re not using content marketing as a way to stay in front of your existing clients and nurture the potential clients in your funnel, you’re really missing out.
Because using traditional marketing methods like running ads and sending direct mail campaigns is tricky nowadays. Clients are so used to being bombarded by sales pitches…that they scroll right through ads and toss direct mail in the trash without a second thought.
That’s why using content marketing is essential to growing your book of business. And it’s why today I’m giving you 3 highly effective habits to implement in your content marketing strategy.
Now, if you’re not familiar with content marketing, content marketing is creating and sharing material in emails, blog articles, social media posts, and newsletters— That does not explicitly promote your services… BUT is intended to stimulate interest and provide something of value to the reader.
And as I’ve said before, sometimes it’s tough to make content marketing a routine in your business. So that’s why I want to give you 3 highly effective habits to implement today:
Step 1: State your goals.
Whether you want to send 1 email a week… or post a blog article every Monday… or finally get around to creating a monthly newsletter. Write down your goals. Also write down your performance goals—maybe it’s adding 20 new clients this year or increasing your AUM by 10%. Just write it down. When it’s written down you’re more likely to do it and hold yourself accountable.
Now, you’re ready for Step 2: Put it on the calendar.
Goals are great. But if you’re anything like me, if it’s not on your calendar it’s not getting done.
So if your goal is to send an email once a week, add it in bright red to your ToDo list on your calendar. Hold yourself accountable and set aside a small amount of time to make it happen.
I’ve found that it’s easiest to establish a routine or habit if you do it on the same day every time.
So on Monday when I head into the office, I fix my coffee, sit down at my desk, and the first thing I do is open my calendar and see hey it’s “email Monday” which means that when I write my email content for the week.
Just a few times of doing this and it’ll becomes a routine.
So you’ve set goals, put them on the calendar. Now what? How do you know what to send?
That’s where habit #3 comes in: Listen to your audience.
If you’re going to send clients something of value, you’ve got to know what’s on their minds. You have to listen and watch. Listen to what your audience is saying in meetings and on phone calls… and watch what they are posting about on social media or what they’re being exposed to in the news.
This is where a lot of adivsors make the biggest mistake.
They just send any old email that they’ve copied and pasted out of those big box marketing libraries—and expect and assume clients will read them. Usually this content was written years ago and doesn’t pertain to anything that’s going on in the client’s life or even in the market today.
The whole point of content marketing is to “STIMULATE INTEREST and PROVIDE SOMETHING OF VALUE TO THE READER.
That’s why listening to your audience is so important. You have to know what they like and what’s on their minds if you’re going to connect and give them something they can relate to.
If not, you’re wasting your effort.
The new year is right around the corner. It’s as good of a time as any to analyze your marketing efforts, set new goals, and adjust accordingly. I know that when you implement these 3 habits in your content marketing strategy you won’t have any problem meeting or exceeding your objectives.