The backbone of any business is hard work and dedication. But to really be a success there are three factors that every business needs to have under control – content, visibility and technology.
Content
They say that content is king. And they are right.
Without great content, you will struggle to let people know what your business is about. What you offer, what you stand for, and what problems you can solve for them.
In this digital world there is a lot of competition and a lot of noise. The way to stand out amongst all the noise is to provide your readers with excellent content. It is too easy for consumers to block the content they don’t want to see – they can fast forward commercial breaks, customise their social media feeds, use ad-free subscriber radio, and install ad-blockers to browse websites without advertisements.
To make sure your business does not get fast-forwarded, you have to create content that your target audience wants to see. Instead of rattling off a sales pitch, provide your readers with valuable information. You won’t get ignored, and you will begin to build a relationship of trust and credibility with past, existing and potential clients.
You can’t just release any old content. It needs to be of value for your ideal clients and in a format that they will consume. You can do video, blog articles, short courses, vlogs, live video, e-books, checklists, challenges… the list goes on and on. But there is no point releasing it if it is not going to service your ideal customer. Solve their problems and position yourself as an authority in your field, you will guarantee sales without the sleazy sales pitch.
Visibility
If no one knows about your business, then how can they use it? Once you are armed with your great content, you need to get it in front of the right people.
How you do this will depend on where your audience hangs out. It might be paid online advertising like Google Adwords or Facebook Ads, or it might be a television spot, a podcast, email marketing, direct sales, even a billboard on the side of the road. Choose the methods that are most appropriate for your business.
You may already know where you can reach your audience, but if you don’t yet know, you need to find out. Knowledge is power. By knowing how you can get in front of the right people, you can make your advertising more targeted and more effective. Using a targeted campaign will save you lots of advertising dollars and ensure that you are getting quality sales leads in return.
Technology
There is a wealth of technology available these days, so make it work for your business. Don’t fall into the trap of shiny object syndrome by getting every new advancement that becomes available. Spend your technology budget wisely by choosing things that are going to make a difference in your business.
Automation, record management, accounting software, cloud storage and collective communication tools are all sound investments as they can streamline your processes and save you precious time.
One of the most important technologies to invest in is a tracking and reporting tool like Google Analytics. By using this tool you can gauge the effectiveness of your marketing and find out all sorts of things about your audience. Location, demographics, the most popular content on your website, the time of day your users engage with your content, and what interests them. This is all valuable information that you can use to improve your business marketing and offerings.
So there you have it, the top three things that your business needs to be successful. Create great content that your audience want to read, get it in front of them and impress their socks off, then track how that content is performing. Three key steps to business success.