Filter Copy: The King in Marketing Kingdom Giving yourself a digital pat every time you share a piece of content serves little purpose, unless you're in love with your own voice
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"A great headline mixed with a lame opening is like inviting someone in your house, only to slam the door in their face."
With an overload of online information, the deafening noise of the latest news does precious little than swarm the reader with mindless distractions. Rather than influence them and navigate them through the path of the buyer journey, you are bewildering them.
Why not cut out the noise, filter the right information and present it in a manner that your audience cannot help but fall in love with?
But, is that even possible?
It sure is. All you need to do is to put headphones on and raise the antenna to achieve noise cancellation. And, don't forget to put blinkers on, to stay focused!
Content is no longer "king' but the "kingdom'
Two sure-shot ways of canceling noise
- Become a quiet riot — stand out tall with exclusive news
- Develop the art of potent content sharing
These two points can truly help you strike gold when it comes to building brand awareness, optimizing search engine rankings or building a like-minded community.
The process of escaping noise needs you to do more than filtering the sound of clichéd content. It also means that you put blinkers (niche content) on to focus on the most important aspect – target audience.
Answer this question honestly: Would you like to proudly display more 2330 friends on your Facebook Page? Or would you rather prefer having 200 close pals you know personally and share an emotional bond with?
Once your aim is clear, you will find it easier to maneuver the strategy of content marketing in isolation. We'll see how it works in silos.
Shoot for Niche
Yes, sometimes catering to that solitary reader can do the trick. In a strange way, it is akin to luxury that is affordable to a chosen few, which is why something as seemingly normal as the content is going niche with more than a tinge of personalization.
Giving yourself a digital pat every time you share a piece of content serves little purpose unless you're in love with your own voice. Instead, tick the following check boxes to get off the starting block like a seasoned jockey and touch real people.
Precision-laden Content
Know who your user/audience/targeted customer is and give them the exact information they want. Mobile devices are ideal for tapping the elusive exclusive user. For example, an ideal content for the mobile app could be an invitation before a sale bonanza. It gives a heads up to regular subscribers. A two line email invite will make them feel important.
Controlled Diversification
After having sent a two line private invite, add a link to the landing page. Bear in mind that this should not include any content that is unrelated to the sales bonanza. Sprinkle your content with relevant images, stats, rebates, and loyalty points, if any.
Link Landing Pages
Just like pro-rider steers clear of the broader circuit, direct the user to the landing page in a single click. If they need to wobble around various blogs, articles, and images, the opportunity is as good as lost. A single link is better than myriad links to different items that will only confuse them. Understand their behavioral patterns by providing a link to two or more items they stumble across, add to cart, or tend to buy.
Stumble Upon the Right Person
Talking of stumbling, if the din gets lowered, you are bound to hit the bull's eye sooner, rather than later. Do you have a good social listing? Is it personalized? How often do you use them? Answer these questions honestly to solidify your prospects and take the final aim.
On that note, have you thought why is it that 5-star hotels tap the anniversaries/birthdays of their loyal patrons? They don't do it without any reason or motivation and they certainly know what they're doing. Such a list is exclusive and leads are almost always encouraging.
Timing matters
Users are now active in more than one medium. Keep up the chase by tracing all activities linked to them. They can be a pro-am or pro-pm web browser (okay, surfer). Just as you would avoid calling someone in the middle of the night, you'll obviously want to avoid sending any content at odd hours. Respect their boundaries and stick to what works best.
Culture and Language
If you do not speak the same language as your targeted consumer, you are only contributing to the vicious cycle of clutter and confusion. For example, if you are a B2B specialist, speak a language that your audience understands. Complicated jargon may push them away to a direction that is diametrically opposite to yours.
Leverage colloquial content matters when you're looking to target a niche audience. For example, a homemaker would feel more comfortable reading and sharing content that exudes ease of readability. A friendly tone that reflects care and concern almost always gets a high-five.
Don't Kill the Content Before its Time
Someone wise once said: "A great headline mixed with a lame opening is like inviting someone in your house, only to slam the door in their face."
It doesn't matter how great your story is. If it is not told well, its relevance goes away, often for good.
The need of the hour is to develop your own secret sauce to get users to click on your information – be it blogs, infographics, Facebook or LinkedIn pages. Intersperse one with the other to pique their curiosity and build on it. Follow up your killer headline with an even more intriguing opening paragraph. Let your readers know in no uncertain terms that (and why) you deserve their time of the day.
Before you lose focus and get distracted, here's a quick recap!
- Become a quiet riot — Stand out tall with exclusive news
- Develop the art of potent content sharing
Action Point: Stand out with exclusive news
Use Case: Instead of using a generic title that doesn't solve a real problem, consider this: Is a pet-friendly hotel ideal to address your pooch's requirement?
The beauty of such a title is that the content promises to focus on a niche/target reader. To keep them hooked, you can supply related news and resources from your website or blog. Before you know, they may actually consider unsubscribing from other pet owner listings/sites and sign up exclusively with you.
Action Point: Develop the art of potent content sharing
Use Case: After sharing such pieces of content on a regular basis, chances are that your niche reader will be happy to let their best friends know how they can all travel comfortably as a big family on a peaceful vacation. Besties have a thing for sharing helpful information that addresses a practical concern; they typically like to stay away from silly forwards that choke their news feed.
As that happens, the concept of sharing and caring will gain momentum and actionable traction, soon forming a chain of events that will have them coming back to you for other useful, relatable information that they cannot wait to share.
Not a bad way to make your audience feel loved and cared for, is it? At the same time, you're also helping them happily choose the path that leads to you. A win-win scenario that only gets better with time as you make the transition from a service provider to a collaborator and eventually, a trustworthy friend.
PS: Please remove your headphones and absorb this news in silence.
