You’ve got a great store and an awesome brand. You’re doing well, but it seems as though you’ve been coasting for a while, and you realize you need to reignite your content marketing.
Or you have a great store and awesome brand, but you’re lost when it comes to all this marketing stuff. That’s a whole different skill set, and you’re not sure where to begin.
Even if you know what to do to begin. You’ve got a blog, but it’s stale and you just don’t know what to add to it. Since we’re all about offering actionable guidance, you’re in the right place.
We’re going to detail several ways you—your store—can snag the attention of potential customers. And hopefully, captivate them. Establish lifelong brand loyalty.
What about existing customers? You’ll keep them captivated.
Some of these methods may be harder and more time-consuming than others in terms of creation. Some may cost you monetarily while others may just cost you time and effort. All of them should help in increasing your customer base.
Please note these are in no particular order, but let’s start with the most obvious, and the one we hope you’ve already implemented.
Blog Content
As indicated above, it’s possible that you already have a blog. But what about your content? Are you just posting short or long-form articles—maybe with an image or two—and calling it done?
While articles are the mainstay of most blogs, there is so much more you could be adding. The types of things that could capture attention. Not everyone is interested in reading a wall of text.
Even nicely formatted text. A lot of people aren’t interested
Blog Content: Video
The first and most obvious thing to include is a video. What types of video content would your customer find engaging? This will very much depend on your product or service.
You could offer demos are workshops. I think it’s well established that people don’t read instruction manuals, but they will search for a demonstration online. Make sure you provide one.
Blog Content: Surveys & Opinion Polls
Next, how about things like surveys or opinion polls? People love to give their opinions, so give them the opportunity. Share these on your social media as well. Perhaps boost them to a broader—but sensible—market segment.
Surveys and polls are a great way of collecting valuable feedback and give you an opportunity to get to know your market better.
Blog Content: Infographics
We mentioned above that not all people are interested in reading a ton of text. Some people just want the highlights and key points delivered up fast and clearly visible.
Enter infographics. First, they are a great way of capturing attention and attracting new customers. Since they’re social media friendly, you can cast a wide net with them too.
Here’s some interesting data from HubSpot, in the article How to Generate Leads with Infographics. Note that this info is a bit dated now, but it’s still relevant for marketers today. The article states that visitors are 30 times more likely to read an infographic than they are to read an article.
Infographics can also be downloadable content. This means they’re an excellent way to capture email addresses assuming you request one for the download.
You could offer them in exchange for a
Infographics are also optimized for Pinterest and they are the most shared type of content today.
So you’ve not only captured their attention, you’ve captured their contact info as well. Something every marketer wants.
Testimonials
These days, everyone wants social proof. That’s often in the form of a product or service review, but a testimonial is much the same. If others can tell us about their great experience working with you, we want to hear about it. And then we want to have that great experience too.
Ultimately, your landing page should have a single goal. Conversion. So make sure your landing page somehow showcases what others have to say about your product or service.
Host a Webinar
A webinar is a type of presentation where you have a chance to teach your audience something. Educate them on your niche. You’ll want to schedule the event and then market it beyond your existing customer base if you choose to.
Podcasts & Audio
Podcasts are very popular since in today’s hectic world most of us are trying to multitask. You can listen to a podcast while you’re commuting, working out, in the shower, or doing any number of things. They’re a great use of time spent doing something otherwise mindless.
According to research done by Edison Research in 2016 and published in an infographic, podcast listening exploded in the first half of the decade.
Between 2013 and 2016 there was a 75% increase in monthly podcast listeners. In total, as of 2016, the American podcast audience is about 57 million in total.
You aren’t necessarily creating more work for yourself either. In terms of simple audio, you could use a free program like Audacity and record your posts and other appropriate content.
YouTube Channel
We talked briefly about
There are a lot of people who may never visit your blog but will follow your channel, so make sure you curate it accordingly. And there’s an endless choice of things you could choose to video record.
Just make them entertaining because most of us would rather not watch and listen to a dry talking head. Other than what’s mentioned above, offer things like product reviews.
Unboxing videos are another option. I sometimes like to check those out when the manufacturer’s marketing material isn’t clear as to what’s included in the box. Find an unboxing video, and you have your answer.
Perhaps you could show some interviews/testimonials of customers who have used your product or service and how it changed their life—even in some small way—for the better. Some of that social proof is mentioned above.
Q&A and AMAs
You’re probably familiar with the first acronym, but in case you’re scratching your head on the second, it stands for Ask Me Anything. Anyone who spends time on Reddit will likely be familiar with them. For the Q&A, you could ask your audience or followers what questions they might have about your product or service. What kind of advice or guidance they might want or need?
Then you create content, whether text or video, that answers the question. These are also great for SEO as a lot of searches may be phrased in the exact same words as the question you’re answering.
A Q&A is easy to control while running an AMA may—and probably will—require some moderation. However, remember the point of this session is that your audience can ask you anything. So be well prepared.
Also, AMAs are run at a scheduled time, so advance planning and an announcement about the event are necessary. So there you have it. A number of ways to start or scale up the type of content that will capture the attention of your audience. And keep it.
Conclusion
In today’s digital age, the competition for attention is fierce. As a store owner, you need to find creative ways to capture the attention of potential customers and keep them engaged.
One powerful way to do this is through content marketing. By creating valuable and engaging content, you can attract new customers, retain existing ones, and build brand loyalty. But with so many options and strategies out there, it can be overwhelming to know where to start.
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 9 effective ways store owners can capture attention with content. From social media to email marketing, we’ve got you covered!
