Writing content for marketing assets and only saying what you want to hear is like the tail wagging the dog. Instead, create relevant marketing content assets that solve real, current problems and answer the questions your target audience is asking. The content writing process and good SEO follow the same path. Think about writing essays in school If you consider the topic you're writing about, you likely gave it a title and considered putting the most important points up front or bolded them in sections. There was probably some research and possibly links back to references or cited sources. You might have added bulleted or numbered lists, added illustrations for impact, or quoted experts. These are all things we do when we considering how to write the best content for our audience. Read more on the content writing process, the best SEO strategy, and marketing strategy: https://www.demandsphere.com/content-creation/content-writing-for-seo-that-resonates-with-your-target-audience/

1. The Tail is
Wagging the Dog
and other cautionary tales of creating
something based on nothing

2. I once knew a company that would decide
‣ What they wanted to build for customers
‣ How they wanted to talk about it
‣ What they wanted to charge for it
…Without research or regular feedback
They’re gone now.

3. Probably, but there’s a lot of truth to it, so give it a chance.
TRUTH: These are often
referenced stories that many don’t
know the backstory on and used
as reasons for not doing proper
research before launching new
products, marketing campaigns,
and content. The truth is, Apple
and Ford didn’t do it that way and
neither should you.
“What’s the problem with
building what you want?
Haven’t you ever heard of
Steve Jobs? What about
Henry Ford?”
Sound a bit dramatic?

4. We create content for lots of channels, whether it’s for a
campaign, product, or feature release, brand
awareness, or our pet rock…
Then we distribute the hell out of it.
Typical Marketing

5. So smartypants,
what should we
be doing?

6. *And yes, sometimes you don’t know what the real problem
is, but we’ll get to that…
Developing content & solutions
for a real, current problem.

7. How do you know what the problem is?
You let people tell you. Make a list of:
‣ Who has a problem you can solve -
what does this audience look like?
‣ What questions they’re asking to solve
their problem.
‣ Who & where they’re looking to for
these answers.
This will help you figure out what content you
should be creating. Let’s look at these in
detail…

8. Who has a problem you can solve?
‣ If you’ve already got a product in market, use the features and messaging
of your product to find forums, discussions, searches, and social media
posts that are discussing your industry.
‣ Once you’ve got a list of places down, start diving into who is talking about
your industry. Are they managers, executives, young, old, middle class,
college educated, from cities, from rural areas?
‣ What problems are they describing that your product could address?

9. What questions are they asking about
their problem?
✴ From each forum, site, search,
and social post, copy down the
specific questions and phrasing
people are using to talk about
their problems, needs, and wants.
This is important because you need to know HOW they’re describing
their problem before you can figure out how to message to them
properly.

10. What popular topics can you address?
‣ Once you’ve got this list, circle or
highlight words and phrases that
seem to come up a lot. Are you
tracking these in your keywords
already? If not… Let’s think about
adding them!
‣ Now that you’ve got a few
keywords and phrases, map
some features of your product
back to each one. Here’s where
you can start creating relevant
feature-related content.

11. Where are they looking to for answers?
‣ With your previous list of problems and keywords, also
note where the conversation originated: Reddit,
LinkedIn, Amazon, etc.
‣ Note any reviewers or discussion leaders that seem to
come up frequently
‣ Use this information to figure out the types of content
your audience is consuming and where in order to
discuss your industry, products, and services.

12. Now, give the people what they want
Time to create products, marketing
campaigns, and content around
what people are already looking for,
using the keywords they choose,
and the phrases they use.
‣ Track top keyword activity
‣ Discover new keywords that you
aren’t using (but should be)
‣ Figure out new content types

13. Track top keyword activity
Look at what content you already have that’s
gaining popularity and what keywords it’s
ranking for - you can use this to create
additional types of content with those same
keywords.
For example, if you have a blog that’s
doing great for a specific keyword,
consider a landing page, Slideshare,
video, etc.

14. Discover new keywords that you aren’t
using, (but should be)
Look at your lists and add in
the keywords and phrases
that you’re not currently
tracking.
Try creating some content
around those specific
keywords and your
corresponding features.

15. If you see that a lot of questions
are being answered in a specific
format, such as image, video, or
presentation - consider updating
some of your current content to
new formats to match your
audiences desired content
consumption.
Figure out new content types

16. Don’t get boring, stay relevant
‣ Target the best keywords,
regardless of search volume
While it’s natural to want to go after
keywords that have high search
volume, those are often noisy spaces
with tons of competition - use your
research to target specific phrases
and topics instead of general
keywords. It’s better to get 100
relevant visitors than 1,000 that will
bounce / abandon your page.
Use relevant keyword research to find trending topics and
specific words and phrases.
‣ Monitor conversions
Whether this is CTR, purchases,
form fills, etc. you should monitor
how each keyword and content
type performs for conversions.

17. Take on the role of smartypants
‣ Get active on social media and in forums
Show up where people discuss your industry. Find the topics that are
most relevant to your brand and offerings. Ask and answer questions to
build your reputation and influence.
‣ Don’t be a social media hog
Show your appreciation of other’s comments by clicking “like” or “upvote”
and don’t forget to say “thank you” when appropriate - In other words,
make your mother proud.
Answer the questions people are asking.
Caution: Becoming a smartypants takes time.
Who knows.. You might get some inspiration for your own
content or new product offerings based on the problems
people are actually trying to solve.

18. If you can’t play with the big dogs….
‣ Don’t get caught unaware
Before believing you’ve got a unique
value proposition or messaging
strategy - track your competition by
content and keyword.
‣ Find them before they find you
Use a competitor discovery tool to
keep an eye out for new competitors
and content in your space.
You won’t be the only one in the pack, find out who else is out there
already answering the questions you want to answer.

19. Want to know more? Give us a shout.
www.GinzaMetrics.com
@ginzametrics
Ginzametrics
Get started
karen@ginzametrics.com
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www.ginzametrics.com/demo-request