4 content marketing strategies to help you stand out
Content marketing is a key to converting prospects to customers. According to a study commissioned by Kapost—a content operations software company—companies with a formal content marketing strategy have a much easier time increasing their conversions. In fact, good content marketing translates to over 42% more online conversions, nearly 28% more email click-throughs, and saves companies over $12,000 per customer acquisition cost.
In short, content marketing is the way, the truth, and the life to marketing success. So, how can you start capitalizing on a good content marketing strategy as a builder? Let’s look at some general ideas and combine them with builder-specific information to help you build a content marketing strategy that helps you stand out.
First, a definition of content marketing
Before we get too far into the weeds, let’s define content marketing.
Content marketing is a marketing strategy that provides useful, rather than promotional, information to prospects. It talks less about your products and services and more about relevant aspects surrounding your products and services.
It focuses on what the audience wants rather than the thing you want the audience to buy. For info about how to figure out what people want, read our article about SEO marketing for builders.
Step 1: Lead with professionalism
The key to good content marketing is building trust. To build trust, you need to be able to speak to your target audiences about things they’re interested in with authority. This all starts with being professional in all of your content creation.
Being professional in content creation can mean many things, but here’s what we mean by it.
- Providing truthful and relevant information to your audience
- Presenting expert knowledge about things in your field
- Making your content easy for an average consumer to understand
- Being technically sound in your communications
Let’s quickly break each of these items down.
Providing truthful and relevant information
One of the great things about the internet is that people can cross-reference claims. As you create content, focus on being truthful. If people think you’re bending the truth or can’t back up the claims you’re making, it’s not too difficult for them to do their own research.
Similarly, let your audience guide your content creation. If you aren’t speaking to what your audience cares about, whom are you speaking to at all?
Presenting expert knowledge about things in your field
Your expertise is a huge differentiator. While it might be impossible to create all of your content in house, it’s important that all of your content frames you as an expert.
If you’re thinking about outsourcing your content creation, take special care that the people you outsource it to (who aren’t as close to your company as you are) understand precisely how to create content for it. One way to do this is to create a company style guide.
Making your content easy to understand for an average consumer
There’s a fine line between educating and being a know-it-all. If content consumers can’t understand what you’re trying to say, they’re likely to think one of two things.
- This company doesn’t understand me.
- This company is trying to trick me.
Making your audience feel something about you is just as important as educating them. By making things easy for your audience to understand, you foster a conversation instead of a lecture. That helps build trust.
Being technically sound in your communications
Communication—and everything that goes with it—is difficult on a normal day. Don’t make it more difficult for your consumers by making mistakes in your communications.
Misspellings, misused words and phrases, and unintended implications can confuse consumers. If they’re confused by something you produce, they’re less likely to trust you. If at all possible, hire professional content creators and editors to double-check your work.
Step 2: Personalize your content (but don’t overdo it)
People don’t want to be sold. Frankly, people don’t care about what you sell unless it’s meaningful to them. That means you need to keep your finger on the pulse of your prospects’ interests and personalize your communications for them.
For example, if you build houses for first-time home buyers, you might produce content about what kinds of expenses they can expect after buying.
Determining how to personalize content for your specific audience may require you to invest in analytics software and experts (if you haven’t already). But this can give you a long-term advantage as people move smoothly through their buying journey.
However, while people like personalized communications, they also value their privacy. Be sure not to go too far in personalization via tracking, as it can hurt you later on.
For example, a recent Apple iOS update showed that only 4–5% of iPhone users chose to opt in for app tracking, despite the fact that tracking leads to personalized ads.
So, while personalization is a good thing in general, don’t overdo it.
Step 3: Cast a wide content marketing net
It’s not enough to write an occasional blog or social media post. Like any good investment, you need to diversify your content and leverage what you learn about it.
For example, if you only write blogs and they don’t do well, it doesn’t necessarily mean the content is bad. It may mean that your audience isn’t comprised primarily of blog readers. Maybe they like pictures or video better.
Remember, engagement is crucial to good content marketing. That requires you to meet your prospects and clients where they are.
Finding the best way to engage people may take some trial and error. But once you’ve analyzed how your prospects and clients consume your content, you can dedicate more time to methods that work best.
Step 4: Back yourself up with third-party validation
Have you ever gone looking for additional information about something, only to find that you couldn’t easily verify the information you found? Unverifiable claims are incredibly frustrating, especially to your prospects. And since they’re considering you to complete what will likely be the biggest single purchase of their lives, you want to back up all of your claims.
A proven way to do that is by partnering with a verifiable third-party leader. 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty (2-10 HBW) can provide the third-party validation buyers demand.
Consider two important stats:
- Four of five buyers value a third-party, insurance-backed structural warranty.
- 94% of prospective buyers say that they’re more likely to purchase a new home from a builder who offers a structural warranty, according to a joint survey from the National Association of Home Builders and 2-10 HBW.
2-10 HBW is the industry leader in structural warranty coverage. When the industry leader can back up your claims about the quality of your homes, it provides assurance and builds trust. And when buyers trust you and feel comfortable that other leaders can vouch for you, it makes it much easier for them to fall in love with your brand.
When people love your brand, they’ll shout it from the rooftops. That means more eyes, more engagement, and more success for your company.
Learn how you can protect your business and add valuable selling points to your new builds with a 2-10 HBW structural warranty.
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