"Content is King”
—Bill Gates
Bill Gates wrote an article under this title in 1996. Now, almost no marketing discussion, article, blog post, etc. fails to talk about the importance of your content.
One of the concerns we hear from many of the associations we work with is how to stay relevant and perceived as a thought leader in the era of 24/7 free access to more content than any one person can consume on just about any topic.
We’re also often told that associations don’t feel they have enough content, the right content, or know how to use the content they have most productively.
Here are five ways to put the content you already have to work for you:
Lead Generation. Content is a primary driver for an ongoing lead funnel. People are very willing to trade contact information for a highly relevant whitepaper, tipster, e-newsletter subscription, or webinar.
Look to content you already have and consider combining a few articles into a more robust whitepaper or creating an easy to digest numbered tips list out of a longer piece.
The leads generated by targeted content offers are often highly qualified, and convert at rates comparable to house records such as lapsed member files when actively cultivated.
Nurturing Prospective Members. What do you do with new leads once you get them into your data? Packaging existing content into an automated drip email campaign to cultivate leads is a very effective means of turning a cool lead into a hot prospect.
Delivering timely and applicable content to prospects using a mix of media such as YouTube videos, downloads, webinars, and tipsters keeps your organization top of mind and positioned as a true subject matter expert.
Nurtured prospects almost always convert to paying members at a higher rate. A nurture campaign will also help you find out what topics are of most interest to prospective members.
Engaging Current Members. Associations often operate with an “if you build the benefit, members will use it” mentality, and that’s often not the case.
Associations need to communicate the value of a benefit and demonstrate its use to encourage members to put it to work for them. Creating timely and applicable content around existing benefits ideally results in increased usage, more engaged members, and subsequently more renewing members.
Social Media. Make your social media even more productive by creating a cohesive plan to share your content via your social media channels.
Coming out with a new Compensation Survey Report? Offer up the executive summary via your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Have an executive go over some top level highlights in a YouTube video. Start a discussion by asking people to comment on what they expect the report to show for a specific data point. Just make sure you eventually give them the finding.
Crowdsourcing. Mine the data you currently have available about your web traffic and benefit usage to help you create a content map. What areas of your site are members most visiting? What are prospective members clicking on and reading?
Check out other popular industry blogs and social media accounts to find out pain points and hot topics. Use this information to ensure the content you provide and prioritize meets an evidence-based demand.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to put content to work for you. There are many ways to use what your organization already developed to generate new leads, engage current members, and increase sales.
For more information, or if you are interested in exchanging some ideas about putting your content to work for you, please contact Rebecca Rubin at RRubin@marketinggeneral.com or 703.706.0395.