{"id":189,"date":"2018-05-24T15:58:51","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T10:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/?p=189"},"modified":"2019-05-27T12:20:28","modified_gmt":"2019-05-27T06:50:28","slug":"growth-hacking-using-content-customer-attraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/growth-hacking-using-content-customer-attraction\/","title":{"rendered":"Growth Hacking Using Content: Customer Attraction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growth Hacking Using Content: Customer Attraction<\/h1>\n
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Chances are, your future customers aren\u2019t yet searching for information about your brand. \u00a0They aren\u2019t yet thinking about brands. They are thinking about their lives. \u00a0How you fit in their lives isn\u2019t yet their main concern.Before anyone becomes a customer of your brand, you first need to attract their interest. \u00a0You need something to say they\u2019ll care about. \u00a0Attraction can seem mysterious. Startups, in particular, have a strong need to attract and build interest. They want interest in their product to grow. To attract more prospects, startups will want to:<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. Understand the motivations of customers that lead to attention.<\/li>\n
  2. Understand some key indicators of customer attraction.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    During the attraction phase, prospects can be cautious, hesitant to make commitments. They first want to explore their needs and desires. They need to feel they can trust a brand before they will spend money with them. \u00a0That\u2019s especially true when they encounter startup brands they don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

    For their part, startups need to woo prospects without burning too much cash. \u00a0Incentives and ads are costly and push the cost of acquiring customers too high. \u00a0Content is a critical tool to woo prospects cost-effectively. Attraction from the Customer\u2019s Perspective<\/p>\n

    Attraction happens…<\/p>\n

    …when a prospect becomes aware of what your brand has to say…<\/p>\n

    …about a situation that matters to them.<\/p>\n

    Content that attracts interest will build awareness of a brand. Your future customer doesn\u2019t see themselves as a lead. \u00a0They are someone looking for information. \u00a0They are browsing content that seems interesting. What is interesting to prospects? It\u2019s content that seems interested in them. Interesting content is relevant and rewarding.<\/p>\n

    What Customers Consider Relevant?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Prospects want content that helps them understand their current situation better. \u00a0Relevant content answers why the prospect\u2019s situation is how it is. \u00a0Do they have a problem? \u00a0Is it serious? \u00a0Do they have an opportunity? \u00a0Is it possible?<\/p>\n

    Relevant content addresses what a prospect may need to change. As we all know, making changes can be hard. \u00a0Inertia holds us back. \u00a0Learning something new takes effort.<\/p>\n

    Your content needs to make a change appealing. Prospects should feel rewarded when viewing your content. A prospect starts off researching the nature of their situation. \u00a0They slowly start to form an opinion about their situation.<\/p>\n

    Perhaps they will type some keywords into Google. \u00a0They may search on terms like:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Optimize<\/li>\n
    • Prevent<\/li>\n
    • Fix<\/li>\n
    • Upgrade<\/li>\n
    • Risk<\/li>\n
    • Issue<\/li>\n
    • Resolve<\/li>\n
    • Improve<\/li>\n
    • Reduce or increase.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      They may seek to understand market trends. \u00a0Or explore monetary or time benefits of making a change in their lives or business.\u00a0They may listen to stories. Try quizzes. Scan explanatory graphics.<\/p>\n

      Is your content part of their journey? \u00a0Or will they pay attention to content created by others?<\/p>\n

      Growth hacking success requires understanding the mindset of prospective customers. Before a prospect commits to your product, your brand needs to show it is committed to their success.<\/p>\n

      Attraction from the Startup Perspective:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      Startups need to grow quickly. \u00a0They need more customers to do that. But startups typically aren\u2019t well known. \u00a0Potential buyers aren\u2019t aware of their brand. Startups can try many ways to build more brand awareness. \u00a0They can buy ads, or do PR. But content is the best way for startups to build a connection with potential buyers. The right content can generate more web traffic, and increase awareness of your brand. But web traffic is an imperfect measure of interest.<\/p>\n

      Startups need metrics that show the depth <\/em>of interest from different prospects. They need to measure whether they are earning the trust of prospects. \u00a0What are the signals that indicate that prospects trust what the brand has to say?<\/p>\n

      The simplest indicators measure whether people keep reading or viewing what you have to say.<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Do people return to visit your website?<\/li>\n
      • Do they sign up for your newsletter?<\/li>\n
      • After seeing your content, do they want to keep hearing what you have to say?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        When prospects continue to engage with your content, it signals you are earning their trust. \u00a0How do brands build a virtuous circle, where prospects read their content and want more?<\/p>\n

        Attracting with Distinctive Content:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

        Most marketers create generic content. \u00a0There isn\u2019t much that\u2019s special about it. \u00a0So it doesn\u2019t attract much interest. Prospects hear a lot of noise — different brands saying similar things.<\/p>\n

        If your content is distinctive, it will likely perform better. Your content won\u2019t attract attention if prospects consider it part of \u201cthe herd\u201d — the mass of brands promising the same generic vision of a better future. Herds don\u2019t seem very welcoming. When the herd forms a stampede, people run to get out of the way.<\/p>\n

        In the awareness stage, your content is shaping the prospect\u2019s impression of your brand. Your content has an opportunity to be distinctive in terms of what it discusses, and how.<\/p>\n

        Your content should address topics that are top-of-mind for the audiences you are trying to reach. Readers read content that\u2019s helpful, not pushy or lecturing. \u00a0Use a wide lens to look at the prospect\u2019s situation, instead of talking about your solutions.<\/p>\n

        Startups are driven by the need to grow. They\u2019re in a hurry to evangelize their solutions. They believe in change and want to sell others on the benefits of change. That agenda is commendable. \u00a0But that\u2019s not the prospect\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n

        Prospects must first buy into that vision of change. Remember: prospects can be tentative about making changes. They need to feel the change is relevant — and rewarding. \u00a0To build trust, startup brands should make sure prospects have enough time to get acquainted with them and their thinking. Attraction takes time. Selling change requires persistence \u00a0— and a degree of patience.<\/p>\n

        Making Content Rewarding:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

        To a prospect, change may feel exciting but stressful. The prospect thinks: Everyone is telling me to do something. Yet the prospect wants to make changes on their own terms, not someone else\u2019s. To get prospects excited by the idea of change, you\u2019ll need to inspire them to embrace a new point of view. \u00a0Not \u201cthought leadership\u201d that tries too hard to seem self-important. Prospects will notice a point of view that\u2019s fresh and an attitude that\u2019s encouraging.<\/p>\n

        Prospects are attracted to content that\u2019s practical and approachable. \u00a0Content that supports incremental changes in their thinking and actions. \u00a0Content that rewards them by being enjoyable and practical. Startups can benchmark how well they address topics compared with other brands. \u00a0They should ask themselves: What\u2019s better about their advice compared with advice offered by others?<\/p>\n

        To attract prospects content should have a distinct point of view, and be appealing. \u00a0The best content has an elusive quality: it feels special. \u00a0A good tactic is to do a competitive audit of your content.<\/p>\n

          \n
        • Does your content say the same things, and sound the same as your competitors?<\/li>\n
        • Do any competitors reach your prospects with different content that\u2019s more appealing?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Few startups perform a competitive audit of their content. \u00a0Yet they wonder why they aren\u2019t developing as many leads as they\u2019d like. Marketers tend to view content as a tool to generate leads. Growth marketers consider the role of content from a wider perspective. \u00a0They realize that interest is a key indicator to track. \u00a0If interest is tepid, then leads will be as well.<\/p>\n

          Growth hackers should measure whether they are building interest. \u00a0They will want to experiment with how they can get better building interest. \u00a0They can fine-tune their content, measuring what themes and messages draw the most interest.<\/p>\n

          One important indicator of interest is what\u2019s called recirculation. \u00a0After viewing your content, do visitors explore other content you offer? \u00a0If so, they are signalling that they consider your content special. They are curious about what you have to say.<\/p>\n

          Content can help marketers understand the motivations of their prospects, by looking in detail at the performance of different content. \u00a0Even underperforming content can sometimes yield useful insights.<\/p>\n

            \n
          • Why is some content not attracting interest?<\/li>\n
          • Is the topic not compelling?<\/li>\n
          • Is the topic not important to the segment you are trying to reach?<\/li>\n
          • Are you targeting the right segments?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Probe these issues with surveys and analytics to learn why might not be engaging with prospects. Your content in the attraction stage is an early signal of how well you understand the people you are trying to sell to.<\/p>\n

            Customer attraction presents many growth hacking opportunities. \u00a0The variables are endless. The data can be rich.<\/p>\n

            Attraction is not a mystery, but a journey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Growth Hacking Using Content: Customer Attraction [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Chances are, your future customers aren\u2019t yet searching for information about your brand. \u00a0They…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[116,122,124,120,115,132,72,113,112,118,158,101,188,130,159,75,157,156,117,131],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":599,"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions\/599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenextbigthing.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}