We’ve been working with Hubspot for almost six months now, and they’ve been great at helping us get in shape as we grow. There is a science to their strategy that frames our thinking around content really effectively.
But I’ve realised that the more I learn, the more there is to be learned, particularly in the realms of SEO.
As content marketers, one thing we all know is how critical it is to create content that is relevant, timely, and helpful for our audiences.
But how can we establish what those people really care about (what they want to hear, as opposed to what businesses think they want to hear)?
There are plenty of great tools to help you identify what people are searching for on any given topic. A favourite for us is Keywords Everywhere. And you can have a lot of fun looking for content inspiration with Answer The Public.
So now that we can use simple technology to discover what people are searching for, does that mean we know what they really care about?
Two recent articles that address this come to mind.
The first, posted on Mumbrella outlined the challenges in finding a good specialist agency that can genuinely help find and engage new customers through SEO is definitely worth a read.
The second, from one of our favourite content strategists Robert Rose takes this topic one step further, in his recent piece entitled ‘Stop Looking for Your Audience Strategy in Google Search’.
He makes a great point that strongly resonates with our own view of what defines effective content, but it’s a challenge that we face time and time again when we talk to businesses about content purpose: We should be thinking of our audience as more than just traffic.
Like us they are people, and to understand them better we need to get to know them a little more deeply than just Google. We need to talk to them, research them and empathise with them, if we are to establish the true value that our content can deliver.
So before we even get to the what, when and where, actually understanding the who is the first priority to set you up for success.
