Creating content for my business; where do I start?

A lot of businesses, big and small, work hard and spend a lot of money to get their message out to customers. And yet it’s still amazing that companies spends thousands of dollars on branding and design – they’ll spend significantly less on creating good, solid content that represents their shiny, polished brand.

I visualize in metaphors (and out loud, and write in first person, so bear with me). Imagine – you’re sitting alone, single at a table in a coffee shop, and an extremely attractive person comes up to your table, turns toward you to say something with a lovely smile, and then … not one intelligible word comes out of their mouth. Moment lost.

This is it! You only have about three seconds to say something that interests customers. Capture their attention! This is not the time to talk about how great your product is, or how long you’ve been in business (snooze!). People are reading your content, not just as a “business”; they are people! You need to have content that appeals, engages, and most of all – content that is useful.

Before you even begin to write something – think about your customer. Who is s/he? What do they want? Why are they coming to you? Why are they considering using your business? Speak to those immediate questions. Don’t waste time with marketing jibber-jabber, especially not on a Web page. If you’re trying to get them to consider your products, consider what they’re looking at: is your product reliable? Can they trust you to do business, and do it well? And, last but never least: Are you going to give them what they need?

You’ll also content that represents your voice, the “tone” of your company. Just like a visual brand, you want to create a brand “voice” that customers will recognize as yours. If you’re a serious marketing company – that may mean a serious tone, with little-to-no colloquialisms or humor. If you’re a small, start-up ad company known for your innovation – you just might want “sassy” as your middle name.

Make sure you take the time to appeal to your customers, in a voice they will recognize with your brand. Stay consistent and you’ll be better represented through words than you ever thought possible. You’ll also have something smart to say, that goes nicely with your shiny new look.