Creating content is easy. It’s really easy. In fact, I can create a piece of content in about 20 minutes flat, but do I actually take that long to create a informative piece of content? No. You see, the truth is that for some time, I just created content, marketed the products that I sell, and this was all without any form of customer targeting at all. It was as simple as me telling a story with no target market, just a simple message that I wanted to pass out there with no one in mind to receive that knowledge, or take that commercial action that I wanted them to take.
It was my BIG missing link.
Let me give you a quick intro here. When I create content, I create content for two separate places. First is the search engines, and this is the text that is present in the title tag and the description. Second is the content on page, and this is what does the hard work. Most importantly, all of the content that I create is created for one type of person. The person that is going to take the action that I want them to take, whether that be sign up for my list, take that recommendation and purchase that affiliate product, and so on and so forth. This is what I call my avatar.
What Is An Avatar?
From a business perspective, your avatar is the exact person that you are targeting, and the ideal person who you want to attract to your blog. It is however, not one of those blue people that you have been seeing in the movies, sorry to disappoint. (see above) In the case of this blog post, this would be you. Creepy, huh? Anyway, the content that is in this post has been designed exactly for you, just the words that I used in the title and description tag were used to bring you to this site. Pretty cool, right?
Anyway, to dig a little deeper, lets use an example. Lets say that I have a post that is reviewing an SEO product, and contains affiliate links to the product site, my overall goal would be to get the searcher from the search engines to visit my review, and click on the button that takes them to where they can purchase the product. This is where customer targeting really starts to become fun.
Lets say that the post is a review of a link building service that comes at a high cost. What I would know about my avatar at this point would be that they are not 100% certain about whether or not they should fork out that kind of money per month for a service that they don’t know much about, so they are looking for a review of the product to push them either to purchase, or to disregard it. Keeping in mind that it is human nature to spend money, as it makes us feel good, I am going to custom build a title tag and description that addresses the concern of my avatar, and tells them what to do next.
What Do I Know About My Avatar Now?
At this point, I know that my avatar wants to buy the product, but they need clarification on whether or not to purchase it. I know that they are after a link building solution, and that they are willing to pay for it, as they wouldn’t be searching for a review otherwise. Knowing this much, I know that there is commercial potential in that kind of traffic, and just so long as I perform good customer targeting, I might be able to sell to my avatar on page as well, just so long as I address their concerns.
Now, it goes without saying that this really does translate into just about any kind of market, whether you are selling cars or herbal remedies, every single customer has a trigger that will turn them from a browser into a buyer. For example, when my avatar learns that the product does great things, and has exceptional support, all it takes is a simple call to action based on the desires of my avatar, and bam! That is just another visitor who has taken my desired action.
Customer targeting is not that hard to do either. In fact, it is a simple matter of role playing within your mind, and in order to try and get things right, lets try a little excersise next time you create some content.
When you have an idea, pen it down and don’t optimise it just yet. When you have created that piece of content, go ahead and devise a commercial response that your undeveloped avatar can take. (eg, buy the product, sign up for your list, etc)
Now, you are going to navigate to Google, and consider the overall topic of the content that you have just created, and consider what people may be searching for and why. Think about why your potential visitors are searching for your content, then consider what would convert you into a visitor, and someone who takes that commercial action. Note this down, then base everything that you put together for your title and description based on these triggers.
Remember, all customers have triggers, you just need to find them, and the best way to find them is to put yourself in their shoes. This is the heart and soul of customer targeting, and the more that you start writing for your customer, the more positive results you are going to see from that traffic that you earn through the search engines.
So, What Were My Plans For You?
HA! I nearly forgot to adress that. To be honest, the only plans that I have for you are to help you along your way. No sales pitch here, just friendly advice, however, you are more than welcome to follow me on Twitter, and more than welcome to sign up to my mailing list as well.
