There are three things you need to have a solid understanding of to find success with online marketing: goals, audience and what you want people to know.
Today we're going to talk about the final piece - what you want people to know, otherwise known as your key messages.
What do you want people to know about your business?
When I'm working one-on-one with business owners I ask them what makes their business stand out, what makes them different, what are they proud of and what should everyone know about their business?
Think about these questions for a minute or two and then write down 3 or 4 answers. Here are a few examples:
- I simplify social media
- We have experts on site that can help you figure out what product is the best for you
- Exercise will make you feel better
- We use only the best quality local ingredients
If you're struggling to figure out what your key messages are, go back to your goals and your audience and think about both of them. What do people need to know or believe for you to reach your goals? What would convince your audience that you're a good fit for them?
Here are a few more examples of key messages:
- Yoga during pregnancy can help during labour and delivery
- A personal chef service can save you money
- Kids don't need a lot of toys to be happy
What do you do with this information?
Now that you have these key messages figured out, what do you do with them? Let your key messages guide your content.
I like to think of key messages as buckets. Each bucket has a key message on the outside and every piece of content that I share, whether it be something that I wrote or something that I found, supports one of my key messages. For example:
An article that shows how much food the average family throws out in a week - I can put it in the bucket showing that a personal chef service can save you money by cutting down on waste created by those meals you meant to cook, but never got around to.
An article on how 10 minutes of walking a day can increase quality of life - I can put that in the bucket that says exercise will make you feel better.
I can share a photo of some ingredients that just got dropped off by a local farmer and tag the farm - that falls into the bucket about using the best quality local ingredients.
I can share a blog post about how to set up a Facebook page step-by-step - that falls into my I simplify social media bucket.
You now have a method for qualifying content - if something doesn't fall into one of the buckets, does it really make sense for you to share it? Maybe, but the answer more often is no.
You have buckets to fill. Challenge yourself to find 3 or 4 things that back up each of your key messages. Write some tips, take some photos, write a blog post or share some articles that prove your point.
Leave a comment and let me know what some of your key messages are what kind of content you can put in each bucket to back those key messages up!