Marketing 101: Why marketing knowledge is critical for every content creator in creating a loyal reader base.
3 steps to build followership around your content
I’m a self-help book author, I write about career and money management, and I enjoy all the research works and the processes involved in writing content on those topics. I published an eBook last year, and as far as sales is concern, it was a flop. The only people that bought the eBook were those that I informed. The feedback that I got from them was excellent in terms of the book delivering on its promise, but other people aren’t just buying it. For many months, I will check on Amazon to see if more buyers actually bought my ebook, but I always get the same sales figure — Zero.
After about six months, I began to assess the situation critically, and I asked myself the tough question: Why is it that more people are not buying my book? At one time, I searched my book on Amazon to make sure it was still there and available for sale to others. It was there; people aren’t just buying.
Out of frustration, I set out on a quest to learn why some authors sell millions of copies, while others only manage to sell a copy or two. I found out that the reason has nothing to do with whether the book is good or not, but everything to do with branding and marketing. I realize that you may write a great book, but until you know how to get people to buy your book, no one will read or know how great the content is. That is why we only have best-selling authors and not best-writing authors.
I concluded that every content creator must also learn marketing so that they can build followership around their content.
You can write a book on real estate investment that is as good as any book written by Robert Kiyosaki on the same topic. Robert’s book will achieve more success than yours. Why? Because he knows about branding and marketing, and he has his readership base. People don’t necessarily buy a book because of the content; rather, they buy because of the name of the content creator.
So, as a content creator, to be successful, you need to become a brand, and to do that, you need to use marketing strategies to build your loyal fan base.
Here are the three steps you must take with your audience to achieve this objective.
1. Get them to know you.
I know you have been creating content for a while now. You may even be following the strategies recommended by some successful writers on Medium, that you should write every day. Writing every day is a great thing to do, but what message are you delivering to your audience. Do you even know the sets of people you are targeting? Do you know what the audience wants? Or are you just writing anything that makes you feel good? Without knowing the people that you serve, it will be tough to build followership around your content.
When I started working on my second eBook, I took a different approach. I started building an email list, and I write almost every day to the people on my list. I share my story with them, I send out valuable information to them, ask them questions, and gradually, they have come to know me, and they look forward to reading my emails.
Before you write your next article, you should endeavor to target your content at your reader. Know what they want, and make sure your content either entertain or educate them. You need to develop a relationship with your audience, and the way to do so is by communicating directly with them through your work.
If you did this, you have completed the prospecting phase in marketing.
2. Get them to like you.
Now that your audience knows you, the next step is to get them to like you and buy from you for the first time. The purpose of your advertisement is to get your potential customers to purchase from you when it comes to marketing. In the same way, when you write content on Medium, you surely want people to open, read, learn, and enjoy your piece. The more often you can get them to read and enjoy your articles, the higher the chances that they will like you and become part of your community.
When I put my second book out for pre-order, I saw an almost 900% increase in sales; this was because I now have a community of readers that know and like me. They have read several of my contents, and they find the information that I give out highly beneficial.
Do your readers like you, or they just read so that you can reciprocate? If your readers like you, they will readily read your work without any persuasion. What type of stories do you create on Medium? Are they in series, such that your readers are looking forward to the next episode, even before you can create one? If you write about business startup, you will do well to serve your readers by creating a whole package of experience for them. It would be best if you wrote about starting a business, attracting customers, making sales, raising funds, managing business, and everything in between to ensure the business becomes successful. That way, you are not only writing and throwing ideas out, hoping that one will stick, but you are strategically positioning yourself as the authoritative source when it comes to business startup.
If you did this, you have completed the second phase in marketing, which is the Lead stage.
3. Get them to trust you.
They know you, they like you, what a wonderful place to be, right? Nah, you need one more step. What if you become the voice that they want to listen to when it comes to the subject that you share? What if they always call on you to ask for your opinion before making decisions about that particular subject?
That was what Dave Ramsey did powerfully well on his Syndicated show, where millions of people call in to ask for Dave’s opinion on how to pay off debt. Honestly, paying off debt shouldn’t be that big of a deal. You owe, you know the amount you owe, you should know that you need to make money so that you can pay off debt. Simple right? But Dave Ramsey put debt-free living on a pedestal by becoming the expert voice that many people listen to in terms of money management.
So what information are you putting out there? Is there any way you can build an audience around that topic? How can you get your readers to trust you and always want to read your piece? I have been privileged to have read from many great writers on Medium. But when it comes to reading about Spirituality and Nutrition, I will immediately go to Lanu Pitan’s profile. When I want to read sweet, motivational poems and poetry, my go-to person is Connie Song. Whenever I’m in the mood to read about money and investing, Tim Denning’s works will come to mind.
My second eBook happened to be a series, now that my readers know and like me, I am taking it a notch further, I want them to trust me. And to achieve that, I am using my new book series to deliver a whole package of experience that they can leverage as a source of information that will guide them to solve a specific problem.
If you can get your readers to trust you, You have completed the Marketing 101 course, because you now have a loyal customer that depends on you and trust in you to guide them to reap the promise from your content. Nurture them, and treat them nicely. Congratulations!
Do you know the readers you are targeting? What can they expect from you? You need to be clear about this, as you continue to roll out your content. If you are not clear yet, don’t be discouraged, but don’t also relent from finding out. To succeed with your content creation, you should use the above marketing strategies to attract and build your readership base.
