Shopify, valued at $50 billion, launched Build a Business contest for entrepreneurs in 2010. It played a big role in the growth of the then-nascent startup and has since turned into one of the world’s biggest entrepreneurial contests.
Baba Ramdev created Patanjali Ayurved, a billion-dollar revenue business in no-time powered by his free yoga camps.
Gary Vaynerchuk launched and built VaynerMedia, a $100 million annual revenue business all powered by content, starting first with his WineLibrary show.
The list is endless. From small businesses to billion-dollar global brands like Redbull, Patagonia, The North Face and many more for whom the content is one the major levers of growth.
It is proven time and again that you can build a big business if you leverage content right.
Still, most businesses unless they are funded or have smart marketers on board do not leverage content wholeheartedly. And, because they don’t embrace content, they do not see results.
And, they continue to wait on sidelines year after year, losing out on precious time. Some start but stop before they can see results.
There may be a couple of reasons for this.
One, lack of belief in the power of content. Most brand owners see content as a commodity that they use to keep their social handles, blogs, and emails running. They do it because others are doing it and not because they believe that content really can help grow their business and its brand awareness.
Two, businesses think content = SEO. And they assume it will take too long to yield results or they do not know how it’s done right to see real results. They don’t realize that whenever they start it will take as long as it will take now. So, by waiting on it they are slowing down the growth of their brand.
Truth is content powers more than just your SEO. When used right it is a big lever that can work for awareness, consideration, conversion, and retention, and you can package it in the form of a book, a webinar, podcast, an anchor video to sell your products like Dollar Shave Club did or convert it into a program that people pay you for, or knowledge asset like coaches who choose from those who apply and charge $25,000 minimum for 6 hours (30 mins/month for 12 months, to diagnose and advice). And, there is more.
If you know how to make it work for you, content can grow your business and play a big part in business growth as you have seen in the examples above. And, you can do a lot more with content than SEO or even better leverage it in a way that makes your SEO easy.
So, how do you leverage content for your growth?
There are tons of way but today I am going to share one approach that can increase the speed at which you get results with content.
Enter, Impact-First content.
The Power Of Impact-First Content
In this approach, you focus your content efforts on creating impact and not so much on pulling maximum traffic by optimizing your page for a high traffic keyword.
Instead, you create a content asset to attract a small number of ambassadors or customers for your business. This small number may not be enough to build a growing business but they will help with building credibility. This credibility will make others (your wider customer base) trust your brand.
The impact you aim to create with this kind of content can come from sheer value it offers (like a definitive page on a topic related to your product) or its ability to shine light on others (like hosting an annual listing of top professionals in your industry) or by embracing a cause and linking it with your brand (like offering a fellowship).
The impact and momentum you create from impact-first content will not be there always. Before it dries down, find a wider distribution for your content.
Leverage it for your SEO efforts. Link Building is one of the most important parts of SEO but it is not easy to get legit links. The brand awareness and relationships you build through impact-first content can make it easy for you. You can even run ads to promote your impact content and later retarget those who come to your website.
3 Step Process to Unleash The Power of Impact-First Content
Here is how it looks when codified as a three-step process.
#1 Lead with impact content to build credibility and attention.
Publish content that will make your core audience see your brand in the right light. Make it visually enticing and different from regular content. To broaden the impact of your efforts involve others who can help you distribute your impact-first content.
#2 Alongside do content for search rankings and run online ads for distribution.
For your SEO, time your link building efforts around the same time you do your impact-content. This will make your link building outreach more effective. Also, run retargeted ads to anyone who checks out your impact content.
#3 Move people along the funnel to desired outcomes.
And whatever attention and traffic you get from this impact-first approach don’t lose it. Have a clear plan which you have thought through in advance to funnel all users to your webinars, book a call and sales page.
Run your impact-first content marketing efforts 1-2 times in a year. Keep the momentum going by retargeting the audience that you engage while you are not doing impact-first content. And, be sure to funnel the attention to your products and moneymakers. So, that you are excited for the next one.
The momentum will keep growing from one quarter to the next and you will see it turn into a virtuous snowball of brand visibility and revenue growth.
Already thinking about what your impact-first content can be?
Great!
Write to me – mohit[at]mohitpawar[dot]com – to discuss.
