How To Create Content People Care About by guest @K8Tilton

Ina Smith Zajac asked, “How to write blog content people actually care about?” The answer is simple, write valuable content for your audience. But what does valuable content look like? What does your audience look like?

Let’s break it down.

Step One – Know Your Audience

This is always the first step. It is also one of the hardest steps, but don’t skip it. Having a clear picture of your target audience will make EVERYTHING you do in marketing easier and more effective.

Start with the basics: location, age, gender, education.

Narrow those as much as possible. Choose female or male (not both), choose an age range that belongs to a generation like the Millennials or the Baby Boomers, select a specific area of a country like New England, USA.

Even better, create a profile for your Number One Fan. Select their exact age, location, education level, gender. Add in this fan’s hobbies, career, etc.

The biggest problem when we talk target markets is everyone wants to please everyone, so they don’t narrow down their target, but in doing this you shoot yourself in the foot. The target market is meant to guide your marketing efforts so you hit on those who are the most likely out of everyone to want to hear what you have to say. Having a narrow target market doesn’t mean your message won’t reach those outside of the target; it means you will have a clearer message, and be able to make better content quicker because you know who you are aiming to please.

Once you have your Number One Fan profile, take the time to flesh it out. What social media networks does this fan use? Of those networks, where are they most active? Do they read blogs more than social media posts? Are they a fan of video or podcasts more than blogs?

Before you start your blogging journey, be sure your audience wants blog content and not another form of content like video or podcasts. You’ll thank yourself later.

Step Two – Provide Content of Value

Once you know the target audience you want to reach inside and out, it should be pretty clear what your audience is after:

What is the biggest pain they face? How can you make it better?

Do they seek knowledge on a subject you know well?

Are they looking for an escape after a hard day of classes?

What matters to them?

If you are writing educational pieces, take the time to break topics down into easy to digest pieces. If you are looking to entertain, choose a length (word count or air time) that fits in with your audiences’ schedule.

And do so consistently. Whether it be one a week or once a day, stick to a schedule your audience expects, and you’ll find a whole lot of people care.

I suggest making an editorial calendar that lists the dates you are going to post and the topics of the post. Buffer has a detailed article about editorial calendars and how to make them, so check that out: The Complete Guide to Choosing a Content Calendar: Tools, Templates, Tips, and More.

Step Three – Find Your Audience

Now that you know who you are trying to reach and how to provide them with content they care about, you need to get that content into their hands.

We’ve shared numerous ways to build your audience here on BadRedhead Media including:

If you follow the advice in these articles, plus participate in relevant memes like #MondayBlogs, you will see your audience soar!

About Kate Tilton:

Kate Tilton has been in love with books for as long as she can remember. A relatively new voice in publishing, Kate has been serving authors behind the scenes since 2010. Founder of Kate Tilton’s Author Services, LLC, Kate works as an author assistant and social media manager with the mission of connecting authors and readers. Kate is the creator and host of #K8chat (Thursdays at 9pm Eastern), a contributor to BadRedhead Media, and has appeared on popular media such as Publishers Weekly, The Book Designer, Kobo Writing Life and Rafflecopter. A cat-lover and fan of many geeky things, Kate can likely be found curled up with the latest Doctor Who episode, plotting world takeover, or connecting authors and readers in any way she can.