How Content helps your brand

This is real life. You board a bus on your way home, it’s a sunny afternoon and shortly after a sharp looking middleaged man joins you. The 10 seater bus gets filled and your journey begins

Within minutes, the man, fully dressed in traditional attire gets up from his seat, reaches for support and begins to speak in a warm and reassuring tone

'Ladies and gentlemen una good afternoon, my name na Doctor Smart today I'm talking about 5 ways you can care for your eyesight...'

At first you weren’t interested. You faced front

'Did you know over 4 million adults above 40 in this Country experience moderate to severe visual impairment due to poor eye care?' He continuees...

As he spoke you couldn't help but notice everyone around you was keenly paying attention as Dr Smart effortlessly dished out value

You begin to pay attention as he continues to educate his audience on ways to minimise risk of eye complications

'Wear sun glasses if you dey commot for afternoon to protect your eyes...

'Eat a healthy balanced diet, make sure you eat onions...

'Try know your family medical history, because sometimes genetics dey be major determinant of risk

'Avoid smoking and stay hydrated....'

At this point a woman seated behind cuts in

'So oga if person family get history of visual impairment mean say the person too go get am?'

Dr Smart answered

'E fit mean say the person go dey at higher risk of complications, sometimes many sickness na combination of genetic and environmental factors dey cause dem... Which is why we need to try as much as possible to maintain proper eye care'

He continued for a few minutes then starts to advertise a product meant to help people care for their eyes

'This product na correct herbal remedy, e get nafdac number. It has helped thousands of people...'

He leans forward, reaches for his tiny briefcase and brings out a shiny looking product, shortly after He makes his first sale!

Others begin to show interest and in minutes his herbal remedy was SOLD OUT.

I’m a Nigerian who’s certain that most Nigerians who take public transport would have at least once experienced something quite similar to this made-up scenario, because I have experienced it countless times with different range of products

Awareness > Value > Conversion > Retention

It’s a game changer, trust me on this

Now the value lies in how you communicate with your audience, empathize with them and position your brand as the solution to whatever challenges they face

Let's analyse the story...

The imaginary bus you entered is simply a channel, filled with people headed to different destination, each passenger had no plans or intention of purchasing a herbal remedy they never even knew existed...

▪ Creating unique and relevant content helps position your brand for visibility and create awareness who you are, what you offer. This helps create cognitive familiarity and trigger favorable response to your message

After a brief introduction, the "messiah" dishes out value in form of education and informative content to stir interest in his area of expertise (eye care)

▪ Content is value-oriented. Content in whatever form represents value wrapped up as information passed from a creator to arouse interest or engage an audience. Truth is people are attracted to value like ants to sugar, you can’t be ignored

Creating content helps your brand:

- Gain Visibility
- Make impact
- Empathize with your audience
- Establish Authority & Expertise

After the careful process of creating awareness around the brand and dishing out value in his area of expertise, Dr Smart suggests a product meant to help people care for their eyes and shortly after converts his audience to paying customers

▪ People buy from who they know and trust; Creating Content positions your brand as that friend who cares, creating a pattern of familiarity around your brand. Doesn't sound like much but that's how to stay 10 steps ahead of the competition

Hell Yeah
Content would help you do just that

One more thing...

Dr Smart pulled it off, cause he wasn't just talking at us. He was communicating. The 40 minute discourse was a two way street; he answered questions, collected feedback while maintaining a calm and reassuring tone...

What can you learn from this approach?

▪ All avenues of communication need to be two-way to be successful, especially digital.

Feedback is important. Everything needs to be approached with your audience in mind you’ve got to be able to talk with them, not at them

Retention is key and it’s also important to segment your audience into groups and create tailored material for your audience at each level of awareness.