Attracting The Habitual Reader With Your Content Marketing Strategy!

By Perry Rearick, Chief Editor, Follow Your Buyer

I recall a conversation I had with a mid-level marketer about six years ago who was frustrated that his content marketing engagement strategy was only attracting “habitual readers” rather than ready-to-buy leads.

Habitual readers? What did he mean by that?

His company, a large B2B solution provider, had invested significantly into creating high quality thought leadership content from subject matter experts in his organization. He also had a well-thought-out content distribution plan to reach his target audiences and measure the results. He knew who was accessing his digital content and when.

He then sent a list of engaged readers who met his target audience criteria to an inside sales team who promptly sent them an email asking if they had an active project and were seeking to buy a solution. And they received little to no response.

He concluded that they were only habitual readers just interested in reading the content and no more.

And that is the mistake that many content marketers with poor results make! 

The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as, “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

The marketer in the example above had the right kind of content to attract a clearly-defined audience, but was unable to retain them because his follow-up was narrowly aligned with his own outcome, making a sale.   

You see, the habitual reader is exactly who solution providers want!

Habitual readers are in the early stages of their buyer’s journey, even perhaps before they know they need a solution. They are seeking content to help them understand the issues they face and then establish objectives and set a strategy to overcome them.

This is the best time to build trust with prospects so that their vendor criteria describe you and your solutions perfectly.

So, when you attract the habitual reader, rather than fast-tracking them into buying your solution, retain their interest with more content they find valuable, thus building trust and establishing a poll position among solution providers.  

This week I encourage you to take another look at those habitual readers you may have discounted and reexamine how your team is following up with them.