Hayley Dorney is an Account Executive for Zahra Media Group’s Content Agency. She does a lot of writing for different clients and is well-suited to share tips on how to research unfamiliar topics.
Time and time again, we’ve discussed the value of telling your audience not just what you want them to hear, but what they want to hear. When creating content that is going to prove truly useful and answer the questions your audience has, some time and effort needs to go into your preparation. Research is the key to this preparation.
So how can you avoid hours and hours hunched over your desk, trawling through the web trying to find leads on what your customers want to know about?
Here are six clever research tips that will help you create clever content…
Blogs
Blogs are the bread and butter of researching any market, topic or trend. Blogs filled with market research are aplenty and they will let you know what’s working and what isn’t, what it is that’s bothering your prospects and what they want solutions to, allowing you to create targeted and useful content.
Social Media
Social media channels offer a fantastic insight into what your audience is looking for, what they need answers to and what they engage most with. You can really learn what kind of people your audience are, what they want and how they look at the world with a quick analysis across Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. On many of these platforms you can do a keyword search or find out trending topics and hashtags.
Keyword tools
Similar to the above, keyword tools can clue you in on what precisely your targets are searching for and interested in. If you know what it is you want or need to write about for your audience, but aren’t entirely sure what route to take or how to best approach it, keyword tools are your friend!
They will also ensure your content is optimised for search engines. Some good ones include Google Analytics and Google AdWords, Keyword Tool and WordStream.
Thought Leaders
Thought leaders are so called for a good reason! You can be confident that what they’re saying is reliable, well-researched and timely. If you notice a topic merely nodded to in a thought leader’s blog or video, why not do some research of your own and explore the idea in full?
Some of our many favourite content marketing thought leaders include @steverayson, @MarketingProfs and @ShaneSnow, but a quick look through Twitter will help you find yours.
Competitors
Check out what your competitors are doing, take inspiration from each and do the job better. Find a different angle or a side they didn’t look at and research it yourself.
Events
Attending events in your market is a fun and highly effective way of getting a glimpse at what’s to come and also what needs to be left behind. Events are also the best way to keep up to date with new technologies and best practice in your industry, and pick the brains of those you network with. Plus, free food! Win, win!
If you’d like to talk to us about creating content for your company, give us a shout.
