“Boring” industries don’t have to mean “boring” content.
Are you trying to create content in an industry that isn't very exciting? Content Marketing Manager Michael Hewitt shares his five pieces of advice for creating exciting content in so-called "boring" industries.
You're not as boring as might think you are.
The first thing to remember is that what you do isn't necessarily boring - it's interesting to somebody.
So yes, you might not be able to come up with the content that wins all of the fancy awards or gets shown off of all the marketing conferences, but that's kind of missing the point.
Just because what you do might not win the awards or might not get shown up for all the market conferences, it doesn't mean it isn't useful, relevant, meaningful, and engaging content.
What you do clearly important and clearly interesting to somebody. If it wasn't, you do what you do.
Be clear on your objectives.
One of the reasons why people in so-called "boring" industries get a bit of a downer on content marketing is because they're not clear on what we're actually trying to do. So they look at these big brand campaigns that get all the awards and they think "well how can we compete with that?"
But that's missing the point. The objectives is that you're going to have for your content is probably very, very different from the objectives that these big brand campaigns have, so the comparison isn't really helpful.
Instead focus on what you want your content to do, what you want it to achieve and who you want it to reach.
Remember, it's about the audience, not you.
Remember that point from earlier - there's somebody somewhere that's going to be interested in what you do and what you've got to say. If they're not, you've probably got bigger problems than just coming up with content and that's the thing that you've got to get a really good grasp on.
What are they interested in and why are they interested in it? What are the challenges that they face? What are the key pain points that you can help them with? That is how you start coming up with really interesting really exciting content.
Sell the vision, don't sell the spec sheet.
One of the things that prevents content from being excited is not necessarily the subject matter, but the way it's sold. So a lot of content that's out there is built around old-school sales techniques, so things like features and benefits - that's a classic one. It's an old-school sales technique that has worked its way into online copywriting over time.
But people aren't buying based on features and benefits anymore, They're not buying based on what it says on the spec sheet. They don't really care that your product might be 1.2 gigahertz faster than the one of your competitor. What they care about is what it helps them do what problems it solves for them and what it helps them to create.
Consider the ABM approach
I've spoken to a lot of people in these so-called "boring" industries about the content they create, and almost always they're creating content from an inbound perspective. And that's not necessarily problem, but if you're not getting joy from inbound, consider changing your approach.
There's a huge demand out there for much more personalized and targeted content marketing and Account-Based Marketing (ABM) can really help you meet that demand. Instead of creating content for the masses, and seeing what comes in, focus your content very specifically on the ideal account or prospect that you are looking to attract - make it hyper-personal.
Not only does it force you to think much more about your target audience and their needs, it also makes your content stand out from the crowd.
