How Can You Keep Producing Good Content For Niche Markets?
Good content writing using strong SEO is the backbone of a successful marketing strategy. But how can you keep it fresh when the subject matter is particularly narrow?
Any content marketer will tell you how important it is to produce great optimised content. The importance of having excellent copy that hits the top pages of the Google rankings and thus creates plenty of awareness of a firm’s goods, services and identity is well understood.
However, what happens when the topic the writer is covering is not merely dry, but extremely niche?
Many a content writer has grim tales to tell of the types of niche clients they have to write for. One tale is of a wordsmith who had to write an 800-word article on the interior structure of used printer ink cartridges – and that’s a true story.
Of course, that is an extreme example, but there is no doubt that while some writers will enjoy writing about topics where there is a wide array of exciting things to discuss or a constant stream of new events and developments to cover, others may feel they are talking about the same thing in almost every article.
How can you widen the subject matter?
The answer is to get creative with content, something the writer and their client should be able to discuss:
- Varying the kind of content may help: Instead of a stream of 500-word blogs, for example, maybe include some shorter or longer pieces.
- If the content is largely news-based on a topic where new developments are rare, it will make sense to produce blogs talking more broadly about a subject.
- Widening the subject matter may make sense. In the above case of the ink cartridges, the client specialised in recycling cartridges for re-use. In this case, blogging about the wider topic of recycling would help provide more material.
It is always worth both the writer and client thinking about the impact on readers of content on niche subjects.
The article might meet a range of standard optimisation requirements: It could have lots of good keywords, be relevant and have good images, for instance. However, if it is dull and repetitive, with each article looking far too much like a re-write of the others because there is nothing new to say, readers will soon get as bored as the writer who is tasked with churning out the same kind of content every week.
This is something to be avoided because of what marketers call the ‘rule of seven’.
- This dictum recognises that the average consumer needs to encounter a marketing message seven times before they make a buying decision.
- For this reason, a reader who gets bored and stops paying attention after the second or third article is likely to be a lost prospect.
- Maintaining their interest is therefore crucial to converting interest and awareness into a lead and, ultimately, new custom.
What can a better customer focus achieve?
Another way of adding some sparkle and interest to articles is to place the emphasis on the customer. This is an important element of marketing in any case; a key element of branding is to position a firm as the ideal and exclusive supplier of the solution to the consumer’s needs.
By writing blogs with the focus firmly on the needs of the client, new elements can be introduced to the conversation.
- The text can focus on the concerns, fears and past negative experiences of the customer
- It can then relate it back to how the products or services on offer can help provide this solution.
- It can add value by noting how this is done in a different way to other firms, such as at lower cost, with better service or more ethically
Why telling a story matters
If the subject itself is not something to get the pulses racing, the back story of a firm can be something compelling. Telling a story is an important element of content marketing. If the rule of seven is to apply, the decisive factor will be in maintaining their interest and the sense that the reader is going on a narrative journey is a great way of keeping them on board.
What this does is create the option of writing a tale in installments, outlining different parts of a firm’s journey. This is a good option when writing some of the early content for a site that will be posted internally. It can give the reader a real sense of what a firm’s mission and motivation are. All of a sudden people will understand just why what seems a narrow or niche subject is the thing that gets someone out of bed in the morning.
Furthermore, the story of a firm is always an ongoing one. There will be new developments in the company, with different directions, ideas, new services and products or activities to talk about. Niche influencers can be part of your strategy too.
What a commitment to a cause can do
Every firm can benefit from being involved in a just cause. As the business guru Simon Sinek has explained, having a reason for existing just beyond finding a way to make money is the kind of thing that motivates staff to make deeper commitments, either by remaining at a firm when more money is available elsewhere or by putting in extra hours.
That cause may be many things:
- It may be that its products or services have a direct positive impact in areas like the environment or the charity sector
- It could be that the firm observes certain ethical principles
- It might be that it seeks to offer services over and above the minimum to benefit customers who need some more help
Such an approach is great for telling that story in a compelling way, whatever the nature of the business or products.
What matters most is this: content needs to stay interesting and compelling, so don’t be afraid to let writers be creative and try something a bit different.
