by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor
The Pareto Principle states that roughly 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. It can be applied to many scenarios, but in business, it is often taken to mean that 80 percent of your sales comes from 20 percent of your customers.
However, this concept could easily be applied to a content marketing strategy, as well. Following this principle, it stands to reason that 80 percent of your business will come from just 20 percent of your readers. This means that many of your readers — a majority of them, even — are not there looking to make a purchase from you, and indeed, many may not affect your bottom line at all.
In general, readers do not seek out blogs to make purchasing decisions. They seek them out when they are looking for an answer to a specific question, or some general insight into an industry. While this information may help them to make a purchasing decision, especially when given by a company that sells a product or service, they often do not seek out the blog with this in mind.
So when a blog or social post reads like a straight sales pitch, it comes across as mildly annoying at best, or alienating at worst. For best results, online content such as blogs should be aimed at the general public, rather than specifically at potential customers.
Some may wonder why they should bother tailoring their content to people who are not planning to buy their product. However, just because a reader is not contributing to sales figures does not mean that they are not important to a business, or that they should not be taken into account when crafting content.
For one thing, readers of your content are aware of your business. This means, when they meet someone who is in the market for your product or service, they can help to spread the word. And the more relevant and memorable your content is to this hypothetical reader, the more likely it is that they will remember you in order to recommend you. If your first piece of content alienates them by focusing more on making a sale than meeting their needs, they probably will not pass the word along.
Furthermore, today’s readers can easily become tomorrow’s customers. Even if they are not in the market for your product right now, they may need it years down the line. And if you keep posting content consistently, you stay fresh in their mind.
Finally, if someone is alienated by your content because it is too sales-oriented, they will likely click away from your site quickly. This will affect your overall dwell time and bounce rates, which will affect your SEO rankings. By making content that appeals to everyone, you keep people on your page longer, which will improve your search engine ranking.
It may be slightly discouraging to think that only 20 percent of your readers will be customers, at least at first. It may even make you wonder what the point of a blog is at all, if the number is so low. But remember, blogs are accessible by anyone in the world — a far larger number than you could ever hope to sell to. And the larger your readership is, the larger that 20 percent will be.
If you focus on making your content accessible and enjoyable to everyone, that 20 percent will be even larger than 100 percent of the people who would find your original, more sales-oriented content.
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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.
Dr. R. Kay Green is the CEO/President of RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. With over 190,000+ Twitter followers, 35,000+ Facebook Likes, and the Top 1% LinkedIn profile designation, Dr. Kay, a self-motivated trailblazer, is the Quintessential “New-Age” Professional Woman, and PhD Marketing Pro. She earned a Doctorate of Business Administration in Marketing, and has completed PhD coursework in Leadership and Organization Change. She also holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing and Management, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing, and an Associate of Arts in Marketing Management.
She is affiliated with several prestigious universities and has instructed over 350 courses online. A popular speaker on Marketing and Business topics, Dr. Green is currently featured on Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, Black News, The Network Journal, Business Review USA, Digital Journal, College View, Business New Hampshire Magazine, Bay State Banner, Reader’s Circle, North Dallas Gazette, Harlem News, Top News Today, One News Page, NE Informer, Women in Business PR News, Consumer News Today, Women PR News, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Daily Herald, The Miami Herald, and Book News Articles.
Dr. R. Kay Green is the CEO/President of RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. With over 190,000+ Twitter followers, 35,000+ Facebook Likes, and the Top 1% LinkedIn profile designation, Dr. Kay, a self-motivated trailblazer, is the Quintessential “New-Age” Professional Woman, and PhD Marketing Pro. She earned a Doctorate of Business Administration in Marketing, and has completed PhD coursework in Leadership and Organization Change. She also holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing and Management, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing, and an Associate of Arts in Marketing Management.
She is affiliated with several prestigious universities and has instructed over 350 courses online. A popular speaker on Marketing and Business topics, Dr. Green is currently featured on Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, Black News, The Network Journal, Business Review USA, Digital Journal, College View, Business New Hampshire Magazine, Bay State Banner, Reader’s Circle, North Dallas Gazette, Harlem News, Top News Today, One News Page, NE Informer, Women in Business PR News, Consumer News Today, Women PR News, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Daily Herald, The Miami Herald, and Book News Articles.
