Joe Pulizzi has designed a business model based on his own experience and expertise. This model helps entrepreneurs and organizations prioritize content marketing. If used in the right way, content marketing can generate new customers. This is valuable for start-ups, but also for established organizations. In this blog, we'll cover one of his steps from the Content Inc. Model; the “Sweet Spot”.
Basically, the Sweet Spot is a specific target group. This target group is running into something and you have the knowledge to help. It's the place where your expertise meets the pain points or desires of your target group. Based on this, you can content marketing adjust or create a strategy and thus optimize your reach. It is the target group that can benefit your organization the most — provided you approach them in the right way. Let's look at an example from Starbucks:
Starbucks' expertise is coffee. More specifically: a consistent cup of coffee on the go. Starbucks creates a space between home and office. This is to alleviate the pain of the target group; the target group that travels a lot for work but wants to use time productively. The Sweet Spot for Starbucks is the highly educated worker who travels a lot for work. Starbucks focuses on this specific target group with the help of a newsletter and their social media channels. Through their newsletter, they target the target group that wants to know what Starbucks stands for. This is how they share their core values and knowledge as thought leaders in the coffee industry.
To make a successful content marketing strategy, you need to know what the expertise within your organization is. Where are you one? thought leader in? What sets you apart from the competition? It helps to list what your organization is expert in. You can do this by making a list with a queue for knowledge and a row for skills. Based on this, you can visualize where your expertise lies.
Keep in mind what your organization has to offer. In addition to your knowledge, where does your talent lie? Organizations can use content marketing successfully if they show that they are good at what they do. This also ensures that your target group, read: (potential) customers, has more confidence in your organization. Through your content, you show that your organization is a thought leader.
When creating your content marketing strategy, you need to know the pain points and desires of your target audience. You must have a solution to the problem of your target group. Communicate these solutions with the help of content marketing and increase your chances of success as an organization.
It's essential to know what your target audience wants, otherwise your sweet spot is useless. When it comes to content marketing, it is important to focus on a specific target group per medium. The desires of the target group you follow on LinkedIn are different from the target group that views your Instagram. If you focus on a minimum number of target groups per channel, this results in higher interaction.
To identify the different target groups and their desires, you have to think like the target group. What helps is to visualize who your target group is and divide them into different characters. You do this by drawing and/or describing your characters.
Where do you start when you get started with visualizing characters? First, look at who is already using your products or services. This is the average target group. Who is this person? How does that person spend the day? Which routine goes with it? This is your time to discover what that person's pain points are. What does someone like that run into? What information or tools is this person missing? What does that person want?
What does your organization offer that can alleviate these pain points? What information can you share to fulfill your characters' desires? Why do they need you and why should they care about your organization and services?
You can also get a empathy map fill out. This tool helps you get into the head of your target group. From here, you can discover pain points and desires. It is important to substantiate this information properly. If all is well, your organization already has a clear picture of its target group. You may also already have sub-target groups. Then analyze them and see if they are still relevant. Optionally, adapt them to the channels you're going to use or do more research on them.
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Once you have identified the above points, you can formulate the Sweet Spot. Based on that, you can use content marketing. Blogs, events and LinkedIn campaigns can be part of this. Read here how IKEA, KLM and Google are successfully using their blogs.
So it's important to know what your target group wants. By sharing your knowledge, you can offer a solution to what they encounter.
