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Want to grab customer attention without losing them again in a minute? Create content that adds value to their life and is still relevant to your brand & business. Here's how!
Want to grab customer attention without losing them again in a minute? Create content that adds value to their life and is still relevant to your brand & business. Here's how!
The primary purpose of cornerstone content is to make an excellent first impression so that consumers have a good feeling about your brand. When they are ready to make a decision, they will be more likely to turn to you. There are the seven steps to it:
The first step in this process is most important — in fact, we would argue that selecting the right topic for your cornerstone content piece is just as crucial as the execution.
It’s a 3-step approach. First you look at what best you offer as a brand, then look at what your competition is offering & how they talk about it and lastly, understand what are the customer problems that your product/service can solve.
At the end of it, you would have your key topic clear in your mind.
After you've decided on the broader topic, the next step is to conduct keyword research. The idea being that in your overall content piece you should be able to use all the relevant keywords to ensure you’re capturing the customer INTENT. That’s the key.
For Ex: Your broader topic is “How to get parents interested in your preschool that develops children using the Montessori curriculum”. Now the keyword search will tell you what parents are searching for when it comes to their search within the broader “Early Childhood Education” category and the top keywords might be “Reggio Emilia, Play based Learning, Creative Learning, Sensory Play” etc.
Now that you have understood what parents are searching for in the broader category, you have an excellent opportunity to capture their search intent and bring them to your content that is providing the same solution they’re looking for.
Cornerstone material is typically in the form of a detailed article, such as "Everything you need to know before you register your child in a day care center" or "ECE: the complete guide." While this is the most common technique to communicate your brand values & product proposition, no rule says you must only use a single narrative.
Consider posting a how-to guide with step-by-step instructions or a video lesson, for example. A searchable knowledge base might also benefit visitors, and having access to a free tool will undoubtedly make them feel more favorable to you.
Cornerstone material must be well planned and brilliantly executed, with the readers’ interest, intent, and aspirations in mind. It must be relevant and instrumental, not only alleviating the customer's problem but also intrigue the customer's interest in learning more about you.
Accuracy & content excellence is paramount because your brand's reputation is at stake. Content should be in line with your brand’s tone of voice and should showcase knowledge leadership. This is where agencies like Backstage Creative come in and hit it out of the park every single time because we not only help you execute your content strategy but also help you build your overall brand narrative too.
One of the purposes of cornerstone content is to attract new visitors and give them their first perception of your brand. Ideally, it should be a bookmarkable resource that people want to return to, but if you’re going to grow, you must ensure that your material is optimized to be found in organic search.
It should also be optimized for shareability so that others will find it when browsing Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
Innovative promotional strategies can ensure that your material reaches the broadest potential audience. You've already figured out your SEO approach, but there are plenty of other tools at your disposal - and some of them can simply supercharge your reach & discoverability.
If you already have an email list, utilize it to notify people about your new cornerstone content. Consider providing an additional incentive, such as a special deal on items or services, to entice them to visit your page.
Marketing automation solutions can be utilized to send out email blasts or planned social media posts, saving you time while also assisting you with lead nurturing. However, keep in mind that a touch of personalization is always appreciated and will increase the recipient's likelihood of accessing, sharing, or linking to your material.
The final component of your cornerstone content is patience - give your carefully crafted content some time to garner attention, shares, and backlinks while checking on the progress. Majority of the traffic will probably come from email and social media at first, but with time, you should see traffic from organic search. Make sure to keep creating additional offshoot content from your cornerstone material so that you keep on building the momentum.
Cornerstone content is quintessential for businesses to define what’s simply great about their brand & product. It may be customized for various channels, focusing on the platforms that perform great for your business. However, you may need experts to consult & execute the content development for you. This is where agencies like Backstage Creative Inc. come into play to make things easier for you while you focus on other key business operations.